SIR FREDDIE LAKER plans to start his new "Regency Service" across the North Atlantic on 29 March 1996, using McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s. The emotive "Skytrain" title, used on his collapsed 1980s' operation, will not be revived, nor will the image of cheap travel.
This time around, Laker is going up-market. The "Regency Service" will include pre-allocated seating, a maximum 20min check-in, in-flight meals on demand, leather-covered seats and individual, 150mm, seatback videos.
The new Laker Airways plans to operate three leased DC-10-30s on ten charter flights a week to Orlando, Florida, from London Gatwick, Manchester, and Prestwick in Scotland, and another two from Gatwick to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The carrier has yet to receive the necessary US operating licences, however.
Source: Flight International