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Air Scotland will be run by Glasgow based tour operator Viva Espana, which has a sister brand. Viva Holidays. and a direct sell arm - Discount Holidays. |
Looks like the old highland air colour scheme to me!
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Highland Express had a very smart paint job for its time. The Air Scotland one looks very cheap. The Highland Express livery from 15 years ago would look very smart on a 757, never mind what it would look like if it was modernised!
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I would have to agree. I thought the Highland Express livery was very smart for it's time.:)
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Hi Can anyone tell me how a Boeing 757 would work with a no-frills airline? Whilst I know that charter airlines can get 235 people onto them, surely that needs at least 5 cabin-crew compared to 3 on a 737-300, and how quickly can the things be turned around? Just some questions! 4321zip |
A feature in the Scotsman says that Air Scotland will be officially launched this week at a Glasgow press conference.It also states that flights look likely from Glasgow Int to Palma,Barcelona and Malaga!
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......and who are "Electra Airlines".........?:confused:
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Ah.....Electra now the rumours of a Greek outfit now make sense!
Electra operate a few DC-10s (3 I think) based out of Athens, on freight and general ad-hoc charter work. Their website said that flights will be operated by Electra. Do I take it that there will be Greek flight deck and cabin crew since it looks like the aircraft will be operated off Electra's AOC. Maybe the aircraft will be SX registered??? Any info anyone? |
according to air scotland website the airline will launch its website with tickets going on sale from £25 on Tuesday
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If flights are going to be operated by Electra this is very bad news.
There was a thread last summer by someone who had flown with them as pax and it sounded like the flight from hell. Scotland is crying out for an airline of its own operated by experienced locals of which there are plenty available, we do not need some tin pot outfit scaring the locals. :mad: |
The assertion in the Scotsman article that flights may operate from GLA is interesting, as PIK seems to have been slated as the likely base, possibly with EDI flights as well.
ajamieson, could you enlighten us? |
Strange, Electra (the Greek ACMI operator) don't have any B757s! However Electra (the leasing company based in Kingsway, London) do.
Could this be the source of the confusion? |
Electra a/l of Greece have recently added 2 ex LTU 757s to their fleet!
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Accoding to this webpage the following aircraft will be used:
SX-BVM (757-2G5) 24451/227 SX-BVN (757-2G5) 24497/228 Both 1989-build ex-LTU aircraft (D-AMUM and D-AMUZ respectively). Both parked up @ MUC in a white colour scheme with no titles over the Summer and as billyg said, both leased to Electra Airlines as of Dec 02. |
I'd be happy to enlighten you...if I could.
For a start, here's a link to my article. It's a considerably shorter version of what I wrote; next time I'm back at my desk you'll have the full version, which includes some discussion of Electra. The people behind Air-Scotland have already promised their launch is "imminent" - the most recent claim being made in early December in a small article in Air Transport Intelligence. I've still not received formal notification of next week's supposed press launch, so I'll wait and see if it really does happen. The airline would not give any details of the Electra arrangement despite the fact it is mentioned on the website. The "spokesman" who took my call would not give his name and claimed that some of what had already appeared in print elsewhere about Air-Scotland was inaccurate but (rather foolishly) wouldn't say exactly which bits were incorrect. So I may have unwittingly repeated inaccurate information. Blame them, not me. Although they were in talks with PIK, it has been strongly hinted to me that GLA is the winner (and possibly EDI). BAA are certainly very familiar with Air-Scotland. I'll try and keep you posted. |
One would assume then that Air Scotland will outsource it's Ops support functions as they are not recruiting for staff in that area - or are they ?
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ajamieson,
Thank's very much! From what you say, they sound a bit disorganised, lets hope that doesn't continue once they actually start up! We'll have to wait and see what happens on Tuesday. BTW, how/why are BAA "very familiar" with Air Scotland? |
Full, unpublished text as promised...
A NEW airline for Scotland is set to be unveiled next week, offering low-cost scheduled flights to Europe. Air-Scotland promises to offer cheap services from Glasgow to destinations such as Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Malaga. The fledgling airline is being launched by the businessmen behind tour operator Viva Espana. Speculation about the venture has been rife since the firm began recruiting pilots and cabin crew last month. The company claims it will operate Boeing 757 aircraft which can accommodate more than 200 passengers. It has reportedly taken delivery of one aircraft and is expecting another. The formal launch is set to take place in Glasgow next week and the airline could soon be taking bookings for flights to five or more Mediterranean destinations starting as early as Easter. Although Air-Scotland was in talks with Glasgow Prestwick, which has already attracted low-cost operators such as Ryanair, it is thought the new services could operate from Glasgow Airport, run by BAA plc. BAA would not comment on Air-Scotland, but experts welcomed news of carrier based north of the border. Aviation commentator David Wragg said: “It is good news and let’s hope they succeed despite the competition from the big players such as EasyJet or Ryanair. “Scheduled services are to be welcomed because they will help to bring in more passengers through Scotland’s airports on a regular basis.” Although television advertisements for Air-Scotland have already been broadcast, management at the company would not discuss the airline yesterday, saying full details would be revealed at the launch “sometime next week”. A spokesman, who would not give his full name, said some press coverage of Air-Scotland had been “inaccurate” but refused to say what the mistakes had been. He would not confirm whether the information given on the airline’s website - which has already been created to take ’dummy’ reservations - was correct. The website currently claims Air-Scotland will offer two types of cabin - Tartan Class, equivalent to Economy, and Thistle Class - to Alicante, Barcelona, Fuerteventura, Malaga, Palma and Tenerife. It also says Air-Scotland services will be “operated by Electra Airlines”, although the only known operator called Electra Airlines is a charter firm based in Greece which uses older, larger, DC-10 aircraft usually associated with long-haul flights. No-one at Electra Airlines was available for comment. The airline’s manager, Raymond McMillan, told Air Transport Intelligence Magazine last month that full details of the carrier would be revealed soon, and said he hoped to offer a low-cost airline with frills. The head of the airline is Dhai Al-Ani, managing director of Glasgow tour operator Discount Holidays and head of Viva Espana. He says there is no connection between Discount Holidays and Air-Scotland except through himself. Calls for Air-Scotland are being taken at the offices of Viva Espana. Mr Wragg said potential passengers should not be put off by the scale of the Air-Scotland venture. He said: “Even EasyJet had to start somewhere. It is quite common for new start-up airlines to lease aircraft and outsource some of their operations to begin with. “If they pick the right mix of destinations and market themselves well, they should succeed.” BTW, how/why are BAA "very familiar" with Air Scotland? It's fair to say we could be looking at GLA, GLA+EDI or PIK+EDI but I would be surprised if BAA were not involved somewhere. |
Air Scotland's inaugural flight will be GLA-PMI on 29/3,dep at 1405 hrs,their website should be up and running by tomorrow!
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