UK startup airline flypop has signed a lease agreement for multiple Airbus A330 aircraft. According to the airline, the deal with Avolon means that it has now been able to apply for its Air Operator Certificate before launching flights from London to India.
For several years flypop has been looking to launch flights connecting London and India with a target market of visiting friends and relatives travelers. The airline had planned to launch flights last summer. However, the global pandemic didn’t do any favors. Now it seems the airline is one step closer to launch with its AOC application having been submitted.
Multiple A330s leased
It seems as though flypop is one step closer to launching. The airline has signed an agreement to lease several Airbus A330-300 aircraft from lessor Avolon. The airline hasn’t disclosed how many aircraft are included in the deal. It comes after discussions with multiple lessors. The airline states that Avolon offered the most attractive proposition through to 2023.
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It seems that the airline has plans to expand as time goes by. Commenting on the aircraft placement Martyn Lewis, Senior VP of Marketing for Avolon in the EMEA region said,
“We look forward to working with flypop on its exciting imminent launch of flights between the UK and India. At launch, flypop will commence operations with one aircraft and plans to add an extra aircraft every six months. It’s not every day we help launch a new British long-haul scheduled carrier!”
The airline believes that now is the perfect time to launch as it has dodged the pandemic’s impact. While other airlines have had little revenue over the past year tied with continuing costs, this has not been the case for flypop.
People over profit?
flypop has ambitions to be more than just a revenue-generating airline. Simple Flying previously caught up with the airline’s CEO Nino Judge, who told how the POP in flypop originally stood for ‘people over profit’. However, it has since morphed into ‘planet over profit’ as the aviation industry’s environmental impact takes center stage. One of the airline’s USPs will be a mandatory carbon offset charge attached to each ticket.
Where will flypop fly?
flypop is seeking to initially launch flights on two routes from its London Stansted hub. The airline will fly from Amritsar and Ahmedabad. Before the pandemic, the London to Amritsar route had around 200,000 passengers each year. With three flights a week, flypop would have a capacity of 60,000 passengers a year.
However, Judge believes there is enough demand for himself and a competitor to operate the route seven days a week. Before the pandemic began, some competition was launched on the route in the form of an Air India flight from Amritsar to Stansted in October 2019.
Over 400 passengers
flypop’s Airbus A330-300s will hold over 400 passengers. According to Judge, the planes will be fitted with an all-economy 3-3-3 layout. The carrier may trial sky couch seats in the first three rows, which will come with extra leg-room.
The airline will offer flights on a fixed fare scale. The cheapest tickets will start at £350, and never exceed £750. The lowest fares will only include a seat on the aircraft. However, there will be no nasty surprises as the default fare will include a checked bag and a meal.
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