Buzz announces new routes

[Herod]

Buzz (KLMuk) announces nine new French destinations from Stansted for summer 2002, and four new French internal routes. Check out the KLMuk website for details. Yep, the future's yellow alright.

[Nightstop]

Bonne chance, mais ne mettez pas tous vos oeufs dans un panier! Au revoir mon jaune ami :)

[glider insider]

i am surprised by the new routes... this seems to spread Buzz very thin.. half the places they mention i didnt know had an airport...
the places in Brittany and Nomandy... it will be competition for the cross channel ferries alright, but they are already in a very competitive market with the tunnel. it is my OPINION, and not fact, that a huge amount of passengers travelling to this area would want a car, and by flying and hiring i think this would make it a lot more expensive than using ferry / tunnel.

they also dont mention on the website that they are dropping Milan...

no doubt time will tell....

[Herod]

Hello Nightstop, didn't think you could resist it!! Don't forget though that we also have best quality Spanish and German baskets. Glider Insider, it's like butter; it's only too thin if the amount of butter remains the same.

[ 11 December 2001: Message edited by: Herod ]

[schwabn]

I don't know why Buzz are even bothering expanding - before too long they'll be gone anyway! They'll be subject to fierce competition from Ryanair for example who'll just be able to beat them outright, as they have done with Go on the Dublin routes.
FR aren't going to watch Buzz eat the cake, they'll take it off them and leave the crumbs. As said before "Bonne chance mais Au Revoir mon jaune ami"

[G SXTY]

Herod
Just curious - why is Montpelier missing from the list? I was hoping to pop down to visit the in-laws & take in some of the fleshier seafront sights next summer! ;) Was the view of the beach on finals just too distracting? :D

Theflyingirishman
I’m in the process of planning next summer’s jaunt down to France, and I’ll make very sure we get there and back on Buzz – not Ryanair. Why? Because, put simply, they are an altogether more relaxing and stress-free way to travel:

1 – I travel frequently from STN with KLUK, and the (well staffed) Buzz check-in desks next door always have short, orderly queues. The ‘queues’ at the Ryanair desks have got to be seen to be believed. Fewer check-in staff might mean more profit, but it starts the customer off with a bad impression. I refuse to give myself a nervous breakdown before I’ve even got shot of the cases.

2 – Buzz give me a seat assignment. That way, I can stroll out to the aircraft, safe in the knowledge that my window or aisle seat awaits. Ryanair don’t, resulting in a survival of the fittest stampede for the front 3 rows, (presumably so that everyone can be first off in the race to queue at the destination airport’s carousel). :rolleyes: I’ve travelled with many airlines, and have found boarding Ryanair a/c to be a uniquely unpleasant experience.

3 – Buzz fly me to Lyon & Toulouse (i.e. direct to the cities I want to visit) Ryanair, for reasons of economy, offer me St. Etienne & Carcassonne.

4 – I’ve been privileged to jumpseat with several KLUK & Buzz crews, and have been left in no doubt of the esprit de corps that exists in the operation. I’ve never had the opportunity with Ryanair, but the more I read on these pages, the more I’m convinced that its a company I wouldn’t want to work for.

5 – On principle, I won’t hand over another penny to an outfit that would charge me £50 to read my CV, or charge its cabin crew for their uniforms.

With the greatest respect Mr. Irishman, as a humble fare-paying customer with lots of family and friends who seek my advice before travelling, I would fly Buzz without hesitation. I wouldn’t touch Ryanair with the proverbial barge-pole. :cool:

[Herod]

G-SXTY, that saved me having to say anything! One word from the customer is worth a thousand from the provider. Hope we have the opportunity to continue to provide the service, although I'm afraid jump-seats are out now, at least for the time being. As regards Montpellier, dunno. perhaps not enough butter.

[schwabn]

Don't you worry about Montpellier, Ryanair should come to the rescue in the summer. Ryanair on the whole operate a better, more efficient and cheaper service. Surely 11 consecutive years of profitabilty are enough evidence for that. Buzz will be gone before long, you just wait and see.

Apart from that I appreciate your points bur surely most people would agree that this is a small price to pay for the lowest fares on the market.

With respect to the £50 for the application, this is standard practice in the USA and will be over here as well in a few years time. All this money is put back into the business as an excellent pay package including share options and lower fares.

