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Southern Airways Express Expands Again with New Merger

Southern’s first KingAir200 in Chadron, Neb. (Photo: Southern Airways Express)

Palm Beach, Fla.-based Southern Airways Express has been growing immensely since its founding in 2013, with its most recent rapid growth being only two months ago in March of 2022 when it acquired Air Choice One. This recent news will be its sixth merger or acquisition as it was announced today in a company memo that the airline would be merging with Los Angeles-based company Surf Air Mobility.

In addition to this merger with Southern Airways Express, Surf Air Mobility has announced another merger with Tuscan Holdings Corp. II on Wednesday. This new combination of the three companies means they will be going public this coming fall, subject to satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions.

But have no fear, in this merger, the Southern Airways Express name will live on along with their Mokulele Airlines affiliate in Hawaii. The current CEO of Southern Airways Express, Stan Little, will continue to run the airline post-merger and will now serve as the president of Surf Air Mobility. In addition, Surf Air Mobility plans on upgrading Southern’s current fleet of Cessna 208s to hybrid-electric aircraft using technology developed by MagniX and AeroTEC.

In addition to the news of another merger, the Palm Beach-based airline has also announced via a social media post that it will be more than doubling the company’s fleet, with the purchase of 100 brand new Cessna 208 Grand Caravans.

A Southern Airways Express Cessna 208 (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)

This will bring the total number of aircraft in its fleet up to over 150 aircraft, with 140 of them being Cessna 208s. The new Cessna 208s will begin delivery to Southern hopefully this fall and will happen at a rate of three per quarter.

Joey Gerardi

Author

  • Joey Gerardi

    Joe has always been interested in planes, for as long as he can remember. He grew up in Central New York during the early 2000s when US Airways Express turboprops ruled the skies. Being from a non-aviation family made it harder for him to be around planes and would only spend about three hours a month at the airport. He was so excited when he could drive by himself and the first thing he did with the license was get ice cream and go plane spotting for the entire day. When he has the time (and money) he likes to take spotting trips to any location worth a visit. He’s currently enrolled at Western Michigan University earning a degree in Aviation Management and Operations.

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