As British Airways' low cost Go takes to the skies, the UK's leading no frills carrier, EasyJet, is expanding overseas while low-cost Virgin Express eyes a UK base.
Go is due to start flying out of its London/Stansted base to Rome/Ciampino on 22 May, Milan/Malpensa on 23 May and Copenhagen/Kastrup on 5 June with twice-daily flights.
Although Go will not compete with EasyJet on the routes, EasyJet's chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou predicts that 'we will be crossing swords very soon'. He will proceed with legal action, due for an initial hearing in the UK High Court on 11 May, alleging that BA is illegally cross-subsidising Go. Go's sales and marketing director David Magliano meanwhile, insists 'we're confident that there's nothing anticompetitive about everything that Go has done'.
While BAmoves into the low cost arena, EasyJet is moving into Switzerland. EasyJet has acquired a 40 per cent stake in Swiss charter airline TEA and plans to relaunch it as EasyJet Switzerland. Scheduled services are planned for Zurich-Geneva and from both cities to London/Luton.
Brussels-based Virgin Express, meanwhile, launched Nice-Paris services in March under the Virgin Express France name, using Air Provence Charter, a small carrier acquired in 1996. The carrier will maintain a base at Paris/Charles de Gaulle.
Virgin Express is also considering moving to the UK or Ireland to escape Belgium's high labour costs, while Sabena is 'currently in negotiation with the Swiss government for a Swiss base,' says Sabena's CEO Paul Reutlinger. However Sabena's unions say they would require financial compensation first.
Source: Airline Business
