Flyforbeans plans 12 routes from Cardiff Airport
11.06.07
Flyforbeans, the new budget airline to be based at Cardiff Airport, plans to launch cut-price flights from the city to 12 European destinations. The new budget airline predicts it will get nearly three quarters of a million passengers on the routes, which it hopes to launch this autumn. The new airline would create 100 jobs, 75 of which will be flight crew.
Flyforbeans said it has already secured investment, including support from Welsh investors, for its low-cost European airline business. If full funding and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) permission is secured, the airline will operate a fleet of Boeing 737-300 aircraft, each seating up to 148 passengers. The planes are used by many budget airlines, including Ryanair.
The airline is reported to be considering a flotation on London's AIM as one of several funding options. Managing director, Tim Lee, said Flyforbeans is also in the process of securing operational approval from the CAA to operate flights from Cardiff Airport to Eastern European countries, Germany, Spain, Italy and France.
Mr Lee said: 'This is a viable business model based just on Cardiff. We are a European jet low-cost operator, which is a model that has been proven time and time again with the likes of bmibaby. The routes we will be providing will be those not currently served by Cardiff Airport.'
However, Flyforbeans destinations will be in direct competition with several routes offered at Bristol Airport, as well as other regional UK airports.
Mr Lee said the long-term model was to establish other bases at airports across Europe and that the eventual aim at Cardiff was to increase the number of destinations from 12 to 20. He said: 'There are so many destinations currently not served by Cardiff and many places where we can fly. However, we don't want to grow too quickly. We will... add more aircraft when the funding and market conditions are right.'
'In the first year from Cardiff we are anticipating passenger numbers of between 600,000 to 700,000. On some routes we will be operating more than one daily service.'
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