Summary

  • Fly Baboo SA, also known as Baboo, operated various domestic and international routes from its hub in Geneva from 2003 to 2010.
  • Founded by UK entrepreneur Julian Cook in 2003, Baboo used aircraft from Cirrus Airlines before obtaining its own fleet and AOC.
  • Despite operational success, Baboo faced financial challenges and ultimately ceased operations in 2010, later being acquired by Darwin Airline.

Switzerland’s landlocked but convenient location in the center of the European mainland means that even local carriers with a more regional operational focus can still easily serve a myriad of international destinations. One such airline was Geneva-based Fly Baboo SA, known in short as simply Baboo. This carrier operated various interesting routes from 2003 to 2010, but what exactly happened to it?

In the beginning

UK entrepreneur and finance expert Julian Cook brought Fly Baboo to life in 2003, reportedly founding the airline to fill the gap left by SWISS on the Geneva-Lugano route after the national airline abandoned its services on this domestic corridor. Fly Baboo’s first flight operated later that year, although, at this point, the young airline was still yet to have obtained its own air operator’s certificate (AOC).

Baboo Dash 8-400 Taxiing In Geneva

As such, it made use of aircraft from German regional carrier Cirrus Airlines to operate its initial flights, with data from ATDB.aero showing that two Cirrus leased two Dash 8-300 turboprops to Baboo in 2003 and 2004. Planespotters.net notes that these had 50 seats. Eventually, May 2004 saw Baboo obtain its own AOC, and it was thus able to operate its own Dash 8-Q300 turboprops, which arrived in:

  • April 2004: HB-JEJ.
  • August 2004: HB-JEK.

Operational and bureaucratic developments

2007 was a formative year for Baboo, with a pair of larger Dash 8-Q400 turboprops entering service at the airline, as FlightGlobal reported at the time. It was also in 2007 that M1, a Lebanon-based investment group, acquired Baboo. One of the consequences of this was an equity release with a value of €9.2 million (€13.3 million or $14.4 million today), which helped the airline plot its growth more soundly.

Baboo Dash 8-Q400 Taxiing In Geneva

On a bureaucratic level, 2007 also marked the departure of Baboo founder Julian Cook from the Swiss regional airline. Cook was just 33 at the time, and, as per the aforementioned report by FlightGlobal, his black labrador dog, Tofu, had formed a key part of the carrier’s branding strategy, appearing on its aircraft, online presence, and even its Christmas cards. Shortly before his departure, Cook told FlightGlobal:

“We’ve developed our business model [over] the last two years, and developed some routes and some areas [that] we have a competitive advantage on.”

Fleet and routes

Baboo operated a fascinating array of routes from its primary hub at Geneva Airport (GVA). Domestically speaking, it served Zürich (ZRH) alongside its inaugural route to Lugano (LUG), and, elsewhere in Europe, it flew to multiple destinations in neighboring France and Italy at the time of its collapse, as well as further afield in Spain. As it happens, its terminated routes also represented a very diverse mix.

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Indeed, the routes that Baboo stopped serving before it ceased operations stretched as far afield as North Africa, to countries including Tunisia and Morocco. In the UK, as well as London City (LCY), the BBC notes that it also served London Oxford (OXF). Baboo’s route from the latter to Geneva was Oxford’s most high-profile international route at the time, and offered an onward connection to Rome.

As previously mentioned, having initially flown the Dash 8-300, Baboo soon acquired two examples of its larger Q400 counterpart, with historical fleet data made available by Planespotters.net showing that these seated 74 passengers in an all-economy setup. However, CAPA noted that, despite its lack of a premium cabin, Baboo was not a budget carrier, and prided itself on high service standards.

Operational snapshot

Operationally speaking, data from Cirium gives an idea of the scale of Baboo’s presence on regional routes throughout Europe. The carrier was at the peak of its powers in 2009, scheduling 8,728 commercial flights, and offering 737,398 seats and 340,139,370 available seat miles in the process. Its top destinations were Rome (FCO) and Nice (NCE), peaking at 54 round trips from Geneva in July 2009.

Baboo Embraer E190 Taxiing In Geneva

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As pictured above, Baboo also ended up operating several regional jets from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. As well as briefly leasing an ERJ-135 from Hex’Air in May 2004, the carrier added three 100-seat E190 twinjets to its fleet in 2008. Regarding these aircraft, FlightGlobal’s 2007 coverage quotes Cook as saying:

“We should be the first Embraer E190 operator [at London City Airport]. As part of our contract with Embraer, they’ve guaranteed London City certification.”

The end of the line

Despite a turnover of 73 million Swiss Francs in 2009, the following year saw Baboo cease operations. In mid-2010, the airline terminated several routes and withdrew the Geneva-Oxford flights from its winter schedules. This marked the start of a recurring trend of short-lived services at London Oxford Airport. In October 2010, FlightGlobal reported that Baboo would return its E190s to their lessors.

A month later, Baboo was saved from bankruptcy when Lugano-based regional carrier Darwin Airline acquired it. This carrier operated under the Etihad Regional brand from 2014 to 2017, after which it was known as Adria Airways Switzerland. It folded in December 2017 due to bankruptcy and a voided license. Certain aircraft joined Adria’s main fleet, although the Slovenian flag carrier folded in 2019.

Did you know about Fly Baboo? Perhaps you even flew with the carrier or its successor, Darwin Airline? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

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