Air Horizont, Aragon's only airline, is celebrating its tenth anniversary. This milestone highlights the resilience and success of our company in the competitive world of aviation. In a recent interview, Juan Luis Diez, CEO of Air Horizont, shared some of the most significant milestones and challenges overcome over the years by our company.

A decade of great achievements

"The main milestone is to have made it this far. For new companies in the aviation industry, being ten years old means being a well-established charter company. Others similar to ours last at most 2 or 3 years and disappear. So, reaching a decade is important and, above all, having survived the COVID pandemic," says Juan Luis Díez.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented one of the biggest challenges for Air Horizont. According to Díez, the company's strategic plan for 2020 aimed to turn a profit for the first time, but instead, they faced heavy losses. Fortunately, by 2023, Air Horizont managed to regain its financial stability and returned to profit, although the debt incurred during the pandemic has yet to be paid off.

Our operational expansion over the years

Air Horizont has grown to approximately 200 employees. Although headquartered in Zaragoza, the company has always had a European outlook. The main operational base is in Malta, where engineering and flight operations are carried out. In addition, we have a sales office in Milan and an operational base for elite aircraft in Southend, south of London, which allows us to be a supplier to the Premier League. During the summer, we also operate from Bratislava and Porto, where local tour operators have shown great satisfaction with our services.

With the arrival of the pandemic, we entered the elite flight sector. "Through a British contact, we entered the world of 'elite' flights and had to invest 1.2 million euros in modifying two airplanes to change from 168 seats to 72 and adapt them inside," explains Díez. This investment enabled us to become a supplier to European soccer teams and several national teams, as well as a carrier for important music bands.

Why are we betting on Boeing aircraft?

Juan Luis Diez and Manuel Salhi, both career pilots, prefer Boeing aircraft over Airbus because of their design philosophy. "Boeing makes airplanes for pilots and Airbus for engineers. We like to fly the airplane, not have the airplane fly us. Boeings are more rugged and durable, while Airbuses require other kinds of care," jokes Díez.

From an early age, Juan Luis Diez showed a great passion for aviation, building model airplanes and dreaming of being close to them. This passion led him to a career in the Air Force and, eventually, to co-founding Air Horizont along with Manuel Salhi. Despite the challenges, his dedication and love for aviation have been key to the company's success.

Air Horizont's bright future

The future looks bright for Air Horizont. The company plans to continue expanding its services and improving its fleet. The popular "Escapes from Zaragoza," now in their fourth season, will continue to offer attractive destinations such as Lisbon, Berlin, Granada and Munich. In addition, in 2025, Air Horizont plans to launch ten new getaways, including several to Rome to take advantage of the Jubilee Year.