Nexus Airways Is Starting (Merged)

[nickmanl]

Can't quite believe this, I thought they were just a joke, or a 12 year olds school project.

How long we gonna give it? Will it beat JetGreens week?

[CargoOne]

Looks strange (schedule is made for Canary-based aircraft, and if it is a real airline and real schedule then it means this aircraft will be doing an empty positioning across the islands every night. Also flight numbers are not identified) for an airline.

Wait for 22nd of July and give them a call ;)

[dwlpl]

..... unless the flights originate in the Canaries with a Spanish aircraft.

[ClickRich]

dwlpl, I think CargoOne's point is that on this schedule a positioning flight would need to be made on Monday night from LPA-TFS, Tues night from TFS-FUA, Weds night from FUA-ACE, Thurs night from ACE-TFS and over the weekend from TFS-LPA.

[dwlpl]

I am presuming they are already on the island concerned which dictates the route flown for that particular day.

[ClickRich]

No, that's the problem right there. They finish one day on island 1, and start up the next day on island 2 etc etc etc. So, they need to make positioning flights.

[LGS6753]

Is it possible to get 170 pax on a 737-400? And if full, are there range issues? (I don't know LPL runway details).

[IB4138]

Sounds like another " Air Scandic" to me!:uhoh

[airhumberside]

No, that's the problem right there. They finish one day on island 1, and start up the next day on island 2 etc etc etc. So, they need to make positioning flights.
If Nexus use Spanish airlines, that airline might have an aircraft based on each island so

The LPA aircraft could operate the LPA flight
The FUE aircraft could operate the FUE flight
The ACE aircraft could operate the ACE flight
The TFS aircraft could operate the TFS flights

This would avoid the need for positioning flights

[Avman]

Then again what would be the cost of a single 10 to 15 min daily inter-island positioning flight? What price fuel, landing charges (empty) etc., in the Canaries? The Spanish companies do quite a bit of positioning island hopping.

[monkey lover]

Looks like a Futura operation

[airhumberside]

Dont Futura provide aircraft to Budget Aer?

[IB4138]

Futura are advertising sub-leasing from November to March on their web site to other operators.

[CargoOne]

OK, I also came to the idea that it can work with a Spanish aircraft which is involved in someone else operations and then used by Nexus at other time, this explaining Canary-based schedule and eleminating (probably) the need for positioning flights, but it can work only on a wetlease basis.

May be I'm wrong, but JAR regulations do not have the space for the creating of new airline (=AOC holder) using only wetleased capacity. It is possible for established operators, but not for the start-ups.

So, either Nexus is not an airline (not an AOC holder) but just a kind of ticketing agent / charterer or something is wrong with the schedules.

ps. The market is very tight. Empty positioning every night will kill any operation. Landing/handling/fuel and aircraft cycles are not cheap.

[bacardi walla]

One aircraft operation based in LPA

Monday
1310 LPA-LPL 1735
1820 LPL-LPA 2245

Tuesday
POSN LPA-TFS
0900 TFS-LPL 1325
1415 LPL-TFS 1845

Wednesday
POSN TFS-FUE
0900 FUE-LPL 1320
1410 LPL-FUE 1830

Thursday
POSN FUE-ACE
0900 ACE-LPL 1320
1410 LPL-ACE 1830

Friday
POSN ACE-TFS
0800 TFS-LPL 1225
1315 LPL-TFS 1745
POSN TFS-LPA

Saturday and Sunday = no flying apart from catch up !



I'll get my coat :uhoh

[Cyrano]

Slight amendment to Bacardi Walla: my vote's for TFS as the base - that's a Futura line maintenance support base (http://www.futura-aer.com/html/jar_eng.html) and someone will have to fix the snags occasionally (this of course assumes Futura is the operator, i.e. the actual airline :* as opposed to the tour operator/ticket agent/if-we-call-ourselves-an-airline-we-are-one )

When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.
—Humpty Dumpty (in 'Through the Looking Glass')

[Buster the Bear]

Schoolboy launches airline from his bedroom
2.20PM, Mon Jul 18 2005


An A-level student has launched a no-frills airline from his bedroom in Merseyside.

Daniel Reilly, 18, from Maghull, is thought to be the youngest chief executive of an airline in the world.

