Originally Posted by
jamessh
Hi all,
You would be surprised how little startup capital is needed to start operations with a single ATR 42. There is the potential to bid for the PSO when that comes round shortly and that's 2-4 million in cash right there in capital if an advance payment deal is reached.
James,
That explains why there are so many successful regional airline startups these days, right?
Before you go too far in your cunning plan to demand PSO funding up front to cover startup costs (surely an offer that the PSO granting authority couldn't refuse?
), please look into the concept of "financial fitness".
Here's an extract from a
relevant page of the CAA website (my emphasis):
Applicants for a Type A Operating Licence must demonstrate that they have sufficient funding for the first two years of operations, including that they are able to meet their costs for the first three months of operations without income.
The exact amount of funding is established by the CAA based on a realistic business plan submitted by the applicant.
The idea of starting an airline is very seductive. It is also an exceptionally fast route to financial disaster. I would love to see more regional airlines and my sincere good wishes go to anyone with a well-founded plan for launching a new carrier, but I'm sorry, if you come in to this forum and announce in your very first post to an audience which includes a range of current and past airline professionals who still bear the scars "
You would be surprised how little startup capital is needed to start operations with a single ATR 42..." you lose every shred of credibility in my eyes. How many regional airlines have you been involved with?
If you are interested in this area, then I would genuinely encourage you to study it in more detail, whether at college or by working in the industry to gain a basic sense of how precarious the economics are.