ordinarygirl Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 From Travelmole.com Air Canada faces stiff competition A Canadian airline launched by an entrepreneur and his brother is launching schedule flights between the UK and Canada, challenging the routes dominated by Air Canada. Zoom Airlines plans to operate flights from Gatwick and Glasgow to six Canadian cities from May 2004. Fares will start at £127 including taxes to destinations like Toronto, which compares to Air Canada's starting fare of £539 one way on the route. However, a spokeswoman for Air Canada added that the airline regularly offers deals for return fares. The Zoom fare includes a hot meal and wine as well as inflight entertainment, but other alcoholic drinks cost £2. Passengers can pay a higher fare to sit in premium seats (£176 to Toronto) which have 36 inches of leg room as opposed to 31, and include free drinks, dedicated check-in, seat selection and extra luggage allowance. The man behind the carrier is Scottish-born entrepreneur Hugh Boyle, who developed Direct Holidays with his brother John, before selling the company to Airtours five years ago. Mr Boyle said: "Our prices will be the lowest scheduled fares but passengers will not have to sacrifice quality. Our seats will offer more legroom than most aircraft catering to the transatlantic markets. These flights will be high standard at low cost." Zoom flights from Gatwick will operate to Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, on Sundays, Mondays and Fridays. Flights from Glasgow will operate to Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. travelmole 6-Oct-2003 Categories: Breaking News, US News, Travel Agent News, News archive, Airline News, Business Travel News Story read 608 Mail this article to a friend Printable Version User Comments Share your views with other users: add your own comments to this story. legal notice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModerateChop Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 Zoom has been flying since November 2002, they started with a leased A320 and now operate with one B767-300ER. In addition to the announced UK sked flights they will also be operating an extensive charter program to Caribbean destinations from Ottawa, Halifax and Toronto. http://www.flyzoom.com/dspCompany.cfm Not sure why they show a B727 cockpit on their website ? MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aBusDriver Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 So one aircraft is "stiff competetion" for Air Canada. Tell me...at those fares, surely they are selling seats at below cost (where have I heard that before?). Perhaps everyone in this company is working for free??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gino Under Posted October 6, 2003 Share Posted October 6, 2003 Let's see..... Wardair? Ontario Worldair? Worldways? Crown Air? Canada 3000? Odyssey? Nationair? Royal? Okay. One aeroplane proposing to do what all these guys were doing..... maybe it'll work. What do I know? Will history repeat itself? Ya never know, maybe a buncha ex-C3ers have the answer. Let's see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon The Loon Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 "Ya never know, maybe a buncha ex-C3ers have the answer." They did the last time. As long as the bean counters don't get in the way, they may this time too. Be afraid.... You know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Oneworld Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 They will be operating 3 767s on these new routes . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest G3 Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 What is their ETOPS time presently? Who's maintenance spec. are they operating under? G3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fly Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 Last year, when it was suggested by some on this forum that AC was filing for bankruptcy, that the pay-cuts were coming, that rough times were ahead, and etc., some AC staff thought it was all nonsense and that they were invincible. If the experience of the last couple of years have taught any one any lessons there, maybe they stop worrying so much about others and hold on to their own hats!! Contrary to popular belief, One's riches is not dependent on another's doom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bm330 Posted October 8, 2003 Share Posted October 8, 2003 "Contrary to popular belief, One's riches is not dependent on another's doom." AC has been trying to drive everyone else out of business for the last 12 years. The cornerstone of it's business model has been to destroy the competition even if it drives itself to the brink of bankruptcy. Oops... went too far. AC employees had better hope P.Martin is a fan and takes the time to make it an agenda item for the govt because there are painfully few citizens in the country that give a rats --- about whether it stays or goes. Enough players have shown a face in the market that we'll do just fine without "Big Red". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.