He was inspired to set up Nexus Airlines after completing a school project on low-cost airlines. He is currently leasing a Boeing 737 plane from Futura International Airlines, based in Palma.

The teenager said: "I started flying lessons when I was 16 and my friends started joking about us buying a plane together and flying people around the world. It was just a joke really but I took it a bit more seriously and decided to look into it.

"I've always been interested in aviation so I decided to do my A-Level business studies project on setting up an airline. I called round a few airlines and asked how they had done it and I slowly realised it was quite achievable."

Daniel, who attends Deyes High School in Maghull, showed his project to a financial adviser who found backers for the business.

Initially the airline will operate services from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura from its new headquarters in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Customers will be able to book flights - which cost from £50 one-way - from Friday, with the first flights taking off on November 1 this year.

In the meantime, the new airline chief is awaiting the results of his A levels in Business Studies, English Language, Sociology and General Studies.

He said: "Most of my school friends are now going off to university but I'm in charge of an airline.

"I don't know if I will be the next Richard Branson but I certainly wouldn't say no."

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[thefunky1]

See here,


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050718/356/fnkw2.html

double take was called for and i'm still stunned.....

[Airbubba]

These "student" owned airlines are a perennial novelty news item.

Here's another recent example:

Jig Is Up For Internet Airline

BOSTON, June 13, 2003


Authorities in two states say a college freshman in Massachusetts created a fake airline that offered bargain-priced tickets on flights between Honolulu and Los Angeles.

Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly says Luke Thompson, of Yardley, Pa., incorporated Mainline Airways in Pennsylvania, established a business address in the Boston suburb of Wellesley and set up an elaborate Web site to sell tickets.

Reilly says Thompson, who attends Babson College in Wellesley, offered fares as low as $89 one way between Los Angeles and Honolulu. Flights were supposed to begin July 3, but as recently as a few weeks ago, Mainline had neither planes, crews nor the required permits and approvals.

Thompson told The Associated Press that the allegations are "absolutely untrue," but he did acknowledge that he is the only person behind the company, other than a consultant and an investor he did not identify.

"We had every intention of doing this operation," he said. "We had 15 airlines we had contacted or were in serious negotiations with, regarding the actual providing of the (air) service."

He offered no details on which airlines were involved.

Thompson's Web site, which has been taken down, described the company's "fleet," outlined various policies and answered travelers' questions.

Reilly won a temporary restraining order Wednesday that keeps Thompson from using any Mainline bank accounts for anything other than providing refunds. A judge in Hawaii last week ordered ticket sales halted.

Thompson faxed letters earlier this week to Hawaii officials, promising refunds by the end of the week to 120 "pre-reservations" and maintaining that Mainline Airways was "only to be the tour operator."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/13/tech/main558484.shtml

__________________________________________

June 19, 2003

Making Money In Aviation

By Mary Grady
Newswriter

How to make money in the airplane biz has challenged generations, but one young entrepreneur in Boston has come up with a new take. The Boston Globe reports that an 18-year-old business student at Babson College started his own airline, complete with a Web site, called Mainline Airways, offering leather seats with personal TVs, affordable first class, and round trips from LA to Honolulu for under $200. The only trouble was, no such airline ever existed. Last week, the Massachusetts attorney general suggested to freshman Luke Thompson that he would be wise to cease and desist -- and he should also refrain from withdrawing any money from his bank accounts. ''In effect, [Thompson] has been grounded,'' Mass. Atty. Gen. Thomas Reilly told reporters last week. "Our investigation indicates that this was not a legitimate business, a legitimate airline. ... It had no planes and no pilots.''

http://www.avweb.com/newswire/9_25b/briefs/185195-1.html

[thefunky1]

it did sound pretty funked up...

[Lost_luggage34]

Running an airline on just an A' Level in Aviation Studies ? And genuine financial backing for lease of an aircraft ? Come on.

Now let's have a quick poll on qualifications on the likes of Sir Richard ?

Anyone with any knowledge or interest in this business know his history.

But then he hasn't done too badly. I just reckon he has some very sharp financial people around him.

One does love the British Press ... sigh.

Anyone more in tune than myself as to why when these announcements come about, it takes 3-4 months to start operating ? That is, of course if it to be believed.

