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Sunvil boss to head Wyatt-backed Viking UK
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Chris Gray
Noel Josephides is set to head a new UK offshoot of Viking Airlines, the Sweden-based carrier with links to the failed XL Leisure Group.
The Sunvil managing director, Abta board member and Aito director will be non-executive chairman of Viking Airlines UK if it is granted an air operator’s certificate by the CAA.
The non-exec role will not affect his position at Sunvil.
The move will be seen as controversial because former XL chief executive Phil Wyatt controls about 40% of Viking Airlines through his investment vehicle, Black Pearl Investments.
Josephides said Wyatt would have no direct involvement in Viking UK and the new airline was needed to provide capacity for small operators that have struggled to access seats on Tui, Thomas Cook and Monarch flights.
“There are a lot of people who are not going to like it but this is a benefit for the independent tour operator. It’s important we have an independent carrier,” he said.
Josephides was highly critical of the XL group after its collapse in 2008, but in May he praised Viking as the “saviour” of small operators.
“I lost £100,000 on XL but by flying with Viking this summer I have saved myself £200,000 on rates quoted by other airlines,” he said. “This will save independent tour operators money.”
Viking has previously attracted complaints about quality of service, but Josephides said he would ensure it was a “Rolls-Royce” service. “I am not about to do anything that would compromise my reputation,” he said.
The new airline plans to operate a fleet of up to five 189-seat Boeing 737-800s to mid-haul destinations such as Egypt and Turkey, as well as Greece and the Canary Islands.
Viking operates under a Swedish operating licence and needs the CAA certificate to fly from the UK to more EU destinations.
Josephides said the licence application was likely to be submitted within three weeks and the airline should be operating by next spring.
Last year Josephides was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to set up a similar operation, code-named Project James, with former Zoom UK boss Jonathan Hinkles, which many operators hoped would rival Viking.
• Josephides to chair The Travel Foundation (15 Sep 2009)
• Viking hailed as operators' lifeline (21 May 2009)
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