Full, unpublished text as promised...
A NEW airline for Scotland is set to be unveiled next week, offering low-cost scheduled flights to Europe.
Air-Scotland promises to offer cheap services from Glasgow to destinations such as Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Malaga.
The fledgling airline is being launched by the businessmen behind tour operator Viva Espana.
Speculation about the venture has been rife since the firm began recruiting pilots and cabin crew last month.
The company claims it will operate Boeing 757 aircraft which can accommodate more than 200 passengers. It has reportedly taken delivery of one aircraft and is expecting another.
The formal launch is set to take place in Glasgow next week and the airline could soon be taking bookings for flights to five or more Mediterranean destinations starting as early as Easter.
Although Air-Scotland was in talks with Glasgow Prestwick, which has already attracted low-cost operators such as Ryanair, it is thought the new services could operate from Glasgow Airport, run by BAA plc.
BAA would not comment on Air-Scotland, but experts welcomed news of carrier based north of the border.
Aviation commentator David Wragg said: “It is good news and let’s hope they succeed despite the competition from the big players such as EasyJet or Ryanair.
“Scheduled services are to be welcomed because they will help to bring in more passengers through Scotland’s airports on a regular basis.”
Although television advertisements for Air-Scotland have already been broadcast, management at the company would not discuss the airline yesterday, saying full details would be revealed at the launch “sometime next week”.
A spokesman, who would not give his full name, said some press coverage of Air-Scotland had been “inaccurate” but refused to say what the mistakes had been.
He would not confirm whether the information given on the airline’s website - which has already been created to take ’dummy’ reservations - was correct.
The website currently claims Air-Scotland will offer two types of cabin - Tartan Class, equivalent to Economy, and Thistle Class - to Alicante, Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Malaga, Palma and Tenerife.
It also says Air-Scotland services will be “operated by Electra Airlines”, although the only known operator called Electra Airlines is a charter firm based in Greece which uses older, larger, DC-10 aircraft usually associated with long-haul flights. No-one at Electra Airlines was available for comment.
The airline’s manager, Raymond McMillan, told Air Transport Intelligence Magazine last month that full details of the carrier would be revealed soon, and said he hoped to offer a low-cost airline with frills.
The head of the airline is Dhai Al-Ani, managing director of Glasgow tour operator Discount Holidays and head of Viva Espana. He says there is no connection between Discount Holidays and Air-Scotland except through himself. Calls for Air-Scotland are being taken at the offices of Viva Espana.
Mr Wragg said potential passengers should not be put off by the scale of the Air-Scotland venture.
He said: “Even EasyJet had to start somewhere. It is quite common for new start-up airlines to lease aircraft and outsource some of their operations to begin with.
“If they pick the right mix of destinations and market themselves well, they should succeed.”
BTW, how/why are BAA "very familiar" with Air Scotland?
Now that would be telling
It's fair to say we could be looking at GLA, GLA+EDI or PIK+EDI but I would be surprised if BAA were not involved somewhere.