[Romeo Delta]

He's a flight-simmer, and this has been news on the FS boards for a week now.

Here's the thread:

http://www.flightsimmer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40275

Good luck to him. He'll need it.

RD

[Gunship]

He even made it to Financial Headline News in SA :

London - A British teenager said on Monday he had launched a low-cost airline from his bedroom, becoming possibly the youngest airline boss in the world.

Daniel Reilly, an 18-year-old student, from northern England said: "I started flying lessons when I was 16 and my friends started joking about us buying a plane together and flying people around the world.

"It was just a joke really but I took it a bit more seriously and decided to look into it."

Reilly decided to explore how to establish an airline as part of a business studies course that he was taking as part of his high school A-Level subjects.

Reilly said: "I called round a few airlines and asked how they had done it and I slowly realised it was quite achievable."

Daniel, who attends Deyes High School in Maghull, showed his project for Nexus Airline to a financial adviser who found backers for the business.

Initially Nexus will operate services from an airport in Liverpool, northern England, to the Spanish Canary Island destinations of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Customers will be able to book flights - which cost from £50 one-way - from Friday, with the first flights scheduled to take off on November 1.

In the meantime, Reilly was awaiting the results of his A-Levels in business studies, English language, sociology and general studies.

"Most of my school friends are now going off to university but I'm in charge of an airline," he said.

"I don't know if I will be the next (Virgin boss) Richard Branson but I certainly wouldn't say no."

http://www.finance24.com/articles/default/display_article.asp?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-1783_1739449

[DickDastardly]

You've got to admire the entrepreneurial spirit of these young guys. But they really need a dose of reality into their marketing spin and some delivery not just press releases would be nice.

I'm sure it will only be a few weeks before we hear of a GCSE student planning to fly your weekly shopping home from Tesco's for £3.99 by helicopter.

;)

Anyway if that is you, don't let the cynics get you down and you owe me some money for stealing my idea!

;)

[Romeo Delta]

http://www.flightsimmer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40275

Check out the conversation here.

[Buster the Bear]

Do I detect that he has conned the media?

[TJ747]

Hi Guys,

Dont wanna put anything down as good luck to the lad but no sign of any atol numbers etc or do they have a deeds of undertaking aggreement with Futura.

From doing a search on the atol website .... no signs of atol.

can some pls just dble check incase i have missed something

http://www.atol.org.uk

cheers

tj747

[dwlpl]

It appears that an airline doed not need an ATOL license.

This is taken from the EZY site when referring to ATOL:

Particular exceptions to this requirement are where the customer purchases the travel direct from the airline or those of the airline's agents who provide a ticket immediately upon payment of the fare. The airline which will be operating the flight does not have to hold an ATOL.

[Flightrider]

No, indeed an airline does not require an ATOL. However, Nexus Airways isn't an airline. It does not hold an Operating Licence or an Air Operator's Certificate, both of which would be required for it to be properly classed as an airline. In its current guise, it is a tour operator; and needs either to hold an ATOL or provide a deed of undertaking from the operating carrier (which looks to be Futura in this case) that Futura will honour all ticket sales or provide refunds if Nexus Airways ceases trading.

Hope they've got their ducks in a row on this one.

[nickmanl]

They're going to be operating under Futura's for 6 months, whilst their one is processed. (If they last that long :ok: )

This sounds very risky. Apparently, EasyJet are helping design their website. Surely if there was money to be made on these routes EZY wouldn't be helping whatsoever, but attempting to run the airline into the ground.

Didn't Go suffer badly when they operated to TFS from STN a couple of years back, considering the long flight times comprimising crew's hours if there are delays etc?

This new breed of 18 year old CEO's isn't good. If all goes badly these young men will be declared bankrupt at a very young age.

[ClickRich]

If all goes badly these young men will be declared bankrupt at a very young age.
That's the best time to be declared bankrupt- as long as it is through having a damn good go at an idea rather than spanking up a huge balance on credit cards! If it doesn't work, he'll have learnt an immense amount and can pick himself up and try again with something else. A huge proportion of successful entrepreneurs have failed ventures behind them.

[jabird]

As with Alpha1, I wish the guy well, but I don't see any real innovation here. Alpha 1 were at least trying to fill in a gap in the short hop market.

