Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

The first flights booked through Flyvbird’s AI-driven platform are set to take off in September, the company confirmed on Friday. Flyvbird has established partnerships with a pair of undisclosed European charter operators to provide services in turboprop singles such as the Cessna Caravan, connecting Friedrichshafen in southern Germany with Mönchengladbach in the northwest of the country and to Strausberg near Berlin.
According to Flyvbird founder and CEO Tomislav Lang, the company has logged more than 8,000 “pre-launch booking requests.” The company also has commitments from more than 10 corporate customers that have said they intend to book flights for their employees for regular trips. These include a homebuilder with construction projects in Croatia and Poland.
Flyvbird is seeking to raise a further €1 million (about $1.2 million) through a seed round to support personnel, marketing, and technology development costs associated with the service launch. It has already secured €4 million in funding, including support from the German government and the EU, as well as from Switzerland’s Merse group.
Lang told AIN he is projecting first-year revenues of €500,000 and that through the end of 2028, Flyvbird expects to generate €45.7 million from an addressable regional air mobility market McKinsey has valued at $115 billion.
<h2>AI Matches Travelers with Aircraft</h2>
Flights will be booked through the start-up’s Flyv AI app, which uses artificial intelligence to match travelers with operators with capacity to fly them, mainly between airports that are not well served by scheduled airlines. By 2027, the company wants to have the potential to open up access to more than 40,000 small airfields and almost 5,000 medium-sized airports.
Flyvbird maintains that regional airlines cannot currently manage the volatility of customer demand at a regional level. According to Lang, its AI algorithm is the key to matching supply with demand, with Flyvbird collecting the money for flights—in much the same way that Uber does for car services—and then paying operators previously agreed rates.
The company has identified around another 30 airports in Germany alone where it believes demand will support flights in small aircraft with seat prices that, when the service is scaled up, will be comparable to the cost of trips in cars and trains. It estimates prices of around €225 for a one-hour flight.
From next week, Flyvbird’s bookable flights will be posted on major global distribution networks such as Expedia. It has an agreement with Spanish charter operator Euroairlines to use its IATA code, Q4.
Lang has previous experience as managing director of prospective eVTOL air taxi network Volocopter Air Service and as CEO of Swiss carrier Sky Work Airlines. Flyvbird’s leadership team has corporate backgrounds with airlines including Germanwings, Condor, and Air Berlin, as well as financial institutions including Credit Suisse and data management specialist AustriaCard.
Flyvbird has also evaluated Tecnam’s P2012 aircraft for its charter network. In the longer term, it wants to use hybrid-electric regional airliners such as the EL9 UltraShort being developed by Electra Aero.

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