Cityjet
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Cardiff
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BMI Baby were also unheard of in Wales before they opened their base.....they operated 3 daily flights with B737-300's and the load factors were always high, especially EDI......and I know as I was present at check-in for these flights
The Flybe prices were no where near BMI fares so as I said City Jet need to offer some good fares.
As for ORY, there are still plenty of connections from there and has excellent links into the city centre.....plus a good range of domestic routes with AF too
The Flybe prices were no where near BMI fares so as I said City Jet need to offer some good fares.
As for ORY, there are still plenty of connections from there and has excellent links into the city centre.....plus a good range of domestic routes with AF too
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London (Babylon-on-Thames)
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The fares offered by WW were based on filling a B737 on a low cost base, the same fares will not be possible on a Fokker 50 on the cost base at CityJet, especially given the generous seating pitch.
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Ireland
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That's fair enough. However (a) the first aircraft will start flying out of Cardiff in January, well before any sale to new owners is concluded; and (b) with a fleet of elderly F50s and gas-guzzling RJ85s, there's limited scope to change business models.
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Ireland
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Being given Cityjet for free and a chunk of cash and wet-lease contracts as a dowry may allow Intro to break even on an operating basis (assuming there are not too many more escapades like CWL to be announced
) but I can see no way it can finance refleeting.
Cyrano - I agree with you that financing new shiny kit will be extremely difficult, but to play devil's advicate, how much longer can the existing fleet keep going in a reliable and cost-effective manner?
Planes may undergo very strict and regular inspection/maintenance, but they are ultimately made up of lots of moving parts that undergo various stresses like rapid and repeated changes of temperature, vibrations, weather, etc - and so like any machine they eventually wear out one way or another...
Bearpit - tickets for Dundee remain on sale until 29 March 2014. There's more on the Dundee thread
http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airpo...dundee-31.html
Planes may undergo very strict and regular inspection/maintenance, but they are ultimately made up of lots of moving parts that undergo various stresses like rapid and repeated changes of temperature, vibrations, weather, etc - and so like any machine they eventually wear out one way or another...
Bearpit - tickets for Dundee remain on sale until 29 March 2014. There's more on the Dundee thread
http://www.pprune.org/airlines-airpo...dundee-31.html
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 23rd Dec 2013 at 16:51.
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: MAN
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The words "Fly" and "Be" spring to mind. They managed to burn through the dowry from BA, much of the IPO proceeds, and were about to chomp on the easyJet slot sale proceeds before they realised they had a terminal cash flow problem - to a large extent resulting from an ill-judged refleeting programme (and madcap diversification into Scandinavia).
Join Date: Oct 2012
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Looks like ten of the 19 RJ85's are leased, however the F50's look as if they are fully owned. I think a newer, greener, more reliable, faster, fleet could enable better utilisation, but it depends how much investment the buyers are prepared to make (unlikely).
Join Date: May 2006
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VLM's AOC
Does anybody know if VLM is still holding its original AOC no. B-3004 after its operation was officially fully integrated into BCY on 11.JAN.2010?
I recently observed some flights operated under the VLM designator (3 flights by OO-VLL on 13.DEC.2013 and 3 flights by OO-VLI on 16.DEC.2013).
Thanks for some enlightment.
I recently observed some flights operated under the VLM designator (3 flights by OO-VLL on 13.DEC.2013 and 3 flights by OO-VLI on 16.DEC.2013).
Thanks for some enlightment.
Join Date: Sep 2012
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The words "Fly" and "Be" spring to mind. They managed to burn through the dowry from BA, much of the IPO proceeds, and were about to chomp on the easyJet slot sale proceeds before they realised they had a terminal cash flow problem - to a large extent resulting from an ill-judged refleeting programme (and madcap diversification into Scandinavia).
Join Date: Nov 1999
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The boss of Intro Aviation, which has made an offer to buy Cityjet, has said he wants to merge it with his German/Austrian regional carrier Intersky (5 ATRs IIRC) to create a pan-European regional carrier big enough not to be pushed around by Lufthansa: Reuters story here.
I'm just not seeing this. European regional aviation is a bloodbath. While I wish it well, Cityjet has an obsolete fleet, no recent history of profitability, and a dwindling number of routes. How is it magically going to generate enough cash to refleet as it would need to do for longer-term survival, or is the Intro idea to replicate the VLM old-aircraft low-capital-cost low-utilisation model outside UK & Ireland?
I'm just not seeing this. European regional aviation is a bloodbath. While I wish it well, Cityjet has an obsolete fleet, no recent history of profitability, and a dwindling number of routes. How is it magically going to generate enough cash to refleet as it would need to do for longer-term survival, or is the Intro idea to replicate the VLM old-aircraft low-capital-cost low-utilisation model outside UK & Ireland?
Join Date: Dec 2013
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Cityjet actually needs a geographic territory to dominate and defend. It had LCY but nowhere else, and now this is diminishing. Their CWL adventure should be interesting.
Being a market sector champion makes you vulnerable to frequency, network and fare competition - you are not just competing with LH in German-speaking regions (der Zug und das Auto are pretty mean competitors).
You also end up having to serve too many markets to sustain the fleet, as Flybe finds; serving cross Irish Sea, UK inter-city, sun spot, gite, big city, mature leisure markets and codeshare/interline and other feeder routes is too complex and unfocussed. Unlike Flybe (when BA abandoned the regions), there is no natural vacuum for the airline to fill. Franchises are unfashionable and brand-building is expensive.
Good luck Herr Woerhl.
Being a market sector champion makes you vulnerable to frequency, network and fare competition - you are not just competing with LH in German-speaking regions (der Zug und das Auto are pretty mean competitors).
You also end up having to serve too many markets to sustain the fleet, as Flybe finds; serving cross Irish Sea, UK inter-city, sun spot, gite, big city, mature leisure markets and codeshare/interline and other feeder routes is too complex and unfocussed. Unlike Flybe (when BA abandoned the regions), there is no natural vacuum for the airline to fill. Franchises are unfashionable and brand-building is expensive.
Good luck Herr Woerhl.
Join Date: Nov 2005
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CityJet RJ85 fleet
Let us not forget that of the 19 currently operated RJ85's, 10 will be returning to lessor between Jan 14 and June 15, thus leaving them with only 9 operational jets plus the F.50's.
Join Date: Feb 2007
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When did they pull off LCY-EDI route and why? Thought that would have been a good earner.
Edinburgh
Cityjet dropped the route after deciding it was no longer a commercially viable option
Let us not forget that of the 19 currently operated RJ85's, 10 will be returning to lessor between Jan 14 and June 15
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