The public's appetite for cheap flights has prompted the UK's biggest leisure company to launch a low-fares airline, based in the Midlands.
Tickets for Thomsonfly, the first leisure airline to operate from Coventry airport, went on sale this week at thomsonfly.com with a headline price of £17.99 one way, including taxes. The airline will operate from Coventry to 10 European destinations - Palma, Valencia, Rome, Naples, Nice, Malaga, Venice, Pisa, Ibiza, and Jersey - from March 31, using four 737 aircraft with 131 seats. Seats will be allocated at check-in, with an option to pre-book seats for £5, but passengers will have to pay for food and drink on board.
The move is a massive investment at a time when many companies in the travel industry are struggling, but it is thought essential if Thomson is to keep up with the changes in the way people travel. Chris Mottershead, managing director of Thomson's parent company TUI UK, said he wants Thomson to be seen as more than just a package holiday company. "We've seen an ever increasing demand for no frills - easyJet is looking at a 20% increase next year. We need to use our brand and heritage to get back some of the people who traditionally went with us, to ensure we don't lose ground to these competitors."
Thomsonfly will offer the first scheduled services from the Midlands to Naples, Valencia and Marseilles; it will compete on the other routes with easyJet and bmibaby, which operate from East Midlands airport, and MyTravelLite and flybe which fly from Birmingham airport.
Mottershead admitted the company has been slow off the mark in entering the low-cost market but insists there is still plenty of growth potential. "This year, 10 million people travelled abroad from the UK on no-frills airlines; the figure is expected to rise to 15 million by 2007," he said. Thomsonfly is expected to break even within two years, and there are plans for expansion to other UK airports and European destinations.
A temporary terminal facility is under construction at Coventry, to be ready for the first flights on March 31, and the airport expects planning approval for a permanent terminal, to be built next year, on January 6.
Five million people live within an hour's drive of the airport, and 15 million within 1hr 20 mins.
