Air Charter Scotland ups Aberdeen-Wick PSO route capacity with Jetstream J32
Above: The Jetstream J32 is now operating on Wick-Aberdeen-Wick.
Courtesy Air Charter Scotland / Photo credit: Alan Hendry
The J32 is now operating under a wet lease from AIS Airlines of the Netherlands is now departing Wick-Aberdeen at 0800hrs and Aberdeen-Wick at 0930 hrs Sunday to Friday.
This is a return to its roots for the 18-seat Jetstream J32 turboprop, originally built at Prestwick, Scotland, by British Aerospace.
Glasgow-based Air Charter Scotland, a leading on-demand charter operator has been contracted with The Highland Council to serve the route. It started flying the service on January 15 with a Beechcraft King Air 200. This lifeline route for the community of Caithness had paused for several months following Eastern Airways’ closure in October 2025.
Reliability with the King Air has been very good with the operator having to make just a few cancellations because of high winds and heavy snow at Wick. A King Air from FlyWales stepped in to cover a few days between 20th into 23rd February, again reinforcing the resilience of business aviation.
Air Charter Scotland COO Derek Thomson said: “Passengers have loved the King Air. It has regularly been carrying upwards of five passengers back and forth to the Scottish mainland and with the start of Spring and increased demand, the J32 arrives at the right time. The alternative to the just under an hour flight is a near five-hour car journey.
“Everyone in our team is most grateful to DragonFly Executive Aviation, which stepped up with the King Air, when at the 11th hour, Border Force rejected European/EASA pilots flying for us,” said Derek Thomson.
Rules relax from 1st March to 30th October, reflecting a bigger need, primarily from UK low-cost carriers, for supplementary European jets and crew for the summer. Air Charter Scotland is meanwhile working to add the aircraft type to its own air operator’s certificate.
Headquartered in Glasgow, with operational bases in London and Malta, Air Charter Scotland is Scotland’s second oldest airline operator. They commenced operations with Cessna 310 and Beech King Air 200 aircraft before expanding into executive jet operations back in 2006. Air Charter Scotland has two fully worldwide AOC’s following the creation of its European entity, Air Charter Scotland Europe, based in Malta in August 2020.
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