The ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) season always reaches its peak between May to September and Smart Aviation, the leaders in global ACMI charters, is seeing no sign of bookings slowing down this summer.
For the last 20 years, Smart has been at the forefront of ACMI leasing each summer season, with a number of prestigious airlines contacting the team for prompt, reliable, cost-effective solutions, on a regular basis.
Last Thursday a request came through for a last-minute ACMI request from one of our valued airline partners. They were in desperate need of a short term lease aircraft from the very next day (Friday) until Sunday, after their aircraft had gone tech and was grounded. The complex commercial flight schedule was due to begin from Bratislava flying to numerous destinations including Larnaca, Heraklion, Kos and Alghero. The Smart ACMI team sprung into action and sourced a full wet lease for them, meaning the aircraft and the crew, as well as providing the maintenance and insurance. The team offered a cost effective solution on an 180-seater A320, beating off another broker to secure the booking. The airline was so delighted with the Smart service that they have already booked another ACMI charter for three days this week.
Over the weekend, the Smart ACMI team was called on by another airline in urgent need of support. The request came through at 10 p.m. on Saturday night and within an hour, another A320 had been sourced, and was positioned at base to depart at 7 a.m. The aircraft departed from Amsterdam and flew with 180 passengers onboard to Malaga. The same aircraft returned back to Amsterdam later that day.
Jamie Milsom, ACMI Broker and Operations Support, said: “It has been a busy ACMI season for the team here and the further into the season you go, the more limited the availability of the aircraft becomes. We have been working hard to support our clients and find suitable options for them with great success. I am encouraged to see some long term leases already being confirmed for summer 2026 too, currently in Europe, Africa and the UAE”.
