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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 1226.PDF
REGIONAL AVIATION Sharing the loads The franchising of regional services is now big business for Europe's airlines MAX KINGSLEY-JONES/LONDON THE UTILISATION BY major carriers of regional airlines with low cost bases to operate low-volume, short-haul feeder services is a concept that has been estab lished in North America since the 1980s, but has only recently caught on in Europe. British Airways was the first European carrier to con clude a franchise "express" feeder arrangement when it signed up CityFlyer Express to feed its Gatwick hub in 1993, and now many European flag carriers have arranged for their feeds to be provided by regionals carrying their identity. BA put its marker down in July 1993 with CityFlyer, and the regional airline immediately adopted BAs corporate identity for its aircraft and flight and ground crew, designated as "British Airways Express". The British flag car rier has since added eight other airlines to its franchise network, both UK-based and off shore, and the business is now worth £50 mil lion ($80 million) annually. According to Lewis Scard, BAs general man ager Franchising and Alliances, the strategy was adopted to help the airline to gain a presence in JEA has based BAe 146 flightcrews in Toulouse as part of its Air France Express franchise operations cost-competitive markets which it was unable to serve competitively, and it enables the BA name and branding to be spread more widely. In return for franchise and handling fees, the fran chisee has access to BAs brand, worldwide mar keting and distribution network and the flag carrier's loyalty programme. The franchise air lines use BAs flight prefix, and provide products and services to its specifications. PROSPECTIVE PARTNERS The success of BA's programme has seen a con stant flow of prospective partners seeking simi lar link-ups. An airline wishing to franchise for BA must first be able to meet the airline's rigor ous standards before winning approval. "We have eight basic criteria that a potential franchisee must meet," says Scard. "These include operational standards, airworthiness, safety, security, financial fitness, ground han dling, customer service and hygiene." Parodixically, the largest BA franchisee is British Regional Airlines (BRAL, which incor porates Loganair and the Manx Airlines Europe division of Isle of Man-based Manx Airlines), which is closely affiliated to BAs UK rival British Midland (BM) through parent Airlines of Britain (ABH). A fleet of around 40 aircraft, mainly ATPs and Aero International (Regional) (AI(R)) Jetstream 41s, is operated on the fran chise network, which was extended during 1996 to take over BA's loss-making Scottish FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7 - 13 May 1997
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