Airlines Seek Trans-Atlantic Routes

[hkskyline]

Airlines Seek Trans-Atlantic Routes
Carriers Target Travelers In Business, Luxury Markets With Some New Perquisites
By Avery Johnson
8 June 2005
The Wall Street Journal

The skies between the U.S. and Europe stand to get more crowded this fall, if new airlines can clear regulatory hurdles and take flight.

On the heels of a significant rebound in luxury and business travel, a high-end carrier called Eos was set to announce today that it has raised enough money to start flying between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and London's Stansted Airport this fall, pending regulatory approvals.

Eos, based in Purchase, N.Y., is the latest entrant that hopes to tap the lucrative but crowded trans-Atlantic market. Those routes command some of the highest fares in the skies, and a number of carriers are introducing services designed to target travelers who once might have paid top dollar to fly the supersonic Concorde, before that aircraft was retired in recent years. Established international airlines have been going after these jetsetters by making flat beds and other perks a priority as well in their most expensive cabins.

MAXjet Airways Inc., a start-up based in Dulles, Va., this month hopes to receive its approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to offer a mix of business-class and coach-class seating, and potentially start charter and scheduled services as early as the fall. It also is interested in the route between the East Coast and London's Stansted, which currently doesn't have direct scheduled service from the U.S. The carrier currently has one Boeing 767 airplane.

Eos is targeting travelers willing to pay a premium for extra elbow room. The company says it will outfit 757s -- which normally hold 228 seats -- in a 48-seat configuration. Prices haven't been set, but Eos hopes to charge fares 20% to 25% below standard business-class fares on the route, says David Spurlock, a former British Airways executive who is the airline's chief executive.

Eos, formerly Atlantic Express, will have a staggered-seat configuration, so each person will have direct access to the aisle. The seats will recline into a flat bed of six feet and six inches, and two people will be able to sit across from each other.

Much of the action is part of a broader series of moves to court the luxury traveler, who has money to spend again and who has in part become disillusioned with commercial aviation and post-Sept. 11 security measures. Geneva-based business-aviation company PrivatAir launched business-class shuttles for Swiss International Air Lines this past winter, after a successful partnership running services between Europe and the U.S. for Lufthansa. Another start-up, Primaris Airlines Inc., is hoping to start low-fare scheduled services targeting business travelers domestically and on trans-Atlantic routes within six to eight months. For the past year the carrier based in Las Vegas has been flying charter planes.

Greg Thomas, CEO of PrivatAir, says that since he started the business-class-only shuttles between Zurich and Newark, N.J., the planes have been 80% full. The runs out of Germany are 70% occupied on average. Mr. Spurlock says the premium trans-Atlantic market is valued at $10 billion a year, and is growing annually by double-digit percentages.

"We've been receiving a start-up business plan every month for the past three years," Mr. Thomas of PrivatAir says, referring to attempts to get his company to invest in projects, operate services or franchise its own brand. "Business-class traffic seems to be coming back and the start-ups are getting more of a hearing from banks."

Some new airlines still face significant hurdles before they can take flight. Eos doesn't yet have FAA and Department of Transportation approval, and its ability to take off around Sept. 14 is contingent on that process going smoothly. Eos needs to persuade regulators that it meets safety standards and that there is enough money in the bank to weather the turbulent first years in operation.

Starting an airline never has been easy, and during the downturn a lot of new entrants bottomed out. The DOT between 1999 and 2004 authorized 15 new scheduled carriers to operate. Only seven of those are now flying -- the rest either folded, or got their regulatory approval only to never get off the ground. At MAXJet, chief marketing and information officer Mike Malik had hoped that the carrier would get its FAA approval in the first quarter of this year.

John Wensveen, who specializes in airline management and operations at the Velocity Group, an industry consultant based in Washington, D.C., says the high-end market is limited to a finite group of big spenders who may choose traditional airlines because of their ability to link them up with a bigger network or use awards programs. Alan Bender, a professor of aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, says "in the U.S., it's easier to launch a start-up because so much of the service is so awful. International service is already quite good."

Nonetheless, Mr. Spurlock says he is confident that his airline can make it, citing the fact that it has raised $85 million in equity and has $100 million in lease financing. It currently has leased three 757 jets. Golden Gate Capital is the lead equity investor. JetBlue Airways Corp., by contrast, had $130 million in equity when it started flying in 2000.

The FAA says Eos and MAXjet have submitted their documents and are in the process of getting certified. The DOT says MAXjet in March had met the department's financial standards; Eos' paperwork is pending. Mr. Malik at MAXjet declined to discuss the company's financing.

[hkskyline]

Two Europe Airlines to Fly Business-Only
13 October 2006
The Wall Street Journal

LONDON -- Two European airlines announced plans to launch business-class-only flights across the Atlantic, in a bid to lure business traffic away from trans-Atlantic carriers.

U.K.-based Silverjet is aiming to entice passengers peeved by delays at London's congested Heathrow Airport and plans to start flights from Luton airport, north of London, to Newark, N.J., in January. Elysair, a start-up French business-class airline, plans to launch operations in December, with flights between Paris's Orly airport and Newark.

The airlines will join U.S.-based Eos Airlines and MAXjet Airways in offering business class-only trans-Atlantic flights. MAXjet and EOS each operate from Stansted Airport, also north of London.

Silverjet is offering an average return fare of about GBP 999 ($1,853) compared with an average business-class fare of about GBP 3,100, said Chief Executive Lawrence Hunt. Elysair Chairman Marc Rochet said fares will be competitive with mainstream airlines.

[hkskyline]

UK Airlines Seek To Trump BA On US Routes -Report
15 August 2007
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Virgin Atlantic and bmi, the U.K. airlines, are seeking permission to form partnerships with U.S. carriers on transatlantic flights as part of a strategy to take on British Airways PLC (BAY.LN), according to The Times in London on Thursday.

Bmi, formerly British Midland, submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Transport requesting permission to code-share with United Airlines, the newspaper said.

Virgin already has a code-share arrangement with Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) and has applied to extend its partnership to another U.S. city, Chicago, to which Virgin began flying in April, according to The Times.

The airlines are positioning themselves to take advantage of "open skies", which will liberalize transatlantic travel as of next March, the newspaper said. The change in rules will allow any airline to operate from Heathrow, the main transatlantic hub, to the U.S., The Times said.

[LocksRocks]

Doesn't BMI already code share with United. I'm sure they used to do it out of Manchester on Transatlantic routes?

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by LocksRocks

Doesn't BMI already code share with United. I'm sure they used to do it out of Manchester on Transatlantic routes?

BMI is part of Star Alliance, right? So is United.