The company was founded in June 1985 by Glasgow lawyer Frank Cannon. Scheduled operations were launched in early 1986 with a Glasgow to
Donegal service using 9 passenger
Britten Norman Islander aircraft. A planned expansion saw the recruitment of a number of ex
Air Ecosse staff, including Malinair's General Manager and Operations Manager. In the summer of 1986, Malinair began operating the former
Air Ecosse Aberdeen-Glasgow-
Belfast service with a leased
Dornier 228 from
Schreiner Airways (PH-SDO, re-registered G-MLDO cn8009) using Ecosse's route licence and WG flight code. By the following year the company had 3 BN2 Islanders (G-MALI, G-MALN, G-MALB) and 2 further Do.228s (G-MLNR cn8108 & G-CFIN cn8096) operating a mix of daytime schedule/charter and night mail flights. 1987 heralded an expansion of service from Donegal with the launch of flights to
Manchester using a Do.228, whilst another
Dornier operated Glasgow-
Teesside-
Gatwick. For a short time a BN2 Islander operated a Glasgow to Humberside service. Night mail flights were operated from Belfast, Glasgow and Aberdeen, primarily for
Datapost. Despite ambitious plans including a £15 million contract for 7 Dorniers, the company ceased operations in the autumn of 1987. The end of Mailinair was complex with the shareholders agreeing in June 1987 to sell the company to Air Ecosse. Air Ecosse had itself been in administration since January 1987 and had only recently been bought by Isle of Man-based Traditional Investments for £477,000. Air Ecosse was in turn sold the following year to another Aberdeen based airline, Peregrine Air Services. == Fleet ==