FLYING OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM

Premium market air carriers continue to try to establish niche operations and capitalize on the demand for deluxe air travel accommodations. Air-limousine services using new aircraft and new information technology are continuing to develop. This article describes Geneva-based PrivatAir, one of the first to make real profits in this sector. PrivatAir operates services under contract with Lufthansa, with the airline selling the seats and giving the flight a number and brand name. Dusseldorf-Newark service was the first leg, offered in June 2002, with Dusseldorf-Chicago and Munich-Newark having followed. PrivatAir emphasizes that flights are timed to suit business travelers, leaving at the end of the business day local time and arriving in the U.S. in time for an early night check-in at a hotel in New York. This also allows the carrier to avoid busy times at either end of the route. All are on a six-day schedule and are intended as a complement to regular service. The next entrant in this niche is Eos, a proposed U.S. airline with plans to link JFK to London Stansted and use jets with lie-flat seats. It also has a larger cabin with the same number of seat as in smaller planes. Customer-centric marketing is key to its approach. Focus is to woo away from inducements such as frequent-flier miles and special clubs. Stansted is a logical destination because it now has the best connection of any long-runway airport to the City financial district and Canary Wharf business center. Other similar services include Air France's Dedicate and Lufthansa Private Jets, which allows fixed rate bookings for private jets. Other variants include DayJet, which runs flights that would take overnight in surface travel, functioning almost like the final leg of the longer premium flight travelers' journeys.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00022543
• Corporate Authors:

  Penton Media

  1300 E 9th Street
  Cleveland, OH  United States  44114-1503
• Authors:
  • Sweetman, B
• Publication Date: 2005-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: pp 28-30
• Serial:
  • ATW: Air Transport World
  • Volume: 42
  • Issue Number: 8
  • Publisher: Penton Media
  • ISSN: 0002-2543

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airlines; Customer service; Marketing
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Economics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01006948
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 8 2005 7:33AM