CiaoFly bites the dust
 

From Luton airports website.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

With effect from 19th August 2002, CiaoFly have suspended all operations to Milan, Parma and Paris Beauvais. Please contact CiaoFly for further info: [email protected] - or visit: www.ciaofly.com

No real surprise there then :rolleyes:

Wow, not another to bite the dust!

Right, lets us name a few airlines that have recently started, then stopped scheduled ops from Luton.

Here are 2 to start.

EuroCeltic from Liverpool.

Fly Victoria from Exeter and Manchester.

Ciao-Fly for now!

All these airlines started services but never advertised them. I don’t see how Luton was a factor in their demise.

For news on Luton visit the newsgroup free.uk.airports-luton

Ciao was never an airline...they have / had no aeroplanes, no crew...and did not pay the bills to the chartered operaters as well...

Apparently, Ciao-Fly were saying that they were struggling to compete with another carrier(s) on the Milan Route - probably the new cost airline "BA" ex LHR, Alitalia and Ryanair's route to yet another Milan Airport. These other carriers had reduced their fares to undercut the airline. I can only think that Ryanair would and could have the ability to undercut Ciao's 19 Euros lead in fare.

The interesting thing is that Ciao managed to get 60% load factors in the first few weeks which isn't bad for an airline with now advertising and no (legal) ability to sell tickest in the UK.

It would appear that where 60 irate Italians at Luton last night and a solitary Frenchman trying to get on the Beauvais sector. Monsieur was promptly sorted out by a transfer to eJ and the Italian party were repatriated to Parma courtesy of the Luton Airport and Flightline.

We may not have seen the last of Ciao just yet.

Ciao Fly today...
 

Ciao Fly are operating their service to and from Parma / London Luton (via Beauvais) today.

It also seems that the LTN - Parma flight that was initially canx last night, was eventually despatched a couple of hours late direct to Parma (missing out the drop into Beauvais) after the Airport itself intervened.

Luton kindly entered into discussions with Ciao's provider of the aircraft and negotiated a deal to get the aircraft out and the pax back to Italy.:)

According to London Luton airport, Ciao Fly are back operating today as per schedule....that will explain why the 12.05 arrival from Beauvais/Parma landed at 12.27 then!!

This just gets funnier and funnier!

Virtual airline, no planes, cant sell tickets in the UK and still getting load factors of 60%!

They must be doing something right!

Ciao-Fly for now!

(Air Kilroe to Galway).

Ciao Fly to axe Luton and overhaul network
 

This is from Air Transport Intelligence, www.rati.com (a great newsfeed if you can persuade your employer to get a subscription...)

-=-=-=-=-

Ciao Fly to axe Luton and overhaul network
David Kaminski-Morrow, London (21Aug02, 12:35 GMT, 326 words)


Italian start-up carrier Ciao Fly to overhaul and restructure its network after deciding to axe routes to London Luton next month, as the airline seeks to allay concerns over its future.

Ciao Fly operates services between London Luton, Parma in Italy and Paris Beauvais. But queries over the carrier’s operations arose when London Luton Airport warned earlier this week that Ciao Fly was suspending all flights to Parma and Beauvais with immediate effect. The airline, however, operated services to Luton yesterday as normal – describing the notice of imminent suspension as a “misunderstanding”.

But Ciao Fly commercial director Rainer Zeppritz admits that the Luton routes are not proving profitable and that the airline will drop the UK connection from 2 September.

“Luton will be discontinued. It’s a money-losing situation,” he says, pointing out that the carrier cannot match the intense competition of high-frequency services by budget airlines at London Stansted combined with the new British Airways fare structure.

Zeppritz adds: “Parma-Luton is only local traffic.”

Ciao Fly’s only other route is the Parma-Beauvais service which it will continue to serve. But Zeppritz says that the carrier is working on a complete revamp of its network which will focus on the Paris service and seek to establish routes from an additional airport in northern Italy.

Zeppritz declines to name the Italian airport but says that it is a “main” hub. Ciao Fly’s new network will be finalised over the next two weeks but Zeppritz is not revealing any details ahead of time. He says, however, that the airline still has plans to serve Lyon-St Etienne and Lamezia Terme, both of which feature on the carrier’s timetable from 2 September.

“We will heavily concentrate on the Paris market – it is a completely different market there [compared with the UK],” he says. “But we are also in the process of developing other routes.”

Ciao Fly launched itself as a low-fare operator in July with a British Aerospace 146 regional jet.


Source: Air Transport Intelligence news

So the 60 pax abandoned at Luton by Ciao were not profitable, especially as the other 2 bound for Paris flew with easy to CDG?

62 on a 146 with no advertising is quite brilliant!

So why are UK residents unable to buy tickets, answer that then you answere the question as to why Ciao are pulling out from Luton?

Last flight today into Luton!