by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 6, 2012 | Uncategorized |
We’ve all seen it. All you can eat buffets, all you can eat fish fries, etc. The list goes on.
However, the concept of All You Can Eat has now been adapted to All You Can Fly.
Yesterday, SurfAir has announced that it will begin operations this summer with a monthly “All You Can Fly Fare” between Calfornia’s Palo Alto, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Fares have been indicated to begin as low as $790.00/month which allows you to have 2 reservations at a time and go as high as $1490/month which allows you to have 6 reservations at a time.
The airline plans to exclusively use Pilatus PC-12NG aircraft for the routes. The PC-12NG are turbine powered single engine aircraft that can carry a maximum of 9 people.
Surf Air is waiting for regulatory approvals before starting this new endeavor. Seems to me like its a hybrid of fractional ownership (e.g. Netjets) and charter operations. At first glance, it looks like a decent solution for those that fly betwee these cities repetitively. Though the track record on these kind of start-ups succeeding over time tends to stack the odds against them.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 4, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Each month, American Express conducts a sweepstakes with the Winner being awarded a fantastic trip to an a fantastic locale. This month, American Express is featuring “El Dorado Casitas Royale, By Karisma”. The resort is located in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico (just south of Cancun). I’ve stayed several times at the Secrets Capri Resort in the area and have absolutely loved it, especially the town of Playa del Carmen which offers great shopping and restaurants. Click Here to be taken to American Express’ webpage to enter. Good Luck!!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 3, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Willie Walsh, head of IAG (parent of British Airways and Iberia) has made it no secret that consolidation will be the norm in the airline sector over the near future and that he’ll be the one writing the check.
With their recent acquisition of BMI from Lufthansa and hinting at taking a stake in American Airlines, he’s putting his money where his mouth is in his attempt to grow the “Speedbird” empire.
Recently, Royal Jordanian (oneworld alliance member) has made it obvious that a merger with a larger carrier is in it’s future.
Royal Jordanian has had substantial struggles over the last year due primarily to the “Arab Spring” uprisings in 2011 that led to the 1300 flight cancelations and route reductions as a result of reduced demand. That ultimately led to an 82 million dollar loss for 2011.
Going forward, Royal Jordanian has indicated that it will need to raise capital in the next 2 or 3 years to help improve operations.
With Etihad recently buying a 30% stake in airberlin to increase it’s reach and with Emirates flying their A380s everywhere, it leaves Royal Jordanian as the odd airline out in the troika of Mid East carriers. With these trends, and with the availability of attractive suitors, I suspect that Royal Jordanian will unfortunately not be in control of their destiny. IAG is certainly not going to be interested in seeing Royal Jordanian fall into the hands of another Alliance’s Carrier. With Royal Jordanian being the only Alliance Member that is based in the Middle East, it is certainly a valuable jewel.
