Soder Airlines

Soder Aviation Oy was originally a full-fledged airline (Soder Airlines) with an operator's certificate, and later, after a name change, a virtual airline and internet booking agency based in Tampere, Finland. Its CEO was Tapani Yli-Saunamäki. Its main base was at Tampere-Pirkkala Airport (TMP), Tampere. There was an additional base established early 2006 at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, since there were no routes to/from Tampere at that time.

Code data

• IATA Code: none (was: OY)
• ICAO Code: none (was: SDE)
• Callsign: none (was: Soder)

History

The airline was established and started operations in 2003. It suspended operations after Saab Aircraft terminated its lease, but restarted in February 2005 under a new name, Soder Aviation Oy (Ltd) using one MD-82 wet-leased from Bulgarian Air Charter and operated by Aviapaslauga from Lithuania and one aircraft operated by a Swedish company Nextjet. Soder Airlines previous operator's license was cancelled by CAA of Finland. The charter company status was revoked by the Finnish Consumer Agency due to lack of collateral required. The company ceased flights for the summer season of 2005.

For the spring skiing season of 2006, Soder Aviation started selling tickets for three weekly flights from Helsinki to Kittilä and back. Flights were to be operated by Alexandair (of Greece), airline code AXN, between February 18 and May 1, 2006 using an ex-Austrian Airlines MD-81, SX-BMP.

However, only some 3 initial return flights between Helsinki and Kittilä by operator Alexandair were actually flown and further flights cancelled for undisclosed reasons. On March 11, 2006, Soder Aviation Ltd publicly announced plans to sell tickets for the Helsinki-Kittilä route using a semi-convertible 40-seat An-72 cargo aircraft, which was to be operated by Enimex of Estonia. This plan was immediately rejected by the CAA of Finland due to the CAA's understanding that the type certificate of this An-72 did not allow for scheduled passenger flights in Finnish airspace.

After this decision by the Finnish Civil Aviation Authority, Soder Aviation cancelled all planned flights for the rest of the spring skiing season.

Due to previous officially published debts (amounting to approximately Euro 1 million), the Finnish financial authorities seized a substantial amount of funds from 2 Soder Aviation bank accounts in early March, which placed the company in a difficult financial position. Recently, on April 4, 2006, Soder Aviation Ltd. filed for bankruptcy at Helsinki District Court. The court approved the start of bankruptcy on April 7. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that the company will continue to operate in its present form in the future.

In 2007, the airline code OY passed to an Argentinian regional company, Andes Líneas Aéreas, operating line and charter flights in the northern areas of Argentina.

Services

The airline flew routes from Tampere to Kittilä, Ivalo, and Oulu and from Helsinki to Kittilä and Ivalo directly or via Tampere during the winter skiing seasons. International flights originally planned did not materialize. In 2006, the only planned route (operated by Alexandair) was Helsinki-Kittilä, originally scheduled to last until May 1 (the end of the Finnish skiing season).