backpackersxpress !!!!!!!
 

From ABTN:

BACKPACKERS EXPRESS is the latest brainchild coming out of Australia according to reports from down under. The airline plans to be operating a pair of Boeing 747s between Manchester and Sydney by mid-summer. One class with a bar up the front where first class used to be (which some of us have seen before on a Virgin press trip). The Jumbo is set to feature engines painted as beer cans and giant 'smiley' faces on the nose cone and tail. Stopovers will include Delhi and Bangkok. The would-be carrier has a website as do all the other bright ideas which used to be called “paper airlines”. Now they are “virtual carriers”.

http://www.backpackersxpress.com

I was reading about this in a newspaper or magazine earlier in the year, and I was surprised to see that for all the crap they seem to be spurting, it's actually meant to be run by a guy whose done a number of successful ventures in Australia!

They seem to be aiming for the teenage crowd, and will have a number of inflight games & entertainment onboard as well as having a fully operational "bar area" (read: bar and seating area, like the Tiger Lounge on the 747 prototype).

I think if the fares are low enough they may be able to get a decent number of passengers on some of their flights, but it seems to be a flying Club 18-30 holiday - so no chance of the high yield business pax or families!

Fully thought out ... no me thinks!

I'm sure that they have thought out the problem of the seasonal nature of the biz and balance that with the North and South hemispheres.

I'm sure that they have pitched the price of the beer in the bar at the right level.

I'm sure that they have calculated how much junk students carry along with the higher pax loading.

I'm sure that they will have considered freight.

I'm sure that they will have thought about the fact that their customer base will need refreshing every year. As folks graduate, they will want to have more leg room and lower density and carriers that are more welcoming of children.

I'm sure that they have considered the costs of constantly acquiring new pax, against retaining existing. They will be seeking a category of pax, rather than individuals and hope for word of mouth to do much of the work for them?

I'm sure that they have thought of it all ...

Filling the two B747-400's at £500 per return ticket should not be so difficult. Travellers will in many cases accept 24 hours of discomfort in return for a saving of several hundred pounds. And they'll always be able to walk to the bar, not just stay hunched down in their seat.

But Backpackersxpress surely faces much tougher challenges. Raising financing for an unproven "paper airline" to launch long-haul schedules with two B747-400's is hugely ambitious. And then there's the small matter of re-writing the bilaterals.

However, whilst I must remain sceptical about this project, I would be delighted to see their services touch down at MAN on a regular basis and wish it's backers the best of luck.

Hey, I'd even consider booking with them. Do they take old gits?

Cheers, SHED.