This is from Air Transport Intelligence,
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Ciao Fly to axe Luton and overhaul network
David Kaminski-Morrow, London (21Aug02, 12:35 GMT, 326 words)
Italian start-up carrier Ciao Fly to overhaul and restructure its network after deciding to axe routes to London Luton next month, as the airline seeks to allay concerns over its future.
Ciao Fly operates services between London Luton, Parma in Italy and Paris Beauvais. But queries over the carrier’s operations arose when London Luton Airport warned earlier this week that Ciao Fly was suspending all flights to Parma and Beauvais with immediate effect. The airline, however, operated services to Luton yesterday as normal – describing the notice of imminent suspension as a “misunderstanding”.
But Ciao Fly commercial director Rainer Zeppritz admits that the Luton routes are not proving profitable and that the airline will drop the UK connection from 2 September.
“Luton will be discontinued. It’s a money-losing situation,” he says, pointing out that the carrier cannot match the intense competition of high-frequency services by budget airlines at London Stansted combined with the new British Airways fare structure.
Zeppritz adds: “Parma-Luton is only local traffic.”
Ciao Fly’s only other route is the Parma-Beauvais service which it will continue to serve. But Zeppritz says that the carrier is working on a complete revamp of its network which will focus on the Paris service and seek to establish routes from an additional airport in northern Italy.
Zeppritz declines to name the Italian airport but says that it is a “main” hub. Ciao Fly’s new network will be finalised over the next two weeks but Zeppritz is not revealing any details ahead of time. He says, however, that the airline still has plans to serve Lyon-St Etienne and Lamezia Terme, both of which feature on the carrier’s timetable from 2 September.
“We will heavily concentrate on the Paris market – it is a completely different market there [compared with the UK],” he says. “But we are also in the process of developing other routes.”
Ciao Fly launched itself as a low-fare operator in July with a British Aerospace 146 regional jet.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news