Even if the business studies text books say "get in to a market before your competitors do", there are many good reasons why the likes of Easy, Ryan, 'baby and flybe have avoided the Canary islands.

Positioning flights would only have a sector time of 15 minutes, although I'm sure the take off / landing cycle still burns a fair bit of fuel.

I'm not sure if the guy studied Geography A-Level, but the Canaries are a very long way from the UK, relative to all the other European destinations the locos like to fly to. I'm sure the Economics text books would have a few words to say about high fuel prices, whereas the physics texts books might help work out the exact amount of fuel needed to get there.

I suspect that £50 one way would barely cover the fuel costs.

[Bmused55]

I'm not certain this Nexus will survive.

I spoke the to guy who started it about 5 months agoun, and he told me they intend to drop the Boeings after a year and switch to Airbus.
:confused:

While this is okay for an established airline with enough money in the koffers to absorb the cost, I highly doubt that a start up with just 12 months under its belt ( at that point) will manage it. Leasing might help. But I'm very skeptical :suspect:

Personally, judging by the e-mails we traded, he sounds like a spotter who just wants to play with Airbus A320s :rolleyes:

[pwalhx]

Just off the general tack here, I am slightly puzzled why if this guy lives in Liverpool is going to operate his flights from Liverpool then why is he going to open his office in Bradford.

[jmc757]

About this ATOL. As already said schedueld airlines don't need one. But Nexus is (in effect) a tour operator. However, isn't there some kind of loophole? Remember when Air Scotland started, they were doing the same. Selling tickets on chartered Electra/Air Holland flights. Their website had a whole section on why they didn't need an ATOL, calling themselves the "ticket provider" for said flights or soemthing similar.

Who knows whether this will work. Regards easyJet, Go, Ryanair, etc this is a slightly different market. Nexus, at the moment, is nearer the tour operator end of the scale, so Futura name a price for the oepration and take care of all that, Nexus have only got to worry bout selling seats. Far less risky way of starting an airline. Good luck to him.

[nickmanl]

Have to confess, read the Daily Star today as it was lying around and there is a picture of him in there. I hate it when tabloids call people the new Richard Branson. Where is his music company?

[freeflaps]

Was speaking to someone at work earlier, apprently the "airline" only have funds of under 100k....seems like far too little to start this kind of operation up. In my normal role at work I'd usually expect an operation like this to start with at least a couple of million not pennies. Overly ambitious, the guy is dreaming, at least the young 'un at Alpha1 has a sensible idea on a sensible scale.

Soon the UK airline industry is going to be looking like bloody Busted!!!

[huggybear]

I'm slightly cautious about this one. As some of you know I've done a bit of work for Martin Halstead at Alpha One, I warned him when we started out to keep it small and build it up slowly. I can't helpi thinking that this is taking it one step too far, especially if he has the limited funds that freeflaps seems to suggest. If he does only have a very small amount of cash to start up with and is relying on pax revnue he is doomed to failure and its not often I'd say that. Sorry,but I jsut don't see it working at all, especially at £50OW. If he is ACMIing from Futura, as I;m sure he is, then I just can't see how it will work. Lets say he is paying rock bottom at £1,600 per hour for a full ACMI (this would be unbelievably cheap) then with a full load of 170 PAX the breakeven per PAX is £37.65 each way and that's not including landing fees or positioning flights. it just isn't going to work.

[brabazon]

Just seen the short clip on the BBC news website on Nexus. I wish the BBC could get some clued up journos to ask the right questions and they'd soon see that this looks exceedingly unlikely to succeed. A+ for effort, but likely result overall is a fail.

[PPRuNe Pop]

It was interesting to read in The Mail yesterday that when he had the idea, and produced a business plan, he approached a financial adviser he knew who then found someone to invest £50,000 to lease the B737!

I'd love to see the business plan :hmm:

[Nakata77]

Just heard Daniel being interviewed on Radio One and he certainly sounds like he's got his head screwed on, albeit letting it slip that he's a red fan and thus destroying any hopes of 40% of Liverpool using his airline.

I wish him all the best because it sounds like he is being used as a puppet on a string by the guys with the dosh behind him. He obviously wouldnt know the last thing about running the operational side of things so he is just a marketing figure head...one that will attract the headlines.

