Varsity Express
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Oxford
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Whois shows the web site as being registered in Suffolk. Looking at the Linksair web site they are relatively new and their AOC was issued last year. As far as I can tell their aircraft was up for charter through Diamond Air Charter.
Learjet50, I disagree with you. I live in Oxford and I really believe there are plenty of people who will use a service to Edinburgh. Flybe or someone like that would have been nice, but at the moment we'll take anything over the train.
I just hope they don't crew their aircraft with snotty nosed wannabe fly gods from OAA.
Learjet50, I disagree with you. I live in Oxford and I really believe there are plenty of people who will use a service to Edinburgh. Flybe or someone like that would have been nice, but at the moment we'll take anything over the train.
I just hope they don't crew their aircraft with snotty nosed wannabe fly gods from OAA.
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Whois shows the web site as being registered in Suffolk. Looking at the Linksair web site they are relatively new and their AOC was issued last year. As far as I can tell their aircraft was up for charter through Diamond Air Charter.
Learjet50, I disagree with you. I live in Oxford and I really believe there are plenty of people who will use a service to Edinburgh. Flybe or someone like that would have been nice, but at the moment we'll take anything over the train.
I just hope they don't crew their aircraft with snotty nosed wannabe fly gods from OAA.
Learjet50, I disagree with you. I live in Oxford and I really believe there are plenty of people who will use a service to Edinburgh. Flybe or someone like that would have been nice, but at the moment we'll take anything over the train.
I just hope they don't crew their aircraft with snotty nosed wannabe fly gods from OAA.
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I just hope they don't crew their aiircraft with snotty nosed wannabe fly gods from OAA.
Anyway, newbies are not applicable due to the minimum hours requirement and lack of type rating.
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I just hope they don't crew their aiircraft with snotty nosed wannabe fly gods from OAA.
Anyway, newbies are not applicable due to the minimum hours requirement and lack of type rating.
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Apologies, I am referring to those who are selling their souls (well, actually paying to have their souls removed!) by OAA at £34k+ a time to easyJet and bmi with no hope of a job. Not those who did their initial training at OAA. These pay to fly cadets are the reason that I am now without a job and my wife and kids are starring into the abyss.
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Apologies, I am referring to those who are selling their souls (well, actually paying to have their souls removed!) by OAA at £34k+ a time to easyJet and bmi with no hope of a job. Not those who did their initial training at OAA. These pay to fly cadets are the reason that I am now without a job and my wife and kids are starring into the abyss.
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Their Website shows requirements for a Captain rated on the J31/32. Also a link for Cabin Crew. Does anyone know if they are recruiting First Officers,seems strange that they are recruiting and not Liksair who are providing the acft.
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Barton Upon Humber
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Linksair
Potential - Linksair started operations last year. They have a Type B operating license with a registered office in Hull. Operationally they are based at HUY and operate charters with a Jetstream 31, owned by Diamond Air Charter who have an office in Grimsby. Maintenance is carried out by Roissy International
This thread is from last year http://www.pprune.org/biz-jets-ag-fl...r-charter.html
This thread is from last year http://www.pprune.org/biz-jets-ag-fl...r-charter.html
Join Date: Dec 2004
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Linksair
Potential - Linksair started operations last year. They have a Type B operating license with a registered office in Hull. Operationally they are based at HUY and operate charters with a Jetstream 31, owned by Diamond Air Charter who have an office in Grimsby. Maintenance is carried out by Roissy International
This thread is from last year http://www.pprune.org/biz-jets-ag-fl...r-charter.html
This thread is from last year http://www.pprune.org/biz-jets-ag-fl...r-charter.html
Join Date: Dec 2009
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I emailed the airline for some more information and got an email back from a guy called Will Gilligan. Apparently they are launching ticket sales tomorrow, they have two aircraft through Linksair one which they are leasing and another which is available to them in case of tech issues. They seem to already have flight crew sadly as I was going to put an application through with them but they aren't looking to take on an old air dog like me!
Good luck to them I say! I'll be using them at some point I'm sure.
Good luck to them I say! I'll be using them at some point I'm sure.