Regards

[G SXTY]

I wouldn’t dispute that Ryanair are efficient, and would certainly agree that 11 consecutive years of profit and growth suggest that they’re doing something right. However I’d take issue with the ‘better’ bit (for the reasons above), and as for cheaper, I’ve just plugged some dates in for next April:

Ryanair
06/04 STN > EBU £58.04
13/04 CCF > STN £54.90 (€88.67 / 1.615)
Total: £112.94 – pretty good value.

Buzz
06/04 STN > LYS £50.00
13/04 TLS > STN £24.15 (€39.00 / 1.615)
Total: £74.15 – ‘nuff said. ;)

Without doubt there is a sizeable market of punters who will put up with just about anything if the price is right, but even if FR were always the cheapest (which they clearly aren’t) their economies in service risk alienating regular customers (the “What do you expect for £10?” argument only works for so long).

I suspect there is a growing number of people (particularly well-heeled 2nd home owners and ex-pats) who either wouldn’t use them through bad experiences, or who have simply found a better alternative at a near equivalent price.

One thing we can all agree on is that the invasion of France by the low-costs has put paid to the £200+ returns that we used to have to endure from BA/AF and stimulated huge growth, that there is a huge (as yet) untapped internal French market, and that this can only be good news for travellers and pilots alike.

[schwabn]

I know that retaining FR customers can be a little difficult sometimes but they will be cheapest and beat whatever is on the market. If you give them the details of your Buzz quote, not only will they match the fare but also refund you twice the difference - so much for providing the cheapest service.

Yes, undoubtedly the end of high fare monopolies in France has come and the domestic market has huge potential to put all the financial and operational disasters like Air Liberte, BritAir, Air Inter, etc. out of their misery.

[recceguy]

"Huge untapped french market" ? where do you get this fact from (I mean "untapped"?) ??
Competition is always welcome anyway.

Don't forget this country has one of the most efficient and nicest railways system in Europe... and yes, local businessmen prefer enjoying the 1st class TGV (Train a grande Vitesse) to commute inside France - too bad for the airlines, all of them whatever their brand.

A good railways system is something unknown to other european countries, where airlines consequently grow, don't they?

Beware of those arriving in another country with the pretention to teach the locals how to fly and operate an airline (see National Jet Italia with BA colours..)

Good luck to Buzz anyway.

[schwabn]

Well, not all airlines coming to other countries fail. Look at Ryanair: They have come to the UK and basically own STN and PIK. Then they moved to Belgium and have the lion's share of the markets of Brussels routes that they have entered, Sabena has since been filed for bankruptcy.
Ryanair is about to move into Germany and teach Lufthansa a lesson, no doubt they will be just as successful there as they have been in the other countries.

I don't see any reason why Buzz shouldn't be successful with domestic French services if they provide quality service and low fares because then they are serious competition for the train network.

[G SXTY]

Theflyingirishman
Thanks for the advice.

Recceguy
I mean ‘untapped’ because low-cost airlines have barely started to scratch the surface in France. Sure the TGV is a fantastic piece of kit – 300km/h in a train is some experience, and some of the city centre – city centre times blow the airlines into the weeds (2 hours dead, Paris > Lyon). :eek: However, it doesn’t come cheap, and fares are often more expensive than flying. Its other weakness is that all the routes radiate from Paris, meaning that airlines can compete much more effectively on cross-country journeys (e.g. Toulouse > Grenoble).

If the low-costs can get as established in France as they have in the UK (and I see no reason why they can’t) then leisure travellers will respond to aggressive pricing in the same way, and go off for weekend breaks / family visits etc where they wouldn’t have bothered before. Hence a huge untapped market.

(And I’d never suggest the British and Irish could teach the French anything about commercial aviation. I’ve even heard they build aircraft in Toulouse . . . ;) ;) )

[recceguy]

In fact you are right G SXTY

Yes, TGV radiates from Paris ( and french people have been used to that since more than a century :confused: )

I agree that there is some potential in transversal lines... and that's precisely what Buzz is doing.

Good luck to them, very sincerely, I am impressed - after all, my fellow countrymen could start flying lines inside UK, it's up to them :rolleyes: