Air Sylhet - o noua companie aeriana

Am aflat zilele trecute despre o noua companie aeriana cu un business-model mai special, si postez mai jos stirile pe care le-am gasit pe tema aceasta. Este vorba de Air Sylhet , o companie din Birmingham care va incepe sa opereze din dec. 2008 curse spre Dubai (via Viena).



New Birmingham airline offers routes to Vienna and Dubai
Sursa: Birmingham Post
Autor: Tom Scotney
Data: 21.10.2008

Citat :

A group of Birmingham businessmen are bucking the troubled aviation industry trend by launching a new airline offering flights to Vienna and Dubai.

Air Sylhet, which is run from an office in Handsworth, will see its first flight take off in less than three weeks.

The airline will offer flights to Austria and the UAE out of Manchester and London Stansted airports when it launches on November 9.

The launch of the airline is the culmination of nearly three years of planning, and comes at a time when many airlines are struggling to survive.

The combination of soaring fuel prices and a drop in demand because of the credit crunch has meant many firms – particularly smaller companies offering budget flights – were finding things very tough.

In September, national airline firm XL Airways – one of the largest holiday companies in the UK – went into administration, stranding thousands of customers abroad.

But Air Sylhet chairman Kabir Khan, from Birmingham, said he was confident the potential market for the new service was huge, even in the current economic climate.

And he added Air Sylhet believed it could exploit a gap in the market by targeting destinations poorly served by other airlines.

As well as Vienna and Dubai, Air Sylhet aims to provide a service to Bangladesh, starting up next year.

Mr Khan said: “We recognise that we are bucking the trend by launching a new airline at a time when others have struggled, but the difference between our offering compared to others is that we provide a complete service to high and exacting standards, but we offer it at a rate which is value for money.

“We are not looking to compete with ‘low frills’ airlines. We are concentrating on a more distinct approach of safe, value-driven, point-to-point services which provide consistent, reliable products and fares appealing to both leisure travellers and the business community.”

The company also said there were signs the market would get better for airline firms in 2009, after a very difficult year so far.

In a statement on the company’s website, it said: “Oil prices are declining and this trend looks set to continue, reducing the single greatest burden on an airline’s balance sheets. The dollar is also declining, meaning that aviation costs (lease rates, fuel etc.) that are usually expressed in dollars are also declining.

“Aircraft are becoming available in the lease market and these are on more reasonable terms, allowing airlines to acquire new aircraft at acceptable prices to service new and growing routes. Charter airlines are being steadily chased out of the short haul market by the low cost carriers, into medium haul routes not explored before. This segmentation of the market will help to stabilise charter operators in the face of fierce competition.

“Although distressing, recent airline failures have meant that seat capacity has been significantly reduced, whilst demand has been maintained, meaning that more passengers will be chasing fewer seats.

“The message is simple: if an airline can survive the winter of 2008, then it can expect a bumper year in 2009.”

Air Sylhet was formed by four British-Bangladeshi businessmen from the Sylhet region of Bangladesh, three of whom are from Birmingham.

Mr Khan led the team of four starting the firm, which recently successfully leased its first Airbus A320-200, capable of carrying 180 passengers.

Mr Khan said: “In order to be able to provide this service we have had to invest in the very best people – people with the experience and expertise to deliver the quality we are looking for. We have chosen to fly initially to Vienna and then to Dubai, though, given Vienna’s location, it makes it an ideal base to expand our services to include long haul flights to Bangladesh a little further down the line.”

www.airsylhetonline.com

Airline launched to cater for British Muslims

Sursa: Telegraph.co.uk
Data: 31.10.2008
Autor: Bev Fearis

Citat :

Air Sylhet will begin flights from Stansted and Manchester in December, despite 28 airlines failing in the past year.

Air Sylhet will beging services to Dubai - via Vienna - from December Photo: EPA

A new airline catering for Britain’s Muslim community will start flights from Stansted and Manchester to Dubai from December.

Air Sylhet is backed by a group of private investors who are all British-Bangladeshi businessmen from the Sylhet region of Bangladesh.

Flights from both airports to Dubai need to go through Vienna because the airline has based its operating company in the Austrian capital to secure traffic rights more easily.

The launch comes at a time of intense uncertainty in aviation, following the failure in the past year of 28 airlines, including Stansted-based MaxJet and Eos, Luton-based SilverJet, Zoom, XL Airways, LTE Airways and, most recently, Sterling Airlines, which collapsed this week.

“Many people think we are crazy,” said Kabir Khan, the new company’s marketing and communications director. “But we feel that the market we are serving is immune to these kinds of conditions.”

The airline will fly to destinations in high demand from the Muslim communities in Britain and central Europe, in particular for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca.

It also hopes to sell seats to non-Muslims looking either for city breaks in Vienna or holidays to Dubai.

“Although there is a one-hour stopover at Vienna, passengers do not need to get off, so these are effectively direct services,” Mr Khan said.

The airline will use Airbus A320-200 aircraft, capable of carrying 180 passengers. Flights will initially be economy-class only, but the front 20 seats could be converted into business class if there is demand.

Return fares will start at £500 to Dubai, £450 to Jeddah and £200 to Vienna, excluding charges and taxes.

Flights will start on December 4 and will be on Mondays and Thursdays from Stansted to Vienna/Dubai, and on Fridays from Manchester.

See www.airsylhetonline.com for more details

Pentru mai multe stiri din aviatie, va invitam sa vizitati sectiunea corespunzatoare din site-ul D13-th: http://d13-th.ro/forum/index.php?showforum=27

Unii dau faliment altii isi incep activitatea ....... cine mai stie