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I emailed the airline for some more information and got an email back from a guy called Will Gilligan. Apparently they are launching ticket sales tomorrow, they have two aircraft through Linksair one which they are leasing and another which is available to them in case of tech issues. They seem to already have flight crew sadly as I was going to put an application through with them but they aren't looking to take on an old air dog like me!
Good luck to them I say! I'll be using them at some point I'm sure.
Good luck to them I say! I'll be using them at some point I'm sure.
Join Date: Nov 2007
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re the first post
The Investors have been involved in UK/Spanish properties
and the entertaiment industry
Does anybody in property make a profit right now NO
One of the threads stated Jersey and Geneva seem to have done well
Jersey is a seasonal route for Charters etc so thats no comparison
Geneve is a seasonal route Winter only and looking at the Pax numbers it cant be making Money
I Can only wish Varsity Express the best of luck but hope they have lots of tissues when the crying starts
The Investors have been involved in UK/Spanish properties
and the entertaiment industry
Does anybody in property make a profit right now NO
One of the threads stated Jersey and Geneva seem to have done well
Jersey is a seasonal route for Charters etc so thats no comparison
Geneve is a seasonal route Winter only and looking at the Pax numbers it cant be making Money
I Can only wish Varsity Express the best of luck but hope they have lots of tissues when the crying starts
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: crawley
Age: 74
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re the first post
The Investors have been involved in UK/Spanish properties
and the entertaiment industry
Does anybody in property make a profit right now NO
One of the threads stated Jersey and Geneva seem to have done well
Jersey is a seasonal route for Charters etc so thats no comparison
Geneve is a seasonal route Winter only and looking at the Pax numbers it cant be making Money
I Can only wish Varsity Express the best of luck but hope they have lots of tissues when the crying starts
The Investors have been involved in UK/Spanish properties
and the entertaiment industry
Does anybody in property make a profit right now NO
One of the threads stated Jersey and Geneva seem to have done well
Jersey is a seasonal route for Charters etc so thats no comparison
Geneve is a seasonal route Winter only and looking at the Pax numbers it cant be making Money
I Can only wish Varsity Express the best of luck but hope they have lots of tissues when the crying starts
Thread Starter
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The Varsity story has just got very interesting....I've done a credit check on the company and Martin Halstead is listed as a director. For the uninformed, he was the young lad behind Alpha One, an airline that never quite made it back in 2005. The initially intended to fly an Oxford-Cambridge shuttle, but that was later abandoned in favour of operating out of Isle of Man, initially to Southampton or Edinburgh. Other proposed destinations from IOM included Jersey, Cardiff and Leeds.
I know that some of the posts that will follow will be purely to slag off Mr Halstead, but this guy has to be given some credit for his commitment and perseverance. Good luck to him! He deserves to succeed.
With his experience of what went wrong with Alpha One, maybe this time he might just live up to his 'Baby Branson' nickname...
I know that some of the posts that will follow will be purely to slag off Mr Halstead, but this guy has to be given some credit for his commitment and perseverance. Good luck to him! He deserves to succeed.
With his experience of what went wrong with Alpha One, maybe this time he might just live up to his 'Baby Branson' nickname...
Last edited by Potential; 20th Jan 2010 at 10:51.
Thread Starter
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The Varsity story has just got very interesting....I've done a credit check on the company and Martin Halstead is listed as a director. For the uninformed, he was the young lad behind Alpha One, an airline that never quite made it back in 2005. The initially intended to fly an Oxford-Cambridge shuttle, but that was later abandoned in favour of operating out of Isle of Man, initially to Southampton or Edinburgh. Other proposed destinations from IOM included Jersey, Cardiff and Leeds.
I know that some of the posts that will follow will be purely to slag off Mr Halstead, but this guy has to be given some credit for his commitment and perseverance. Good luck to him! He deserves to succeed. With his experience of what went wrong with Alpha One, maybe this time he might just live up to his 'Baby Branson' nickname...
I know that some of the posts that will follow will be purely to slag off Mr Halstead, but this guy has to be given some credit for his commitment and perseverance. Good luck to him! He deserves to succeed.
