While very unlikely (apart form the good chance La Compagnie will return to the UK in the future) where do you think would be the best base of operations for an all business class airline? Where would they get the best slots, facilities (space for their own lounge or even a custom terminal like Silverjet), Landing Charges, etc. I know this is unlikely but I just thought it would be interesting to see what you guys think.
BuzzBAe146
Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
Whilst unlikely, I would go LHR so the airline could have connectivity with other premium airlines.
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- BuzzBAE146
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
Would slots not be difficult to come by at London Heathrow?
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- petertenthije
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
It would depend on the destinations you want to fly to. LHR for long haul, LCY for short haul.
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- AndrewJM70
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
From a location point of view Luton is probably best as it benefits from the best links to the Midlands of any airport in the area. The only issue there is runway length which precludes the use of larger aircraft such as the 787. An extra 600m on the Eastern end would transform the airport's operations.
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- PlymSpotter
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
I would suggest LGW, South Terminal
A non-aligned all business class carrier operating, at best, a handful of routes is going to really struggle to capture meaningful market-share among regular business travellers. Their bread and butter would be premium O/D pax travelling VFR or on vacation. LGW is 30 minutes by train from London's Victoria and London Bridge stations and 45 minutes from London St Pancreas, plus you have some of the most affluent suburban/rural areas of the UK within a 60 minute drive.
A non-aligned all business class carrier operating, at best, a handful of routes is going to really struggle to capture meaningful market-share among regular business travellers. Their bread and butter would be premium O/D pax travelling VFR or on vacation. LGW is 30 minutes by train from London's Victoria and London Bridge stations and 45 minutes from London St Pancreas, plus you have some of the most affluent suburban/rural areas of the UK within a 60 minute drive.
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- BuzzBAE146
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
Thanks for the responses guys, while Luton and Gatwick are both relitivley cheap and have slots available would they really have the space for say for example a private terminal or even at least a lounge?
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- Bongodog1964
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
If you want easy access and low start up costs LTN or STN are the answer, history however has shown that if you want to stay in business for more than a year they are not the answer, both having witnesses a number of failures in this market. if you want to make money, it would have to be LHR or as a poor 2nd LGW and for short haul LHR or LCY.
Yes a good slot at LHR would cost a large fortune, but its not wasted money, just tied up money. Unless/until the 3rd runway is built it will always be worth at least its purchase cost.
Yes a good slot at LHR would cost a large fortune, but its not wasted money, just tied up money. Unless/until the 3rd runway is built it will always be worth at least its purchase cost.
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- BuzzBAE146
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
Bongodog1964 wrote:If you want easy access and low start up costs LTN or STN are the answer, history however has shown that if you want to stay in business for more than a year they are not the answer, both having witnesses a number of failures in this market. if you want to make money, it would have to be LHR or as a poor 2nd LGW and for short haul LHR or LCY.
Yes a good slot at LHR would cost a large fortune, but its not wasted money, just tied up money. Unless/until the 3rd runway is built it will always be worth at least its purchase cost.
I totally agree that Heathrow is the best base, however I if an airline were to attempt to secure valuable slots I should imagine the airline occupying would be unlikely to sell for a semi reasonable if not any price. I think when the 3rd runway is built Heathrow would make much more commercial sense.
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- PatrickZ80
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
When it comes to slots (or lack of them), Southend might be the answer. This is the only London airport that isn't slot controlled, so you can add unlimited flights without ever having to apply for slots. However it's got a rather short runway (similar to Luton), so no wide bodies or long haul from there.
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- PlymSpotter
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
I disagree that Heathrow is the best base, I'd actually say it's the worst.
Analysing historical attempts and failures, realistically a start-up premium carrier would need to identify the major traffic flows to one or two key mid-haul destinations, in all probability that's going to begin with the New York metro area, and would operate at best two flights a day. Heathrow is highly competitive on all the key premium markets, especially to NYC, introducing an offering which is going to be noncompetitive on frequency, rewards and most likely product too is going to be extremely difficult, you could potentially gain a foothold through gouging prices, but that's not sustainable.
Also private terminals are not necessarily a perk - high yielding leisure / VFR travellers have a much higher propensity to shop before a flight, so taking that opportunity away isn't going to resonate with everyone.
Analysing historical attempts and failures, realistically a start-up premium carrier would need to identify the major traffic flows to one or two key mid-haul destinations, in all probability that's going to begin with the New York metro area, and would operate at best two flights a day. Heathrow is highly competitive on all the key premium markets, especially to NYC, introducing an offering which is going to be noncompetitive on frequency, rewards and most likely product too is going to be extremely difficult, you could potentially gain a foothold through gouging prices, but that's not sustainable.
Also private terminals are not necessarily a perk - high yielding leisure / VFR travellers have a much higher propensity to shop before a flight, so taking that opportunity away isn't going to resonate with everyone.
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- BuzzBAE146
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
PlymSpotter wrote:I disagree that Heathrow is the best base, I'd actually say it's the worst.
Analysing historical attempts and failures, realistically a start-up premium carrier would need to identify the major traffic flows to one or two key mid-haul destinations, in all probability that's going to begin with the New York metro area, and would operate at best two flights a day. Heathrow is highly competitive on all the key premium markets, especially to NYC, introducing an offering which is going to be noncompetitive on frequency, rewards and most likely product too is going to be extremely difficult, you could potentially gain a foothold through gouging prices, but that's not sustainable.
Also private terminals are not necessarily a perk - high yielding leisure / VFR travellers have a much higher propensity to shop before a flight, so taking that opportunity away isn't going to resonate with everyone.
Do you believe that an airline would loose potential passengers due to the fact flights leave from Luton or Stansted etc. rather than Heathrow?
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- PlymSpotter
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Re: Best London base for a premium airline?
It's not that they'd lose potential passengers, but that there are fewer potential passengers (in the market for premium travel) in their immediate catchment areas in the first place.
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