Too much information................to tell the travelling public that you're "finalising the use of a second aircraft" and "taking office space" only serves to emphasise your shaky roots.

Too much information................to tell the travelling public that you're "finalising the use of a second aircraft" and "taking office space" only serves to emphasise your shaky roots.

Re second route/Rotation

WOW


if your flying to Newcastle from Oxford why would you want to fly over Newcastle to return back the same way 1 Hour Later ??

If you are going Day return Newcastle to Oxford on business you arrive Oxford 1200 but have to depart at 1430 (Not a lot of time for business you might just have time for a Pie and a Pint.

If he has 2 A/C why not use them ???

Mr Halstead has not a clue he is a dreamer and regretfully is going to take a lot a peoples hard earned Money from them..

I Note his new routes start April 5 EASTER MONDAY/Start of the new Tax Year ????


We shall wait and see but when it all goes Txxt s up people cannot be told well I Never expected this when lots of people on this thread have warned everbody IT WILL NOT WORK


1/ WRONG A/C
2/ WRONG ROUTE
3/ WRONG MANAGEMENT (Well thats for sure)

Then in 2011 we will see PIE IN THE SKY AIRLINES RE LAUNCHED

Different name same Management its about time the CAA put a stop to this ridiculous situation

Whinging over

Re second route/Rotation

WOW


if your flying to Newcastle from Oxford why would you want to fly over Newcastle to return back the same way 1 Hour Later ??

If you are going Day return Newcastle to Oxford on business you arrive Oxford 1200 but have to depart at 1430 (Not a lot of time for business you might just have time for a Pie and a Pint.

If he has 2 A/C why not use them ???

Mr Halstead has not a clue he is a dreamer and regretfully is going to take a lot a peoples hard earned Money from them..

I Note his new routes start April 5 EASTER MONDAY/Start of the new Tax Year ????


We shall wait and see but when it all goes Txxt s up people cannot be told well I Never expected this when lots of people on this thread have warned everbody IT WILL NOT WORK


1/ WRONG A/C
2/ WRONG ROUTE
3/ WRONG MANAGEMENT (Well thats for sure)

Then in 2011 we will see PIE IN THE SKY AIRLINES RE LAUNCHED

Different name same Management its about time the CAA put a stop to this ridiculous situation

Whinging over

spicejetter:Why? You can do it in an hour and a half city centre to city centre by train for less than £30 return, and you don't have to queue and sit around for hours, be treated like a terrorist and be squished into a little tube so noisy you can't even talk to your neighbour. What's more you can watch the RAF's finest trying to shoot each other out of the sky from the safety of a railway carriage rather than being their target.
NS

spicejetter:Why? You can do it in an hour and a half city centre to city centre by train for less than £30 return, and you don't have to queue and sit around for hours, be treated like a terrorist and be squished into a little tube so noisy you can't even talk to your neighbour. What's more you can watch the RAF's finest trying to shoot each other out of the sky from the safety of a railway carriage rather than being their target.
NS

You are SO right...a train every half hour city CENTRE to centre...and ...pick your time right and advanced first class around £40 return!

Who in their right mind would go through the hassle of EDI-NCL:confused:

You are SO right...a train every half hour city CENTRE to centre...and ...pick your time right and advanced first class around £40 return!

Who in their right mind would go through the hassle of EDI-NCL:confused:

From what I can gather from the flight numbers the early OXF-EDI will terminate in EDI and tickets on that flight to NCL are not available. NCL pax will need to travel to NCL on the 14:30 only ex OXF.

Surely the 18 seater Jetstream is a good aircraft to start a route on if it is sucessfull they can easily source a larger J41 or a Saab 340??.

Why the wrong route. Newcastle uni and Edinburgh uni have close ties with Oxford uni.

From what I can gather from the flight numbers the early OXF-EDI will terminate in EDI and tickets on that flight to NCL are not available. NCL pax will need to travel to NCL on the 14:30 only ex OXF.

Surely the 18 seater Jetstream is a good aircraft to start a route on if it is sucessfull they can easily source a larger J41 or a Saab 340??.

Why the wrong route. Newcastle uni and Edinburgh uni have close ties with Oxford uni.

Hmmm - I wonder who wrote this Wikipedia entry for Varsity Express?:rolleyes:

"Varsity Express is a regional airline based at Oxford Airport in the UK. The airline was founded in 2009, underpinned by a consortium of English and Spanish investors. The airline made its media debut in January 2010, announcing that it would launch an air service between Edinburgh and Oxford in March 2010. The airline's owners and promoters suggested that further routes would be introduced later in 2010.
On February 7th 2010 The Sunday Times revealed in an exclusive interview that Martin Halstead was the founder of the company. Halstead had shot to fame in his late teens with the launch of AlphaOne Airways in 2005. In the interview Halstead revealed that AlphaOne had failed after a key investor pulled out just days into the operation and a court case had later followed during which the investor agreed an out of court settlement for an undisclosed fee.
Halstead's personality-based PR had launched AlphaOne to a global audience, many of whom were greatly disappointed by the airlines demise, something which he said had left him feeling that he had unfinished business to attend to. In a separate interview in February 2010, Halstead stated that he had put AlphaOne behind him and had become an airline pilot but was tempted back into airline management by the consortium backing Varsity Express.
On February 10th 2010 the airline announced that it was launching a second route from Oxford to Newcastle and adding a second daily Edinburgh service due to increased demand."




Or, indeed, this one...


"Martin Richard Alexander Halstead, born May 18th 1986 in Oxford, UK, is a British entrepreneur best known for launching an airline at the age of just 18, and a second at the age of 23. He is currently the Managing Director of Varsity Express, where he is also an active airline pilot.
He is nicknamed 'Baby Branson' in the British press on account of his friendship with Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic.
Contents

[hide]

• [*]

[edit] Personal Life

Halstead lives just outside of Oxford in the UK. He is engaged to the American composer and musician Kristen Walker. They are due to marry in Summer 2010.
[edit] AlphaOne Airways

Halstead originally shot to fame in 2005, when at the age of 18 he launched AlphaOne Airways. The airline was due to operate between Oxford and Cambridge with flights starting in April 2005. However, a lack of interest led Halstead to rethink his plans and withdraw from the route before flights began.
The airline emerged 6 months later in October 2005 announcing intentions to start flights from the Isle of Man to Edinburgh. Flights began in December that year, but lasted only two months. At the time no announcement was made regarding the closure of the company. It wasn't until 2007 that Halstead revealed the reasons for the airlines demise in an interview. It was reported that a key investor had withdrawn funds just days into the start of operations, AlphaOne had continued on, but by late January 2006 it had become apparent that the airline was no longer feasible. On February 2nd 2006 the airline ceased operations.
In the years following the demise of AlphaOne, Halstead and his fellow directors filed a litigation case against the investor who had pulled the plug. It was reported that the case was settled out of court in 2008.
[edit] Life after AlphaOne Airways

Halstead withdrew from public life after the demise of AlphaOne Airways. He took up a job working with Virgin Atlantic in 2007 as a member of onboard cabin crew while he pursued his piloting career.
In December 2008 Halstead qualified as an airline pilot and the following month started work as a First Officer with a UK Jetstream operator. He is now a qualified Jetstream 31 and Airbus pilot and flies for Varsity Express"

Hmmm - I wonder who wrote this Wikipedia entry for Varsity Express?:rolleyes:

"Varsity Express is a regional airline based at Oxford Airport in the UK. The airline was founded in 2009, underpinned by a consortium of English and Spanish investors. The airline made its media debut in January 2010, announcing that it would launch an air service between Edinburgh and Oxford in March 2010. The airline's owners and promoters suggested that further routes would be introduced later in 2010.
On February 7th 2010 The Sunday Times revealed in an exclusive interview that Martin Halstead was the founder of the company. Halstead had shot to fame in his late teens with the launch of AlphaOne Airways in 2005. In the interview Halstead revealed that AlphaOne had failed after a key investor pulled out just days into the operation and a court case had later followed during which the investor agreed an out of court settlement for an undisclosed fee.
Halstead's personality-based PR had launched AlphaOne to a global audience, many of whom were greatly disappointed by the airlines demise, something which he said had left him feeling that he had unfinished business to attend to. In a separate interview in February 2010, Halstead stated that he had put AlphaOne behind him and had become an airline pilot but was tempted back into airline management by the consortium backing Varsity Express.
On February 10th 2010 the airline announced that it was launching a second route from Oxford to Newcastle and adding a second daily Edinburgh service due to increased demand."




Or, indeed, this one...


"Martin Richard Alexander Halstead, born May 18th 1986 in Oxford, UK, is a British entrepreneur best known for launching an airline at the age of just 18, and a second at the age of 23. He is currently the Managing Director of Varsity Express, where he is also an active airline pilot.
He is nicknamed 'Baby Branson' in the British press on account of his friendship with Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic.
Contents

[hide]

• [*]

[edit] Personal Life

Halstead lives just outside of Oxford in the UK. He is engaged to the American composer and musician Kristen Walker. They are due to marry in Summer 2010.
[edit] AlphaOne Airways

Halstead originally shot to fame in 2005, when at the age of 18 he launched AlphaOne Airways. The airline was due to operate between Oxford and Cambridge with flights starting in April 2005. However, a lack of interest led Halstead to rethink his plans and withdraw from the route before flights began.
The airline emerged 6 months later in October 2005 announcing intentions to start flights from the Isle of Man to Edinburgh. Flights began in December that year, but lasted only two months. At the time no announcement was made regarding the closure of the company. It wasn't until 2007 that Halstead revealed the reasons for the airlines demise in an interview. It was reported that a key investor had withdrawn funds just days into the start of operations, AlphaOne had continued on, but by late January 2006 it had become apparent that the airline was no longer feasible. On February 2nd 2006 the airline ceased operations.
In the years following the demise of AlphaOne, Halstead and his fellow directors filed a litigation case against the investor who had pulled the plug. It was reported that the case was settled out of court in 2008.
[edit] Life after AlphaOne Airways

Halstead withdrew from public life after the demise of AlphaOne Airways. He took up a job working with Virgin Atlantic in 2007 as a member of onboard cabin crew while he pursued his piloting career.
In December 2008 Halstead qualified as an airline pilot and the following month started work as a First Officer with a UK Jetstream operator. He is now a qualified Jetstream 31 and Airbus pilot and flies for Varsity Express"

Hmmm. So you have a contributor on Wikipedia (Cryton4) whose sole contribution to this web-based font of all knowledge is to:

edit the London Oxford Airport page
create the Varsity Express page
update the Edinburgh Airport page
create the Martin Halstead page
edit the Newcastle Airport page on the day they announce services

and nothing else. Cryton4 has not exactly raced to update Wikipedia with any mention of other developments like Ryanair's opening its first Eastern European base at Kaunas, announcement of Flybe's services into Bournemouth today, BA's relaunch of First.....you get the picture.

I wonder if there are Wikipedia pages for "attention seeking disorder" or "self publicist" or other such terms which should be cross-linked to the above immediately by way of example. Comedian.

There are two real issues here. First is whether unsuspecting people - either prospective pilots or customers - are having their money taken off them needlessly. Second is that he makes it far more difficult for anyone else with similar, more credible, ideas for them ever to see the light of day because efforts like this muddy the waters.

There is no way that you can make sectors of this length work at £49 fares (or even £89 fares) with a Jetstream 31. Either Halstead or the ACMI provider has got their sums horribly, dreadfully wrong.

Hmmm. So you have a contributor on Wikipedia (Cryton4) whose sole contribution to this web-based font of all knowledge is to:

edit the London Oxford Airport page
create the Varsity Express page
update the Edinburgh Airport page
create the Martin Halstead page
edit the Newcastle Airport page on the day they announce services

and nothing else. Cryton4 has not exactly raced to update Wikipedia with any mention of other developments like Ryanair's opening its first Eastern European base at Kaunas, announcement of Flybe's services into Bournemouth today, BA's relaunch of First.....you get the picture.

I wonder if there are Wikipedia pages for "attention seeking disorder" or "self publicist" or other such terms which should be cross-linked to the above immediately by way of example. Comedian.

There are two real issues here. First is whether unsuspecting people - either prospective pilots or customers - are having their money taken off them needlessly. Second is that he makes it far more difficult for anyone else with similar, more credible, ideas for them ever to see the light of day because efforts like this muddy the waters.

There is no way that you can make sectors of this length work at £49 fares (or even £89 fares) with a Jetstream 31. Either Halstead or the ACMI provider has got their sums horribly, dreadfully wrong.

Having previously worked in marketing before transfering over to aviation, it strikes me as being perfectly normal for a firms PR company to do write ups such as this on the interweb.

No doubt about it, Halstead p!ssed off a lot of people with Air Alpha in the past, but if one mistake means one can never try again then I would guess there would be a hell of a lot less airline pilots around today. I only got a partial pass on my CPL all those years ago and had to go back up and do a few circuits, now I've got years of incident free flying under my belt for several major operators. I got it right second time round, and learnt from my mistakes from the first time.

I for one am reserving judgement, I wish the lad well, it takes guts and lets face it, not one of us know the details behind either Alpha or Varsity Express. I may well be proved wrong, but it's nice to see a positive in an industry thats in a frightful state because of guys two or three times this guys age. According to the article above he's 23 and he started Alpha when he was 18, that was 5 years ago, that's a life time for someone his age. A lot may have changed, then again, maybe it hasn't, but time will tell.

