City Star Airlines started operations on 28 March 2005 with one aircraft flying between Aberdeen, Scotland and Oslo in cooperation with and on the AOC of domestic airline Landsflug in Iceland. CSA's owners acquired a controlling share in Landsflug in 2005 in order to acquire JAR-OPS 1 licensed operator for its operation. CSA announced on 1 September 2007 that its holding company had purchased Caledonian Airborne Engineering who provide engineering, maintenance and ground handling facilities at Aberdeen and Newcastle Airports. The purchase increased the companies employee base by an additional 60. On 22 December. 2007 CSA's holding company stated that it would form a new subsidiary, "City Star Executive" that would commence the first long haul, business class only flights from Aberdeen Airport to Houston, Texas starting in 2008. Those statements were merely a mistake as the aircraft, which was a Boeing 757, planned to fly the route didn't have sufficient range and the flights never saw the light of day.
Destinations
City Star Airlines operated scheduled services to the following destinations
Europe
Norway
Ålesund
Bergen
Kristiansund
Oslo
Stavanger
United Kingdom
Aberdeen, Scotland
The Netherlands
Groningen,
Fleet
As City Star Airlines wasn't a licensed airline it never had any aircraft registered. The aircraft it operated were dry leased from sister company Landsflug which fleet consisted of the following aircraft
At 2100 BST on 22 June 2006, a City Star Airlines Dornier 328 operating a passenger flight from Stavanger, Norway, overshot the end of the runway at Aberdeen Airport by several hundred yards as it came in to land. None of the 16 passengers and 3 crew memberson board were injured. The incident caused the airline to announce a suspension of all flight operations on 23 June 2006. However, the airline resumed services 2 days later.
UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch have recommended a safety audit of the airline after a serious incident in which a Dornier 328 crew flew close to cliffs and failed to respond correctly to terrain warnings on approach to Sumburgh Airport after a flight from Aberdeen. The aircraft landed safely. The captain involved was suspended and asked to resign after an investigation.
The 32 seater aircraft were also used for private charters.