Canario Airlines
1st in a Series: A Fictional Airline for the Canary Islands
Canario Airlines (Spanish: Aerolíneas Canario) is a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of Tenerife South Airport (TFS) in Granadilla de Abona, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The airline’s operations are centered on two hubs located in the Canary Islands, namely: 1) Tenerife South Airport, and Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) located in Telde, Gran Canaria.
The airline serves as the primary carrier for the Canary Islands, providing a route network that includes interisland connections among the Canary Islands; service to/from select other islands within the eastern Atlantic Ocean, such as Madeira and the Cape Verde Islands; and routes to and from Africa and Europe, with a strong concentration of routes connecting with destinations in mainland Spain.
History
Canario Airlines was established in 1984 by Antonio Cabrera Santos (b 1934), a wealthy shipping magnate who was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The company began operations in early 1985 as an independent carrier, competing against a pair of Spanish national carriers that previously dominated service between the Canary Islands and mainland Spain, starting from Tenerife-TFS using a trio of leased Canadair CRJ200 regional jets.
In 1990 the airline leased a pair of Airbus A320-200s and began expanding its network to include select other major European cities, while using the CRJ200s to connect to several Spanish cities. By the early 1990s the airline also picked up a pair of ATR 42-300 turboprop aircraft, adding further service to islands within the Canary Islands. In 1999 Canario added a 2nd hub at Gran Canaria-LPA, and brought on new Bombardier CRJ700 jets as well as a few new generation ATR 72-500 turboprops for the interisland service. In 2000 service to Funchal-FNC (Madeira) was added, and two additional Airbus A320-200s were acquired.
In 2006 the airline leased a pair of Airbus A321-200s, which flew mostly between Tenerife-TFS and Gran Canaria-LPA and Paris-ORY and London-LTN. That aircraft was later withdrawn from service in early 2008 due to the Great Recession, along with a couple of the older A320-200s.
In 2010, Canario signed an ongoing lease agreement with JetStream Air Leasing (now JetStream Aerospace). The airline subsequently began to refresh its fleet, replacing its Canadair and Bombardier aircraft with newer Embraer E175, Embraer E190 and Embraer E195 jets. During 2012 and 2013 Canario added routes to the Moroccan cities of Agadir-AGA, Fez-FEZ and Marrakech-RAK, along with Nouakchott-NKC (Mauritania), Dakar-DKR (Senegal) and Banjul-BJL in The Gambia.
By 2014, Canario Airlines had become an all-Embraer and ATR fleet, having returned its outstanding Airbus aircraft to reduce fleet costs. The following year, Canario expanded its network to include Ponta Delgada-PDL (Azores) and Amilcar/Sal-SID in the Cape Verde Islands, as well as routes to cities in Italy and Malta-MLA.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Canario Airlines reduced its services to Africa and cut several routes to Europe, and placed several aircraft into storage or returned them to JetStream. While the airline disposed of its remaining Embraer E175 and E190 aircraft, it retained the Embraer E195 as its sole jet aircraft type for the near term. Most of those connections and aircraft were restored to service as the pandemic gradually receded, although not all routes returned to active service.
Miguel Cabrera Suarez Becomes CEO
Shortly after Antonio Cabrera’s grandson, Miguel Cabrera Suarez, took over as CEO of Canario Airlines in 2018, the carrier became the launch customer for the new Aria T102 Transonic aircraft type, built by the US-based Aria Aircraft Company. Intended to replace the company’s aging fleet of E195 aircraft in coming years, the first Canario T102 began revenue service in late 2023, thus marking the start of the company’s plan to evolve into an all-Aria aircraft fleet.
Meanwhile, more recently Canario received the first two units of the groundbreaking Aria V42 VTOL regional air mobility (RAM) aircraft. one of them a QC (Quick Change) Combi variant. While the T102s will be used to connect the Canary Islands to Europe and Africa, the V42s are set to link Gran Canaria-LPA and Tenerife-TFS with other Canary Islands, replacing the company’s ATR 42 aircraft currently serving in that role.
Destinations
Canario Airlines provides nonstop or direct air service from Tenerife-TFS and Gran Canaria-LPA to the following destinations.
Canary Islands (Interisland Services)
Arrecife (ACE)
Gran Canaria (LPA) - Hub [ Map Link ]
El Hierro (VDE)
Fuerteventura (FUE)
La Gomera (GMZ)
Santa Cruz de la Palma (SPC)
Tenerife South (TFS) - Hub and HQ [ Map Link ]
Mainland Spain, Atlantic Islands and Africa
A Coruña, Spain (LCG)
Asturias, Spain (OVD)
Barcelona, Spain (BCN)
Jerez, Spain (XRY)
Madrid, Spain (MAD)
Málaga, Spain (AGP)
Menorca, Spain (MAH)
Palma de Mallorca, Spain (PMI)
Pamplona, Spain (PNA)
San Sebastian, Spain (EAS)
Santander, Spain (SDR)
Valencia, Spain (VLC)
Valladolid, Spain (VLL)
Vigo, Spain (VGO)
Vitoria/Foronda, Spain (VIT)
Zaragoza, Spain (ZAZ)
Agadir, Morocco (AGA)
Banjul, The Gambia (BJL)
Fez, Morocco (FEZ)
Funchal, Madeira (Portugal) (FNC)
Marrakech, Morocco (RAK)
Nouakchott, Mauritania (NKC)
Ponta Delgada, Azores (Portugal) (PDL)
Sal, Cape Verde (SID)
Other European Destinations
Berlin, Germany (BER)
Birmingham, UK (BHX)
Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH)
Dublin, Ireland (DUB)
Dusseldorf, Germany (DUS)
Edinburgh, UK (EDI)
Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
Hamburg, Germany (HAM)
Lisbon, Portugal (LIS)
London-Luton, UK (LTN)
Lyon, France (LYS)
Manchester, UK (MAN)
Marseille, France (MRS)
Milan-Malpensa, Italy (MXP)
Munich, Germany (MUC)
Paris-Orly, France (ORL)
Porto, Portugal (OPO)
Stockholm-Arlanda, Sweden (ARN)
Toulouse, France (TLS)
Warsaw, Poland (WAW)
Fleet
Current Fleet
Canario Airlines currently operates the following aircraft types.
† = JStream original aircraft
Aria T102 Transonic - since 2023 - type launch customer †
Aria V42 VTOL - since 2024 †
Aria V42 VTOL QC Combi - since 2024 †
ATR 42-300 - since 1990
Embraer E195 - since 2010
Former Fleet
Canario Airlines previously operated the following aircraft types.
Airbus A320-200 - 1990-2014
Airbus A321-200 - 2006-2008 (wet leased)
Bombardier (Canadair) CRJ200 - 1986-2012
Bombardier CRJ700 - 1999-2014
Bombardier CRJ900 - 2008-2014
Embraer E175 - 2011-2021
Embraer E190 - 2011-2020
A selection of former Canario Airlines aircraft: 1) Airbus A320-200; 2) Airbus A321-200; 3) Bombardier CRJ200; 4) Bombardier CRJ700; 5) Bombardier CRJ900; 6) Embraer E175; and 7) Embraer E190 - all shown in side view.
All liveries depicted in this article were conceived and drawn by the Author.
All Aria aircraft templates displayed in this article are fictional aircraft, whose original templates were drawn by the Author.
All other aircraft templates shown in this article were purchased from Norebbo under license and augmented by the Author for display. Blank side view templates of these aircraft are available for purchase through ShopNorebbo.
Route Maps were created using Great Circle Map.