Thomas Cook who lived from 1808 to 1892 began his career by running a successful one-day railway excursion for 500 temperance campaigners at a shilling a head from Leicester to Loughborough, a 19km (11 mile journey) on 5 July, 1841. He invented new payment systems for hotels and travel bookings, sold travel goods, organised excursions and ran a small alcohol free hotel in Fleet Street, London before he retired in 1878. There is a statue dedicated to him, outside Leicester Railway Station in the UK which was unveiled on 14 January 1994. His son took…
Low Cost Carrier
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Like a Mirror: Airline survey gives telling data about US Air Travellers.
Last Tuesday, some great stats came out about the state air travel in the USA. For example, the number of Americans flying last year hit a new record with forty-nine percent of the population taking at least one air trip. That does mean 51 percent of the US population did not fly in 2016. Eleven percent of Americans have never flown, down from the year before. I find it astounding that one in ten Americans have never been inside a plane for an air journey. Eighty-nine percent of people took less than five air trips last…
PEOPLExpress is Gone
The last time we heard from PEOPLExpress on their plans to fly again was one year ago. A year later, I am definitely calling it. People’s Express has permanently putted out. Despite a cheery New Year’s message on Facebook (see below), nothing of substance has resulted in the airline flying again. For those of you who have forgotten… The original PeopleExpress went out of business in 1987, despite taking advantage of US air deregulation to become the fifth largest airline in the USA by offering ultra low fares which the staff collected on the plane.…
Not Smiling with Thai Smile
Thailand has a number of low cost carriers (Orient Thai, Lion Air, Air Asia) plus two popular “Premium Low Cost” airlines: Bangkok Airways and Nok Air, both of whom I have flown in the last year. In 2011, THAI Airways board began THAI Smile to compete in this market. The name came from a competition with 2,229 entries. For this flight, I was keen to discover the distinguishing marks of Thai Smile? Is the brand distinctive? Booking: 8/10 THAI Smile flies to about 13 domestic and one international destinations and is reportedly planning to expand international services. Confusingly THAI Smile use both…
Thai air problems knock Nok Scoot
In Thailand Nok means bird. “Premium low cost” domestic carrier Nokair after ten years of operation commands a healthy 27% chunk of the country’s domestic market and a healthy profit margin. Nok has not expanded internationally with the exception of a couple of routes. This was due to change this year. Nok has joined with Singapore Airline’s low cost arm Scoot, to form low cost international carrier called imaginatively NokScoot with the slogan: Fly Awesome. Literally the name means: Bird leaves suddenly and quickly! This new venture is 49% is owned by Scoot and 51% owned by Nok. The carrier aims to link China, Japan…
Ryanair US site – tips for flying
I have flown 90 airlines to all continents of the world (except for Antarctica) and one airline continues to dismay me: Ryanair. People keep flying Ryanair for one reason: cheap fares. I avoid them because of their seats, customer disdain, staff attitude, ethical concerns and their flying to random secondary airports nowhere near the city I am flying to. My experience of Ryanair is that they are like a bus. If you like bus travel, its fine. If something goes wrong, then you are on your own. The airline has made a concerted effort to improve…
Australia to Singapore Scoot 2 for 1 Sale
For two days only. Scoot is offering a very cheap way to get to Singapore from Gold Coast, Perth and Sydney. Flight dates: from today until 30th November. The first passenger pays fare and taxes and the second passenger only pays taxes. The offer does not apply to their Business Class fares. In addition, the airline is also taking 15 per cent off the price off Super & Stretch seats which give you 35″ of leg room. I found good availability looking through October and November. The cheapest price I found from Sydney to Singapore was AUD 646.95 return for two ($US602). Thats…
Standing Room Section for Planes? Will it fly?
A paper published this week concludes that a cabin dedicated to standing only passengers “has a potential to be applied by low-cost airlines servicing short-haul flight markets.” Sounds like just the recipe for Ryanair, Spirit Airlines and Air Asia! It brings a whole new meaning to the term “cattle class“! F. I. Romli et al in the International Journal of Engineering and Technology, suggest that by installing a “standing seat“, airlines could fit 21 per cent more passengers into a cabin. The distance between seats could be reduced from the usual 30″ to a mere 23″. By removing…
Not People’s Express…Puh lease
So it seems the PEOPLExpress name which belonged to a low fare carrier that disappeared in 1987 has been revived. The new PEOPLExpress is selling tickets on its website for flights starting June 30. Their hub is Newport News in Virginia, a city of 180 000 people and the airline will offer one daily Boeing 737 service to the cities of Boston, Newark, Pittsburgh and West Palm Beach. PEOPLEexpress is billing itself as a Low Cost Carrier which will offer better treatment. I am not sure what better treatment will look like because almost everything costs: Check in Baggage starts at $20 for the…
Jetstar at ten
I make no secret of my dislike of Jetstar (JQ), the low cost arm of Australian airline Qantas. We have never really bonded. I am not alone according to the complaints on the Don’tflyjetstar website. Some would say that Jetstar has been then saviour of Qantas and others would say the advancement of the budget carrier has come at the cost of the mainline carrier. The story started when QANTAS acquired Impulse Airlines, a Newcastle based independent carrier. It took its lessons from that to launch Jetsar in May 2004. The aim was to compete directly…
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