Flyglobespan ‘in great shape’
07.09.08
The boss of Flyglobespan has moved to reassure passengers that the Scottish budget airline, which last year posted a £20 million loss, was now in ‘great shape’ to continue flying millions of Scots to the sunshine, the Herald reports. The news comes in the wake of the collapse of Canadian-based Zoom, founded by the Scottish brothers Hugh and John Boyle. Flyglobespan has been forced to address probing industry-wide questions about its continued viability, as commentators predict a number of European airlines will go to the wall.
Rick Green, chief operating officer of Edinburgh-based Flyglobespan, said that the carrier had taken precautions to allow the business to weather a downturn. He told the newspaper: ‘You can never be complacent in the airline business, but we've taken strategic steps through the leasing of our wide-bodied aircraft to ensure we remain in business. In August this year, we celebrated flying our five millionth customer. We intend to be around for a long time to come.’
‘We're very sorry about what has happened at Zoom. This is a close-knit industry and we have a lot of friends and colleagues hit by the collapse - it's very sad that this well-run airline has folded but flying empty transatlantic flights is an absolute killer.’
‘At Flyglobespan, we learned this the hard way last year when we lost £20m. The year 2007 was an annus horribilis for Tom and all our team at Flyglobespan. We've had to refocus on our short-haul European flights, cut back on Transatlantic routes and work to ensure that we had the highest loads. We had our wake-up call last year and the days of cheap flights - fares for £10 and such like - are over for now. It costs a minimum of £38 per passenger per sector now, before you make any money. This year we're looking at a profit of around £2m.’
Flyglobespan now has three of its Boeing wide-bodied 767-300s leased to the Ministry of Defence for a Falklands island service, to Air India and to Air Calin - a Pacific-based airline. It also currently has a single-aisle 737-800 leased to Oman Air. Mr Green told the Herald: ‘Exact figures are confidential, but the whole leasing business is a multi-million pound revenue generator for the airline.'
'In addition, to the actual planes, the airline have around 150 staff - a mixture of flight deck and cabin crew - involved in these leases. As we head into autumn and winter, traditionally a difficult time for airlines and holiday companies, we have been maximising our assets and earning important revenue.'
Michael Coltman, an aviation expert, told the newspaper that Flyglobespan appears to have adopted a very cautious strategy, which bodes well. He said: ‘From what I can see, Flyglobespan has battened down the hatches for the moment, concentrating on routes that are profitable and diversifying away from over-reliance on a single market segment. But like all airlines they must be well positioned and flexible enough to respond to changes in the market.’
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