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Old 17th May 2012, 09:55
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Europort Express

Has anybody information regarding Europort Express:
Europort Express - An Aviation Project by Zivazu Ltd
Exit3 Design :: Europort Express
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Old 17th May 2012, 20:24
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Only two comments:

1. Flat fares, no revenue management
2. Flying to destinations including "London Southbend Airport"
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Old 17th May 2012, 20:30
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Where does it suggest flat fares? Also it suggests flying to airports in areas with significant offshore and port industries.

Edit; one of those links I hadnt seen before. I see what you mean about flat fares, however its pretty clear that they are targetting port traffic, and are perhaps hoping that there will be business accounts set up, perhaps how they could sell remaining seats at a flat rate?

Last edited by pug; 17th May 2012 at 22:04.
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Old 17th May 2012, 23:36
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We are to operate a strict "Same route, same date, same fare" policy. Whether you book three months or three days in advance, you can always expect to pay the same set fare for the date of travel. We won't penalise you for peak or seasonal travel.
The problem with this, and the reason why as far as I know no airline operating in a competitive environment actually applies flat fares, is that you lose early-booking traffic (because you're far more expensive than the advance-purchase leisure fares to Amsterdam) and you don't adequately compensate with revenue from late-booking fares.

pug, I do agree with you that if there is specific marine-oriented traffic, there may be a potential business demand - as long as the frequency is competitive. However one of the airline's key selling points seems to be that it gives you a fabric bag as a souvenir - that doesn't really strike me as a compelling marketing proposition for port/oil business travellers...
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Old 17th May 2012, 23:48
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I know what you mean, we have heard it all before with these new start ups.

What we know is they want to serve 10 routes initially, with two regional aircraft, at a flat fare of €29.99.. I would like to know who is backing this and if they have any credibility, but we will have to wait until mid June by the looks of it.
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Old 18th May 2012, 00:25
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Think "flat fares" went out in the 1970s.

Before that, IATA regulated fares and these were the same on all its member (mostly government-owned) carriers. There were just two classes, with first class (F) fares being double those in economy (Y). The industry was heavily regulated, to an extent that is unbelievable today.

Only the rich, the elites and airline staff (on staff travel) could travel like this, everyone else was on charters out of LTN.
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Old 18th May 2012, 00:26
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Originally Posted by pug
I know what you mean, we have heard it all before with these new start ups.

What we know is they want to serve 10 routes initially, with two regional aircraft, at a flat fare of €29.99.. I would like to know who is backing this and if they have any credibility, but we will have to wait until mid June by the looks of it.
I didn't see that info on the website - it's very interesting and utterly insane. Two reasons: first, with two aircraft they'll manage a maximum of eight round trips per day on average, so 40 Mon-Fri. Ten destinations means less than once-daily service to each, and that's just not attractive for business passengers who can choose from multiple daily flights to/from AMS. And second, if I am a business passenger who needs to go to the Netherlands for a meeting tomorrow, I'll easily be prepared to pay a couple of hundred euros (likely a lot more). To sell me a ticket at €29.99 one way is not smart, it's just leaving money on the table. Google "consumer surplus" for more on this.

Sorry, but this will not work like this. Either it will never take off or it will rapidly modify its pricing and/or network.
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Old 18th May 2012, 06:28
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Think "flat-fares" went out in the 1970s
Several airlines still have flat fares including Blue Islands in the Channel Islands - which operates in a competitive environment against Flybe and Aurigny.
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Old 18th May 2012, 07:16
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Not for the first time I find myself in complete agreement with Cyrano. Flat fares hammer cash flows - unless these guys have very deep pockets to provide a lot of working capital, this is a non runner.

TA
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Old 18th May 2012, 09:01
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There are only 9 airports, 8 destinations served from/to RTM, listed on their website so by Cyrano's calculations they would serve each destination once daily, I agree that many a destination should have a morning and evening service but each to their own ... perhaps they'll serve some destinations twice daily and other destinations only every other day ... or whatever!
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Old 18th May 2012, 09:09
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Cyrano, as usual, is talking sense.

Why adopt a flat fares policy in this day and age? The software is readily available to operate a booking system based upon yield management, the travelling public are well used to the idea and it encourages early booking with its positive effect on cash flow. The fares being quoted hardly suggest that the business traveller is their prime target, so it doesn't really seem to make any sense at all.

If they really are in a position to put tickets on sale on 11 June 2012 and commence ops on 17 September 2012 one would assume the finance is already in place. On the other hand of course........
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Old 18th May 2012, 09:27
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I'm developing a resort and there's just one 'flat fare' for the rooms, well there's a rack rate and a promo rate but there's no financial incentive to book early except that it's first come, first served, if one wants to secure their room (seat) then they book early.

Why would I want to offer early booking discounts, particularly during the high season?
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Old 18th May 2012, 09:29
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Why would I want to offer early booking discounts, particularly during the high season?
Because it gives you cash NOW. Most travel businesses work in negative WIP, and you need cash as soon as you can get it.