I am just delighted to see my local airport doing well, I don't care who really backs it, all I know is that I wouldn't have the guts to try. It doesn't seem right to be flinging mud at a young lad who is trying to achieve something when so many others are out smoking drugs and getting loose girls pregnant or 'happy slapping'.

Having previously worked in marketing before transfering over to aviation, it strikes me as being perfectly normal for a firms PR company to do write ups such as this on the interweb.

No doubt about it, Halstead p!ssed off a lot of people with Air Alpha in the past, but if one mistake means one can never try again then I would guess there would be a hell of a lot less airline pilots around today. I only got a partial pass on my CPL all those years ago and had to go back up and do a few circuits, now I've got years of incident free flying under my belt for several major operators. I got it right second time round, and learnt from my mistakes from the first time.

I for one am reserving judgement, I wish the lad well, it takes guts and lets face it, not one of us know the details behind either Alpha or Varsity Express. I may well be proved wrong, but it's nice to see a positive in an industry thats in a frightful state because of guys two or three times this guys age. According to the article above he's 23 and he started Alpha when he was 18, that was 5 years ago, that's a life time for someone his age. A lot may have changed, then again, maybe it hasn't, but time will tell.

I am just delighted to see my local airport doing well, I don't care who really backs it, all I know is that I wouldn't have the guts to try. It doesn't seem right to be flinging mud at a young lad who is trying to achieve something when so many others are out smoking drugs and getting loose girls pregnant or 'happy slapping'.

"It was reported that a key investor had withdrawn funds just days into the start of operations.."


Why did the investor pull out of AlphaOne at such short notice?

"It was reported that a key investor had withdrawn funds just days into the start of operations.."


Why did the investor pull out of AlphaOne at such short notice?

Pilot Positive


MARTIN HALSTEAD IS THE REASON

Oxjob,

Allow me to challenge your humour for a few minutes.

Your postings so far on PPrune from registering in late December until today have been about Oxford, Varsity Express and the pay-to-fly schemes. I quote from your comments on the Oxford Aviation Employment thread over in the training forum:

Sorry to hear the bad news.

Do you know Halstead? It said in the Wikipedia profile of him (before it got edited to shreds this evening; busy night over there) that he is also an A319 pilot, same as you. Guess you might have been at easyJet about the same time then. ;)

Funny also how I commented earlier that the mysterious Cryton4 editing the Wikipedia page had not made any contributions on topics other than to do with Varsity / Halstead / Oxford Airport etc. Within 20 minutes of my comment, your equally limited scope of PPrune postings suddenly branches out into hitherto unknown fields, well beyond the previous discussions. You're perfectly entitled to do so, but I'm equally entitled not to believe in coincidences. Particularly as one of the topics was about Flybe's launch of MAN-BOH services.

Does anyone else have that feeling of deja moo (i.e. I've heard this bull before?).

Oxjob,

Allow me to challenge your humour for a few minutes.

Your postings so far on PPrune from registering in late December until today have been about Oxford, Varsity Express and the pay-to-fly schemes. I quote from your comments on the Oxford Aviation Employment thread over in the training forum:

Sorry to hear the bad news.

Do you know Halstead? It said in the Wikipedia profile of him (before it got edited to shreds this evening; busy night over there) that he is also an A319 pilot, same as you. Guess you might have been at easyJet about the same time then. ;)

Funny also how I commented earlier that the mysterious Cryton4 editing the Wikipedia page had not made any contributions on topics other than to do with Varsity / Halstead / Oxford Airport etc. Within 20 minutes of my comment, your equally limited scope of PPrune postings suddenly branches out into hitherto unknown fields, well beyond the previous discussions. You're perfectly entitled to do so, but I'm equally entitled not to believe in coincidences. Particularly as one of the topics was about Flybe's launch of MAN-BOH services.

Does anyone else have that feeling of deja moo (i.e. I've heard this bull before?).

My my my, what an incredible imagination you have Mr Rider! You should write Morse novels, quite the conspiracy theorist indeed.

In answer to your question, no, I have never met Mr Halstead. I've never worked for easyJet. The only similarity I can fathom from your post is that we are both Airbus rated pilots, incidentally I'm A320/330 rated, one of thousands (and unfortunately also one of thousands currently out of work).

I'm sorry to disappoint you, I just don't agree with this agenda of putting a young man down because of a failed company from five years ago.

