Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Chris Jasper/LONDON
A group of 15 second tier and regional European airlines is to press ahead with a radical plan aimed at maximising their exposure in the USA through an innovative travel pass scheme.
The programme, run by Los Angeles-based Europe by Air, is modelled on rail pass schemes and is aimed at US customers who use rail or fly with European flag carriers, often on flights booked with major US transatlantic carriers.
A pilot scheme launched in the USA last year has been so successful that Europe by Air plans to extend the programme to Australia and New Zealand.
Participating airlines are Alpi Eagles and Air One of Italy, Air Greece, Germany's Augsburg Airways, Ireland's CityJet, Croatia Airlines, Debonair of the UK, Estonian Air, Icelandair (on mainland European routes), Portugalia, Spanair and Belgium's Virgin Express and VLM.
A fifteenth, Netherlands-based commuter carrier Trans Travel Airlines, has been added, while at least two more are close to joining. Others - including Nordic carriers - are considering membership.
The scheme offers one-way travel on selected routes for $90, with tickets valid for non-stop flights on any part of the Europe by Air route network. The only stipulation is that customers must buy at least three tickets.
"They are not standby and there are no blackout periods, but we encourage passengers to make reservations or call ahead," says Europe by Air president Bill Wolf. Routes that do not offer enough yield, or which offer low seat-availability, have been excluded.
Wolf says the scheme generates "incremental traffic" for airlines that "do not compete directly, but are complementary".
Virgin Express is the programme's "lead" airline, the scheme having been put together with the aid of the carrier's chairman Jonathan Ornstein, also chief executive of US regional Mesa. The goal is to cover all major European hubs and develop some smaller airports into secondary hubs.
nVirgin Express' net income fell to BFr26 million ($690,000) last year from BFr279 million in 1997. The last quarter showed a BFr53 billion loss, an improvement over the BFr74 million deficit of the previous year. Revenue for the year continued to rise, from BFr9.2 billion to BFr10.5 billion.
Source: Flight International
