CityJet's future

ohmz

Interesting.. I wonder what the future holds for cotyjet

donvito99

I think it rests a lot on fleet and Air France. The arrangement with the latter carrier seems to be eroding, and the RJs and Fokkers will need replacing at some point.

They're also being hit by FlyBe, to a lesser extent Stobart, but critically - at least on operations into and out of DUB - BA. The number of flights and carriers to LCY next summer is extraordinary.

braddun

it will increase its Dublin-to-London City flights by 25 per cent and will put on up to nine flights every weekday


CityJet’s new owner is part of the Intro Group, which has interests in aviation, consulting, investing, media and retail.INTRO Aviation is the majority shareholder in Austrian regional airline InterSky.
The airline has 18 Avro RJ85s and 11 Fokker 50s through subsidiary VLM Airlines. The business plan projection should allow the airline to make significant financial progress. CityJet will do so in part by leveraging their built-in strengths: experienced staff, an established portfolio of customers, and a great quality of service. An important point of the business plan includes fleet renewal for the Avro RJ 85s that will begin as soon as possible

man98

The Fokker 50s will live out this decade I'd say. The RJ85s will be retired 2015/6 iirc. They want to replace them with the CSeries or Sukhoi SJ100. I'd say CityJet will remain loss making for the time being. If it hasn't broken even by then it'll be sold or shut.

L1011

They've sold VLM in the past few weeks; with VLM since announcing they're going to lease SSJs.

basill

It's a niche airline flying point to point traffic in an industry which has been consolidating over the past 5-10 years. To survive/grow it will need to find a partner/alliance. My best guess is that the new investor will dress it up for a trade sale/merger in the future.

smurfjed

They want to replace them with the CSeries or Sukhoi SJ100. I'd say CityJet will remain loss making for the time being

Strange fleet choices, I would have thought that they would go for a more settled aircraft such as the Embraer 170/190 family.

man98

smurfjed wrote: »

Strange fleet choices, I would have thought that they would go for a more settled aircraft such as the Embraer 170/190 family.

There was a recent interview where they announced their intentions to buy the SSJ, E190 or CS. They want to avoid the Ejets and get a very modern aircraft which doesn't have massive orders in Europe. It's really just a LCY licence race for either manufacturer. I'll find the article later.

smurfjed

They want to avoid the Ejets and get a very modern aircraft which doesn't have massive orders in Europe

Why? I would prefer something that it tried and tested, there is always an element of risk introducing new aircraft into service, do city jet have the resources to absorb the costs and PR issues if the introduction goes wrong? Our present dispatch reliability for the E170 is very good, i would therefore feel confident of recommending the aircraft.

L1011

They may be worried about being left with "old" aircraft again when the E2s start coming out; but want something quicker than you can get an E2.

smurfjed

OK, if that is the case, i would lease the E170 and replace them with the E2.

Having sat across a table from Bombardier and listened to their promises, I would be very weary about accepting a newly designed aircraft from them.

L1011

smurfjed wrote: »

OK, if that is the case, i would lease the E170 and replace them with the E2.

I would tend to agree with you there. There is the issue that you need the 170/190 and not the 175/190 for LCY operations but its not a killer limitation as the heavy use of them there shows.

ohmz

I can't post links but I read today in the news that the CEO unexpectedly resigned today effictive immediately

Also Pat Byrne is back!

Snow Leopard

It's sad to see CityJet reaching what appears to be the end of the road. They've always been operating away quietly in the background; a quality carrier that served its target market well.

However with an ageing fleet, tired product and a declining market share in what is now a very crowded market (LCY), its difficult to see a way out for them. I think the writing was on the wall when the fleet renewal programme was postponed. I reckon there's a good chance they're on IAG's target list as their large slot portfolio at LCY would significantly bolster BA's position in what is a very important market for them. Certainly a critical year ahead for WX.

man98

I'd hate to see CityJet fall. Even though the guts of its operations are in LCY, it offers something of a nostalgia for air travellers. Food and checked bags for free... and if anyone else has seen their prices (although that's part of the problem). Scaling back on operations and perhaps leasing 2 SSJs off VLM could really help with finances.

Snow Leopard

They need to offer more than nostalgia I'm afraid.

Though I don't believe there's anything particularly nostalgic about being crammed into an old RJ, being served up a small croissant, and checking in a bag for "free" that would probably fit in the overhead of an A320/B737. Each to their own though!

Give me the fresh E170 anyday.

The_Wanderer

man98 wrote: »

I'd hate to see CityJet fall. Even though the guts of its operations are in LCY, it offers something of a nostalgia for air travellers. Food and checked bags for free... and if anyone else has seen their prices (although that's part of the problem). Scaling back on operations and perhaps leasing 2 SSJs off VLM could really help with finances.

I used Cityjet for the first time last August. Very happy with them and hope to use them in the future again.

smurfjed

Forget about nostalgia, for me Cityjet offer an excellent service with professional and polite staff, plus they are a member of the same airline alliance as my employer, so we get staff tickets on them :)

arubex

smurfjed wrote: »

plus they are a member of the same airline alliance as my employer, so we get staff tickets on them :)

How do staff tickets work? Are they a stand-by for any empty seats on a flight or an actual revenue ticket?

smurfjed

Either, depends on how much you pay for them, but gone are the days when standby tickets were good value. Their only good point these days is the flexibility that they offer. It will cost me more to fly from London to Dublin next week standby that it will to do it confirmed