Australian Plans Long Haul Budget operator

[AIRWAY]

Australian Plans Long Haul Budget operator

Yes while reading Airliner World, i came across this article which i dont know if it has been discussed or not, here it is:

Airliner World
March 2004

"Australian business man Glenn Millen has revealed ambitious plans to establish a long haul budget airline to cater for the large volume of young travellers between United Kingdom and Australia.

BackpackersXpress plans to launch in June with 2 leased B747 which will be configured to in an all-economic class interior configuration, the plan is to offer an innovative cabin service with an emphasis on fun providing an onboard pub and live entertainment, karaoke and dance competitions. Also the Airline claims to offer Melbourne - Manchester for £500. "

-----

What do you guys thing of his plan :confused:

[B772]

I can not see it happening. There are about 30 airlines competing over the route and it is possibly the most competitive in the world.

[Buster Hyman]

Lowest one way on BA LHR-MEL is £283! :confused:

[pug munter]

Good luck to them.

Would I invest my money?

Christmas 2003 saw the annual Austravel charters from Gatwick to Sydney on a European Airways 747-200. Quite early on low bookings saw significant discounts being advertised in London. By December the last January flights were being offered at UK Pds 199 one way.

Then in an interesting development, Sydney airports (Max and crew), NSW tourism and Austravel were offering to sell standby seats from Sydney to Gatwick for a few hundred dollars. Surely illegal to be back selling charter seats?

I was in the 747 bubble on my flight, only 8 pax there. A bargain for 50 quid extra and 10kgs of extra luggage allowance.

Not so keen on the Colombo stop over but as long as the past fireworks didn't happen, I wasn't worried.

So can these 747s with logos on the engines make money flying Manchester to Melbourne? The typical back packer isn't hardly likely to want to stump up the big bucks to catch a dirty virgin train to Manchester from London or work out how to get to Sydney from Melbourne since the vast majority of tourists seek the Sydney starting point.

Then consider that the ridiculously high Australian Dollar just made backpackers Euros and Pds go far less than they did a year ago.

All in all, its a gutsy call to take on the very efficient and competitive travel industry in the UK. Just look up TNT magazine next time in London and see how many firms are discounting tickets and packages for low cost tourists.

Just wait until the first techincal too!

Good luck.
Pug

[Anti Skid On]

Pug, have you ever thought to consider that the backpackers may come from the North, hence EGCC would be closer - too many Kiwi's and Ozzie's who think the only way to the SH is from LHR!

Also last time I looked Aus and NZ could be done from MAN on scheduled for £515 including taxes on CX, MH and SG.

[lame]

This plan has been around for some time, several years. ;)

The original plan, not sure if it still is, was to also fly the backpackers around Australia with their own aircraft, using (original plan anyway) MD80s. :ok:

The plot thickens. ;)

Just found this on a web site, maybe they are going to use JetStar now, in Australia instead of having their own aircraft here? :ooh:


British backpackers coming to Australia are soon to get their own dedicated charter airline, Backpackers Xpress, featuring one-class jumbo jets with engines painted as beer cans and giant 'smiley' faces on the nose cone and tail.

First class will be gutted and turned into a bar. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, backpackers will be treated to party pies, pizza, a range of beers, personal DVDs with over 300 titles, karaoke and dance competitions, surf 'n sun safety, talks on Australian wildlife with flight attendants who will stir up the fun, including young Aboriginal people who will give an introduction to indigenous culture. It was not said whether the talks will be given before the beer. BackpackersXpress return fares would start from AUD$1290 (about ST500) with a projected 139,000 backpackers flying in the first 12 months. Neighbours star Ryan Moloney (who?) is lined up to be the promotional face of Backpackers Xpress.

The two 747 jets might be coming from Singapore Airlines while the people behind Backpackers Xpress include Australian Glenn Millen, ex Qantas captain Gordon Layton and ex Sunstate Airlines founder Bevan Whittaker.

Stopovers will include Delhi and Bangkok.

There is also speculation on a link between BackpackersXpress and Qantas' new budget domestic start-up, Jetstar.

[pug munter]

ASO

Yup, I do know a few geordies end up in Oz but as you say Manchester is already served with direct flights to Oz. The pricing you quote indicates the market is pretty competitive and thin so even more capacity is just going to reduce the number of sales to each carrier. That means cashflow problems, just what a new business start up does not need. The exisiting carriers might be able to withstand the lean times but a new start up?

Further more, the increasing strength of the Aussie dollar means that fewer backpackers will put Australia on their itinerary, it is now far more expensive than it was several months ago. Any business plan based upon backpacker figures of 2002/3 when the rates were very different might now be looking far too optimistic.

Hey, good luck to then but I don't think my super fund should be investing in them.

I've flown to Oz via other london airports as well as used the Continental connections to get it cheaper.

[lame]

Just checked the original proposal, it was to use hush kitted DC9s (not MD80s sorry) and hush kitted Fokker F27s, to move these backpackers around Australia.

Of course, what makes it a much better deal for the Company, and why they can offer very low fares to Australia, is that they own the whole thing, that is these backpackers will fly to and from Australia with them, fly around Australia with them, and stay and eat at backpacker hostels all over Australia owned by them. ;)

[Anti Skid On]

Pug, agree with you in the main, I think they may be banking on the niche market (e.g. the 18 - 30's holiday, let's all go to Ibiza for a shag, set). I think though that Aussie needn't worry about backpackers not coming cos of the high dollar; they'll still come, but just spend less.

[DanAir1-11]

You sure it wasn't Glen Miller, cause I'd be "in the mood" for discussing that.


erm.... I was just leaving!