What chance is there of a new UK start up airline?
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What chance is there of a new UK start up airline?
What do you think the chances are of us seeing a new UK start-up airline in a couple of months time?
One that has no debt hanging around its neck, can access a glut of available aircraft while lease prices are down to about 60% of what they were just two months ago and fuel is at a rock-bottom price.
And lots of experienced staff from all 'trades' available too...?
Is there a hope?
Ed
One that has no debt hanging around its neck, can access a glut of available aircraft while lease prices are down to about 60% of what they were just two months ago and fuel is at a rock-bottom price.
And lots of experienced staff from all 'trades' available too...?
Is there a hope?
Ed
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What do you think the chances are of us seeing a new UK start-up airline in a couple of months time?
One that has no debt hanging around its neck, can access a glut of available aircraft while lease prices are down to about 60% of what they were just two months ago and fuel is at a rock-bottom price.
And lots of experienced staff from all 'trades' available too...?
Is there a hope?
Ed
One that has no debt hanging around its neck, can access a glut of available aircraft while lease prices are down to about 60% of what they were just two months ago and fuel is at a rock-bottom price.
And lots of experienced staff from all 'trades' available too...?
Is there a hope?
Ed
Not unless you wish to loose all your money.
Maybe not in a couple of months, but I suspect there might be someone out there watching how this unfolds and what the incumbents are doing. The longer this goes on, the more likely there will be a gap to fill when a solution to all this is eventually found - the current airlines will have a lot of lost ground to make up so it could provide rich pickings for anyone with the knowledge and funding.
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Ed
My prediction is that the large airline (EZY, RYR) survivors of this will maximise on any perceived profitable routes.
The smaller regionals (Eastern, Logan etc) will corner the UK'ish market and I believe when the dust has settled, collaborate to make any new competition difficult.
IMO it will put a potential airline investor off. For example the administrators were trying to sell flybe as a going concern. Hands up here who would buy that at the moment or the foreseeable future.
The smaller regionals (Eastern, Logan etc) will corner the UK'ish market and I believe when the dust has settled, collaborate to make any new competition difficult.
IMO it will put a potential airline investor off. For example the administrators were trying to sell flybe as a going concern. Hands up here who would buy that at the moment or the foreseeable future.
Last edited by jamestkirk; 13th May 2020 at 21:08. Reason: grammar
Any new start-up, even with cheap fuel, cheap aircraft, plentiful slots and "flexible" crew will face two big hurdles - marketing recognition and the competition from very affluent, powerful and experienced competitors wanting to keep them out.
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I think that there will indeed be such startups coming up as early as next year, making use of the abundance of available aircraft and qualified personnel. But most probably not in the UK. My bet is Eastern Europe due to the lower taxes, lower labour costs, less strong competition and somewhat less uncertainty in the political and regulatory future coming with Brexit. Most probably, those will be ACMI companies providing cheap capacity to scheduled carriers in Europe and beyond. Making use of such a company during periods of high workload or while your aircraft are in maintenance is often a lot cheaper than expanding your own fleet and hiring extra personnel and it will make sense to larger airlines who won't be willing to take the risk of expansion/restoration to pre-crisis fleet sizes just yet.
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Hi DB39,
The 60% figure that I used was that mentioned by OAG earlier today, but as you can see, alm1 explains that, for some, it's even cheaper than that right now. Of course, everyone needs that kind of help right now...
Before I posted I had thought about the existing airlines 'hoovering up the pieces' but wondered if they would have the confidence / cash to be anything other than completely risk averse in the short term.
I wondered if that might provide an opening for a, by comparison, currently cash rich organisation - and that might mean one that is not currently in the airline business - seeing an opportunity, if only in the domestic market to begin with. Time will tell I guess.
Ed
The 60% figure that I used was that mentioned by OAG earlier today, but as you can see, alm1 explains that, for some, it's even cheaper than that right now. Of course, everyone needs that kind of help right now...
Before I posted I had thought about the existing airlines 'hoovering up the pieces' but wondered if they would have the confidence / cash to be anything other than completely risk averse in the short term.
I wondered if that might provide an opening for a, by comparison, currently cash rich organisation - and that might mean one that is not currently in the airline business - seeing an opportunity, if only in the domestic market to begin with. Time will tell I guess.
Ed
Obviously I hope it doesn’t come to that, but there isn’t a clear end in sight for aviation at the moment, and it doesn’t hurt to try to find some optimism despite this bad situation.
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The only ‘airline’ that could maybe come out of this would be on the Isle of Man. As the LPL/MAN loganair routes are only temporary and the island is keen to get flights back up and running to BHX when this is all over.
The idea of an airline based on the island came around about a week after BEs demise.
The idea of an airline based on the island came around about a week after BEs demise.
The only ‘airline’ that could maybe come out of this would be on the Isle of Man. As the LPL/MAN loganair routes are only temporary and the island is keen to get flights back up and running to BHX when this is all over.
The idea of an airline based on the island came around about a week after BEs demise.
The idea of an airline based on the island came around about a week after BEs demise.
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Without some licencing protection or PSO support, would they not run the risk of having their successful routes cherry-picked by larger operators with economy of scale?
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I doubt that'll happen. Much better to start with a clean sheet.