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routes . As part of this , Trade Air uses a small 30 seat turboprop , leased from a Polish operator , to connect airports within Croatia only . Based in the northeastern part of Croatia , the aircraft connects cities along the coast . Though a small portion of our business , tickets for these flights are readily available for purchase on our website ,” he begins . can take the best part of a year , aircraft availability on the market is expected to remain limited for the remainder of this year and into 2025 . As this issue continues to affect the industry on a global scale , companies like Trade Air , operating Airbus models equipped with classic CFM International engines , are
Strategy for success
While the transport industry was heavily impacted by the pandemic , Trade Air was able to strategize to double its fleet . Marko discusses the factors prompting this significant investment . “ Over half of the aircraft in the world are typically purchased new by financial institutions ( lessors ), then leased to globally renowned airlines such as Lufthansa and British Airways , among others . Trade Air had the innovative idea to buy aircraft directly from the provider , thus bypassing these institutions and retaining full ownership of the airplanes . Upon selecting our aircraft , namely Airbus A320s , we insisted on a finance lease which ensured Trade Air ’ s full ownership of the airplane after the lease term . Benefiting from low interest rates , we also negotiated the purchase price – which was already drastically reduced . This investment was motivated by my determination to ensure the sustainability of our business model throughout the challenging year of 2020 . Since then , the market has rebounded and was back in its full glory by 2023 ,” he informs .
On a similar note , Marko reveals that another important industry event resulted in even more success for Trade Air ’ s ACMI services . “ In July 2023 , Pratt and Whitney Ltd announced a major issue with its new geared turbofan ( GTF ) engine , as featured in Airbus A320neo and A321neo models . Indeed , over time , cracks developed in the engine structure . To address this , the FAA required all 3000 GTF engines – installed on 1500 aircraft – to undergo servicing and extensive maintenance checks . Since fixing the engines
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