Entrepreneurs are aiming to establish a new Swiss-based non-profit airline intended to offer humanitarian services using converted Airbus aircraft.

BlueLight is being set up in Geneva to address the need for “cost-effective, dedicated, neutral and scalable” air mobility for delivering aid – lack of which, it claims, is a “persistent” gap in crisis response.

Former Geneva airport president Pierre Bernheim has founded the operation along with Waleed Rawat, the head of WAIR Global, a holding group with diverse interests including aerospace, property and luxury goods. Both hold pilot qualifications.

BlueLight says it has gathered a team of specialists from the humanitarian, medical and aviation fields to spearhead the launch phase – with plans to commence “full-scale operations” next year.

“When lives depend on speed, reliability and neutrality, the world cannot afford delays caused by bureaucracy, politics, or profit,” says Bernheim. “BlueLight exists to ensure that help arrives, wherever and whenever it is needed.”

Converted Airbus A340-300s, modified for passenger, cargo transport and hospital operations in a single aircraft, will be the “cornerstone” of the fleet, says BlueLight.

BlueLight’s team includes Cristian Sutter, listed as head of cabin re-engineering. Sutter is the former chief of UK aerospace firm Avensis Aviation, which had been developing modification programmes, designated Medius and Navis, to convert A340-300s into freighters.

Avensis, founded in 2020, had planned to take advantage of cargo aircraft demand during the Covid-19 pandemic. But when the market contracted in 2023, the customer base shrank and the company filed for administration.

BlueLight says it will start up with an initial A340-300 in Europe, supported by an A320-family jet, for African and Middle Eastern operations. But it has ambitions to expand with further regional bases in North America and Asia within a few years, as well as develop unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities to transport supplies.

It states that it has “entered advanced discussions” with Airbus, Geneva airport, and maintenance firm Joramco to support the planned humanitarian network.

“Our purpose is not scale for its own sake, but service at its most essential,” states Rawat.

BlueLight will offer services based on a “fixed-rate model” with “no yield management”, it says, which will be “transparent” and “often below market cost”. This is intended to ensure partners have equal access to “reliable humanitarian airlift capacity at fair and stable rates”, it adds.