Incidentally, if what is written on this thread is true then Mr Halstead is encouraging pay-to-fly and self funded type ratings. Something which I am inherently against.

It's a nice theory though, very creative.

Right, I'm off for a large scotch and then bed. I'll leave you to it.

My my my, what an incredible imagination you have Mr Rider! You should write Morse novels, quite the conspiracy theorist indeed.

In answer to your question, no, I have never met Mr Halstead. I've never worked for easyJet. The only similarity I can fathom from your post is that we are both Airbus rated pilots, incidentally I'm A320/330 rated, one of thousands (and unfortunately also one of thousands currently out of work).

I'm sorry to disappoint you, I just don't agree with this agenda of putting a young man down because of a failed company from five years ago.

Incidentally, if what is written on this thread is true then Mr Halstead is encouraging pay-to-fly and self funded type ratings. Something which I am inherently against.

It's a nice theory though, very creative.

Right, I'm off for a large scotch and then bed. I'll leave you to it.

Varsity Express
 

Given that the last thread on this subject was pulled (understandably given some of the comments) can people be careful before they respond...

But, to my surprise, I must admit, a repainted Jetstream has arrived at Oxford.

Varsity Express | Facebook

Varsity Express
 

Given that the last thread on this subject was pulled (understandably given some of the comments) can people be careful before they respond...

But, to my surprise, I must admit, a repainted Jetstream has arrived at Oxford.

Varsity Express | Facebook

Varsity Express - gone bust within 1 week
 

The guy who tried to setup airlines in the past, himself known as Baby Branson, had another airline fail once it got up and running, after being operational in total for one week, plus pilots out of pocket by £50,000 for training that never took place.

I don't think people will want to associate themselves with him in this industry any longer, full of lies that eventually backfire on him.

Read all the info here: Varsity Express: Baby Branson’s bogus business - Times Online

Not that little s**t again! Unbelievable...

Can't believe this time he actually stole money from four newbies - 15k each!

“I got some from my grandmother’s savings, some from my aunt and uncle’s savings, and my mum and dad took out a loan as well. I am devastated.”

As sorry as I feel for them... What were you thinking?????

Desperation, lack of research into this guy/the company, full of hope, etc, where I wouldn't have touched him a mile off!!!! seeing what's happened to his business ventures in the past.

This guy has a similar pattern of failures, pitty he doesn't learn from past mistakes and drags others down with him. :ugh: But he is damn persistant!, but just *hit at it. :)

Ouch. What a disaster - both for the people who "bought" type ratings for £15000 (who were told they'd be doing the TRs at OAA's Stockholm base, when in fact arrangements were being made with a provider in Crete, at a cost of under £9000 to VE!), and for all the other people who put a huge amount of effort into making the first week run well. Fair play to someone for trying something new during the current doom and gloom, but a massive letdown that it had to be based on lies.

I dont understand why the threads about Varsity Express that warned about this venture were pulled all the time... Can one of the moderators enlighten us? I feel that Pprune is THE forum to warn people against these operations that have IMPOSSIBLE written all over them :rolleyes:

....personally, i think if i were one of the four who parted with £15k, a little midnight visit by some large men to chat in this guys shell-like might be in order !!!!

:E

FO - Couldn't agree more. I know someone who was almost sucked into this scam but sensibly withdrew.
I hope this guy is prosecuted - taking advantage of desperate kids is not on, especially when you have absolutely no intention of actually doing as you say you will.

Roll up, roll up! Jet jobs for newbies...
 

There appears to be precious little official comment within the Times online article. I would have liked to have seen the words "We are unable to comment as this forms part of a criminal investigation". Unfortunately, this new tycoon has now found a new source of cash - SSTR's. It doesn't take much imagination to see this entrepreneur offering wannabes 500 hours plus Airbus/747/etc. plus a job at say, £29-30K. (You can't charge too little. You have to make it sound sound credible). Get 20 or 30 suckers and that should buy him some nice bubbly.

This man should really have a fear of showers and soap, but I don't even foresee a non-custodial sentence or a small smack on the wrist. I wouldn't be surprised if he blames it on someone else and escapes scot free.

PM

Bang on, sir, just a shame no-one paid attention at the time.

I'm sure he will claim to have intended to keep his promise - just like some much much bigger and much much better known uk airlines have done. :=

If the article in the Times is correct, it is possible Mr Halstead may have some legal issues to deal with in the not too distant future.

Re-heat

perhaps you should read the article before posting.