CK
ScanFlyer Mile High Club
Maxjet to add second US-London link in 2006
By Kevin Done in London
Financial Times | Published: December 12 2005 22:01 | Last updated: December 12 2005 22:01
Maxjet Airways, one of two startup all-business class transatlantic airlines, will announce on Tuesday that it is adding a second route between the US and London Stansted early next year.
The airline, which began flying last month between New York’s JFK airport and London Stansted, is planning to add flights between Washington Dulles and Stansted in late February.
Gary Rogliano, chief executive, said the airline would shortly take delivery of two more aircraft, expanding the fleet to three Boeing 767-200s, and it could add another two 767s in April or May next year.
With the growth of the fleet Maxjet will also expand its JFK-Stansted service to a daily frequency from six times weekly. It is adding a frequent flyer loyalty programme early next year.
Mr Rogliano said Maxjet had recently been achieving a load factor - the share of available seats filled - of “well above 50 per cent on average”. The business model is based on achieving a break-even load factor of 70 per cent.
London Stansted would be the main focus for the airline’s growth in Europe, said Mr Rogliano, and it planned to add further transatlantic routes between Stansted and the US including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and either San Francisco or San Jose.
He said Maxjet was planning to expand to a fleet of 12 to 13 aircraft by August 2007 and was considering moving to new Airbus or Boeing aircraft from 2008.
Mr Rogliano said the airline had been backed with more than $40m (£22.8m, €33.8m) of initial equity capital from more than 40 private investors led by Kenneth Woolley, chairman and chief executive of Extra Space Storage, who had invested $14m and held a stake of around 56 per cent. Mr Woolley was also an early investor in JetBlue, the US low cost airline.
Maxjet and Eos are the first airlines to be launched across the North Atlantic specifically to challenge the highly profitable business class offerings of the network airlines in the US/UK market, led by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic of the UK and the US carriers American Airlines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines.
© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2005. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.
By Kevin Done in London
Financial Times | Published: December 12 2005 22:01 | Last updated: December 12 2005 22:01
Maxjet Airways, one of two startup all-business class transatlantic airlines, will announce on Tuesday that it is adding a second route between the US and London Stansted early next year.
The airline, which began flying last month between New York’s JFK airport and London Stansted, is planning to add flights between Washington Dulles and Stansted in late February.
Gary Rogliano, chief executive, said the airline would shortly take delivery of two more aircraft, expanding the fleet to three Boeing 767-200s, and it could add another two 767s in April or May next year.
With the growth of the fleet Maxjet will also expand its JFK-Stansted service to a daily frequency from six times weekly. It is adding a frequent flyer loyalty programme early next year.
Mr Rogliano said Maxjet had recently been achieving a load factor - the share of available seats filled - of “well above 50 per cent on average”. The business model is based on achieving a break-even load factor of 70 per cent.
London Stansted would be the main focus for the airline’s growth in Europe, said Mr Rogliano, and it planned to add further transatlantic routes between Stansted and the US including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and either San Francisco or San Jose.
He said Maxjet was planning to expand to a fleet of 12 to 13 aircraft by August 2007 and was considering moving to new Airbus or Boeing aircraft from 2008.
Mr Rogliano said the airline had been backed with more than $40m (£22.8m, €33.8m) of initial equity capital from more than 40 private investors led by Kenneth Woolley, chairman and chief executive of Extra Space Storage, who had invested $14m and held a stake of around 56 per cent. Mr Woolley was also an early investor in JetBlue, the US low cost airline.
Maxjet and Eos are the first airlines to be launched across the North Atlantic specifically to challenge the highly profitable business class offerings of the network airlines in the US/UK market, led by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic of the UK and the US carriers American Airlines, United Airlines and Continental Airlines.
© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2005. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.