TA
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Old 18th May 2012, 09:51
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Flat fares cannot work in a competitive environment, and in the airline industry there is no other environment.

Several airlines still have flat fares including Blue Islands in the Channel Islands
I use them from time to time and they don't have flat fares. I think this bears that out :

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Old 18th May 2012, 10:11
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A response from someone behind it, on another forum. It goes some way to answer some of our concerns.

Good morning,

First I'd like to start out by saying how great it is to see online communities dedicated to the success and development of regional airports like Humberside. We have *no* idea where the all of a sudden interest came form over the last 24 hours, but it had to come at some point. I'd like to take a few minutes here to respond to some of your comments, just to avoid situations relating to misinterpreted information.

"their route map has a number located very close to HUY, though frustratingly it isn't decoded. It must be us or DSA though"
- It is indeed to be HUY. HUY will be one of the first routes to be available.

"It looks like it is planned to primarily serve the shipping business judging by most of the destinations, and the name. There are strong links between the Humber and Rotterdam (though is that already catered for by KLM?).. This does however just appear to be a concept at present and will only fully believe it when I see them on the tarmac.

Good to see something interesting all the same."
- This is indeed the case. We are aware of the existing demand routing via AMS, we want to bring them straight to Rotterdam. This IS targeted at the modern day business traveller, but should also prove to be a route of interest during holiday periods for the leisure traveller.

"I dont like the sound of flat fares, weve heard it all before."
- Flat fares are proposed for "Same route, same date" - it is not a matter of every flight to/from HUY will be fixed at £X. The pricing will be fixed for a set flight number on a set date. This is however, subject to change. We hope we can continue with this policy, but we need to ensure we are able to react to market conditions effectively.

"From what we know so far.

2 aircraft, 9 routes.. Either low frequency or w patterns, or perhaps with the intention to sell through tickets? I.e RTM-HUY-DUB.

Flat fares, with fares on the screenshots quoted as €29.99, so would surely need to be bigger than a J41. More something like a Dash 8-400.. It also looks like they want to set up some kind of credit system. Perhaps hoping that companies will effectively block book set seats per month for regular travel?"

-Two aircraft will initially be in operation, but not all eight routes will be available instantly. You can initially expect a minimum of two rotations per day (with three on some days) to HUY. "€29.99" is merely a placeholder price put on to our website design by the design agency which was contracted to create it.

If you have questions or concerns, there's a contact e-mail on our website at the moment. You can also follow us on Facebook + Twitter to keep in the loop.

-Meilina


Last edited by pug; 18th May 2012 at 12:50.
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Old 18th May 2012, 12:13
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Is this really from someone behind Europort Express, I wonder? Perhaps they can contact again on this forum and we can ask them some more questions....
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Old 18th May 2012, 12:47
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Is this really from someone behind Europort Express, I wonder? Perhaps they can contact again on this forum and we can ask them some more questions....
It appears they have invited people to contact them direct with questions..

If you have questions or concerns, there's a contact e-mail on our website at the moment. You can also follow us on Facebook + Twitter to keep in the loop.
There is no reason to not believe that this is someone behind this airline.

Im always skeptical when it comes to new start-ups, but I dont think we know enough about this one (particularly regarding who is backing it) to accurately judge just yet.

Last edited by pug; 18th May 2012 at 12:48.
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Old 19th May 2012, 00:13
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Guys,

There was one particular aviation venture that I became involved in a number of years back, being so involved in it I was seriously busy in the office, answering email enquiries, providing information etc. when I became aware that a pPruNe thread had been started regarding it and indeed the product was coming in for a 'flaming', in the main from a younger generation who had little, if any, idea what they were talking about.

In attempt to put a stop to this flaming I made a post to the effect that they were mistaken and for more information they should contact the office, they, pretty much, refused to do so whilst they continued flaming the product on pPruNe.

pPruNe survives by commercial advertising, they take it VERY seriously, and like the position I found myself in, I wasn't paying pPruNe for commercial advertising so I couldn't actually talk about my product on pPruNe, Europort won't be in a position to talk about their product here either unless they pay pPruNe for commercial advertising.

I've just read a couple of posts ... "I'm always skeptical" ... "to accurately judge yet" ... "to answer some of our concerns".

Please, just remember, this is all one way traffic, subject to moderation you all enjoy the freedom of speech ... Europort will not be in a position to respond to your posts because it will be interpreted that they will be commercially advertising.

And, No, I'm not involved in Europort, I live on a Pacific Ocean island.
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Old 19th May 2012, 05:48
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Comment on another forum that a mix of Fokker 50 and Jetstream 32's will be used. Facebook also mentions Jetstream 32's to Hamburg starting January 2013.

Last edited by SWBKCB; 19th May 2012 at 06:03.
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Old 19th May 2012, 07:12
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Whether or not there is any substance to Europort Express or not I honestly don't know.

What does surprise me though is that if they are planning to put flights on sale on 11th June and flights commence on 17th September one would expect to be able to source information on the net concerning post holders and their address etc.. I can find nothing, so perhaps we should remain cautious on this one for the time being.
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