With his experience of what went wrong with Alpha One, maybe this time he might just live up to his 'Baby Branson' nickname...
A Runyonesque Character
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: The South of France ... Not
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This seems like a case of once bitten, twice bitten.
The lunacy of this project boggles me. The commercial viability of OXF-CBG was zero, in the case of Edinburgh it’s maybe double that.
At £49 one way plus booking fee (are they legally allowed to advertise £49 if all bookings attract an extra fee?) they might get some traffic but they can’t make money. I notice from the booking engine (yes, I tried it) that £16+ goes in fees and charges, which leaves even less to pay the bills.
Two aircraft available for the service? Hmm. Profitable airlines work their shorthaul aircraft ten hours a day, every day. Here you have two aircraft providing three hours of money-earning flight time, five days a week.
Did I say profitable airlines? This is the worst time in history for the airline business.
Of course, if they prove me wrong and are still flying by 2012, they will be hit (like everybody else) with the EU emissions trading scheme. Are they up to date with all the paperwork, have they submitted their business plan, have they factored it into their financial projections?
I fear they have a lot of hard lessons to learn and they will learn them sooner rather than later.
The lunacy of this project boggles me. The commercial viability of OXF-CBG was zero, in the case of Edinburgh it’s maybe double that.
At £49 one way plus booking fee (are they legally allowed to advertise £49 if all bookings attract an extra fee?) they might get some traffic but they can’t make money. I notice from the booking engine (yes, I tried it) that £16+ goes in fees and charges, which leaves even less to pay the bills.
Two aircraft available for the service? Hmm. Profitable airlines work their shorthaul aircraft ten hours a day, every day. Here you have two aircraft providing three hours of money-earning flight time, five days a week.
Did I say profitable airlines? This is the worst time in history for the airline business.
Of course, if they prove me wrong and are still flying by 2012, they will be hit (like everybody else) with the EU emissions trading scheme. Are they up to date with all the paperwork, have they submitted their business plan, have they factored it into their financial projections?
I fear they have a lot of hard lessons to learn and they will learn them sooner rather than later.
A Runyonesque Character
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: The South of France ... Not
Age: 74
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This seems like a case of once bitten, twice bitten.
The lunacy of this project boggles me. The commercial viability of OXF-CBG was zero, in the case of Edinburgh it’s maybe double that.
At £49 one way plus booking fee (are they legally allowed to advertise £49 if all bookings attract an extra fee?) they might get some traffic but they can’t make money. I notice from the booking engine (yes, I tried it) that £16+ goes in fees and charges, which leaves even less to pay the bills.
Two aircraft available for the service? Hmm. Profitable airlines work their shorthaul aircraft ten hours a day, every day. Here you have two aircraft providing three hours of money-earning flight time, five days a week.
Did I say profitable airlines? This is the worst time in history for the airline business.
Of course, if they prove me wrong and are still flying by 2012, they will be hit (like everybody else) with the EU emissions trading scheme. Are they up to date with all the paperwork, have they submitted their business plan, have they factored it into their financial projections?
I fear they have a lot of hard lessons to learn and they will learn them sooner rather than later.
The lunacy of this project boggles me. The commercial viability of OXF-CBG was zero, in the case of Edinburgh it’s maybe double that.
At £49 one way plus booking fee (are they legally allowed to advertise £49 if all bookings attract an extra fee?) they might get some traffic but they can’t make money. I notice from the booking engine (yes, I tried it) that £16+ goes in fees and charges, which leaves even less to pay the bills.
Two aircraft available for the service? Hmm. Profitable airlines work their shorthaul aircraft ten hours a day, every day. Here you have two aircraft providing three hours of money-earning flight time, five days a week.
Did I say profitable airlines? This is the worst time in history for the airline business.
Of course, if they prove me wrong and are still flying by 2012, they will be hit (like everybody else) with the EU emissions trading scheme. Are they up to date with all the paperwork, have they submitted their business plan, have they factored it into their financial projections?
I fear they have a lot of hard lessons to learn and they will learn them sooner rather than later.