Darwin Airlines. F7. DWT

Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airline (F7) is looking to add new aircraft, routes and partners, building on a recent non-equity alliance with Albanian low-cost carrier Belle Air (LZ).

F7 is a scheduled regional airline which was founded in 2003. It operates a fleet of six Saab 2000s and has bases in Lugano, Geneva and Rimini, serving 20 destinations over the summer and 12 during the winter.

“In 2013, our plan is to increase our fleet by two to three aircraft and, in the next three years, we will roll into a new model of regional turboprop with 50- to 70-seats. We are still focused on the Swiss and Italian market, but we are thinking about expanding into the French and UK markets,” F7 CCO Christian Schneider told ATW on the sidelines of the APG World Connect event in Monaco.

Schneider added that LZ has just inked a three-year alliance with F7 and is on the lookout for similar deals with other regional airlines.

The F7-LZ deal is notable because, even though there are no equity ties between F7 and LZ, the two airlines plan to cooperate on route development, codesharing, fleet sharing, cost and revenue synergies, cross-marketing and joint relationships with network airlines.

F7 was founded in 2005 and operates two ATR 72-500s, three Airbus A319s and three A320s to 26 destinations in southeastern Europe.

“This agreement is a first step toward a new business model for Darwin Airline, which aims at becoming a strategic partner for the alliances between regional airlines,” LZ CEO Maurizio Merlo said.

LZ is also looking to form strong ties with alliance-linked network carriers. “It is all about de-risking the business, finding the right partners and getting closer to SkyTeam. Our goal is to be a multi-alliance carrier,” Schneider told ATW.

In keeping with this strategy, LZ just signed a three-year deal with Alitalia (AZ). The two carriers have been cooperating since 2010. Under the new agreement AZ will add its code to all of LZ’s Italian routes, comprising Rimini-Rome, Geneva-Rome, Geneva-Florence and Geneva-Venice, plus seasonal routes from Lugano to Crotone and Rimini.

“ACMI [aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance] deals are dead,” Schneider said. “The biggest problem is unions and that is solved with contract flying, where everything is on your paper. Pilots unions can do whatever they want; it’s not written down that airlines can’t use another carrier. This is how we see the road ahead.”

Separately, LZ has just been awarded a public service obligation contract in Sicily, which covers flights from Palermo and Trapani to Pantelleria and Lampedusa from Oct. 28.