[jmc757]

Only 50K huh? I presume that this covers setting up the werbsite and the call centre, and some kind of downpayment to Futura. So is he totally relying on pax revenue (and whatever is left out of that 50K) to actually pay Futura to roll a 737 down LPL runway in November?

[huggybear]

Yep I heard from someone tody that it's only 50k and that he is relying on revenue from ticket sales. I just can't see it working unless he is getting 95% loads on all of his flights.

[DDF]

As far as I know only airlines with an AOC can charter using ACMI. He will have to pay full charter prices to cover all the costs. Futura will take the money up front.
It’s basically the same as the football charter flights they rent an aircraft and sell seats to supporters if the fill them all they make a profit if they don’t they loose money very simple business.... If it was that easy all the holiday companies would do it...:confused:

[IB4138]

Isn't this type of operation all too familiar?

There was an operator in Glasgow many moons ago, who tried the same thing. One day the operating airline were not paid in advance for the flight and the aircraft didn't show. No bonds in place to bail punters out!

This type of operation these days will immediately be under scrutiny with money laundering checking regulations.

[Buster the Bear]

According to the interview, he is starting the airline with £40k in the bank.

HaHaHaHaHaHa, what a wind up, has anyone actually asked Futura if they have an impending contract with Nexus?

If starting an airline was that simple, even bears would join in.

Can one actually legally REALLY start an airline with just £40k?

www.busterjet.CON

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[san miguel]

futura are not exactly a low cost operation, they have been looking for a way to direct sell for several seasons, this is just another way of trying to get out of the charter black hole they have found themselves in. wonder what the charter customers will make of it!!!!

[jmc757]

they have been looking for a way to direct sell for several seasons, this is just another way of trying to get out of the charter black hole they have found themselves in. wonder what the charter customers will make of it!!!!

Futura aren't direct selling here. This is just another charter. Nexus have chartered Futura to fly a series of flights for them. Same as many of the tour operators do. They advertise such services on their website (http://www.futura-aer.com/html/services_eng.html) .

They already sell direct on a few schedueld services, via their website and booking agencies.

[san miguel]

if its another charter whose ATOL are they using????

[jmc757]

They're not! This is the genius part. There is a loophole in the ATOL system. The offcicial word from Nexus is that:

"ATOL's are required by companies taking money and issuing the passengers ticket at a later date, all our passengers will receive their ticket the moment that they book"

Air Scotland used a similar loophole when they started selling seats on Electra Airways/Air Holland flights.

[Buster the Bear]

Luton based Travel Extras has secured a partnership deal to offer its extras product portfolio to passengers of the newly launched low-cost Nexus Airways. Nexus Airways will commence Canary Island flights out of Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport.

http://static.zsl.org/images/width150/bear-04-web-305.jpg

[BoeingMEL]

Ppruners may wish to learn that Nexus expressly does NOT have an aircraft from Futura.... nor do they expect to supply one. Indeed Futura have been embarrassed and upset by media claims.

No arrangements are in place in the Canaries for pax handling, fuel, catering, engineering etc

A senior spokesman at Liverpool called the Airport's view of the alleged operation as " guarded and sceptical". No formal arrangements have been completed or finalised at LPL for ANY services or facilities.

Despite the Nexus website providing a phone number, it is permanently answered by an ansafone. Emails go unanswered.

Those who question these high-profile so-called launches are often criticised in these pages.... but more often than not are proven 100% right.

So, no plane, no pax, no booking facility, no ground facilities, no evidence of any official approval, permit or documentation, and an alleged £50k to kick-off with! It doesn't stack up does it? bm

[goldeneye]

TTG had an article in last weeks issue about this airline, The TTG called the airline and spoke to the founder Daniel Reilly who told them they are taking bookings for travel from november, and said that they planned to get an Atol licence.
TTG also spoke to the CAA who said there has been no application from them, and that it is the CAA's undersatanding that they are not taking payments for bookings, as they cant take payment for bookings. Make of that what you will.

[PPRuNe Pop]

This thread is closed!

[TimS]

Errrr don't think so (but wouldn't argue that it should be) !

[PPRuNe Pop]

Thank you TimS. It is now. :rolleyes: