Premium airlines trying to survive the chaos
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Posted on: September 19th, 2008 by Dave Bess
The Open Skies pact between the European Union and the United States allows airlines to fly between any EU and US city. One company to take advantage of the new policy is British Airways who debuted OpenSkies which is a premium class carrier. As airlines around the world are struggling to stay solvent some wonder what find of future premium airline carriers will have.
The managing director of OpenSkies, Dale Moss, has said: “Yes, the timing! If I knew 16 months ago what we know now, I would have found other ways to make money than the airline business. But we’re in for the longer play; many people doing the trans-Atlantic journey are looking for better value, a better product; and we can deliver that. Demonstrating the difference is easier to do when everyone else is hunkering down. We’re a low cost-base company. This is our time.”
OpenSkies recently bought out the French airline L’Avion which has helped the company expand their customer base. Moss said it was “the chance for us to look east; Paris to the Middle East, even further. We’re looking at how to connect New York with other continental European cities.”
Other airlines are not so anxious to become premium carriers. A spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic said “The jury is still out on whether premium-only airlines can survive; we do keep an eye on it, but it is certainly not a priority for the next two years. The market is contracting right now, and airlines are cutting capacity; so it seems odd that OpenSkies could survive in this climate.”
www.flyopenskies.com
www.virgin-atlantic.com