NOW Airlines (new startup airline)

The perception from Liverpool/Merseyside by many people is that Luton is not really London in the same way that Gatwick or Heathrow might be considered. However Easyjet did carry 196,000 passengers between Liverpool and Luton over 500 per day in 2000, the talk now is a Gatwick link which would be considered a more attractive arrival point. Landing fees increased by Luton airport’s new owner was cited as one of the main reason that Easyjet stopped the Luton link.

VLM did try a Liverpool – London city- Antwerp service a number of years ago, the route started to grow, but they made a complete hash of the timings on offer and so rendered the service unattractive for business passengers, who were the prime target for the service. The airline appears to be run quite differently today and I have used their Manchester-London city route which is very good, hopefully they may repeat that from Liverpool.

Easyjet ran the route a few years back, but dropped it due to a lack of demand. I reckon VLM might be a likely candidate if they can squeeze it into LCY.

I can not see them getting many takers on MAN-LTN not with so much other choices available from Manchester to London already, with fares not that different.

They should look at Liverpool to London which at the moment had no air link to London at all. There is more potential there, considering the rail option is often appalling and Liverpool is European Capital of Culture 2008. However they may not have the route to themselves, as there seems to be much talk of late about the route with both VLM and Easyjet mentioned interested.

Carl

I think the notion of flying between Luton and Jersey in the winter with a 737 is absolutely absurd. Flybe. could not even support the Dash 8 in the winter. I wish them the best of luck but the demand by locals for Luton is minimal and I doubt it is the most popular time of the tourist season for UK visitors.

bmi’s prices from LHR to MAN start at £51rtn including taxes, thus I cannot see this route being at all successful. With BA you get a sandwhich and drink, you get nothing with NOW.

NOW are implementing a fixed price policy. Therefore EVERY flight to MAN will cost £70. BA’s fares start at £59, sometimes a little bit less, and BMI’s are similar. I flew from LHR back in March, and once you are in the air it is a half hour flight, however if you are unlucky you can spend longer on the ground taxiing!

It’s just under 200 Miles from London to Manchester.

I’ve had a quick look on Opodo for prices, and the cheapest I could get for a day trip next Monday was 78 pounds with VLM, from LCY to MAN, with bmi [from LHR] being from 150 notes return, and BA don’t seem to have any seats avalaible on their Monday morning flights from both LHR and LGW to MAN.

(although there’s a note saying if my dates are flexible, bmi return flights from LHR to MAN start from 64 pounds)

Put it in perspective for me, how far is it from London to Manchester and what is the normal charge????

Does every LHR-MAN flight cost less than £70, even the ones booked at short notice?

Not low cost in my opinion.

Paying £70 return between Luton and Manchester is extortionate in my opinion. Costs less from Heathrow.

This airline has been talked about a lot in the past on the forums. They were due to start in June but had problems getting aircraft, they claim they’ll be flying in October, but they still aren’t booking so things aren’t looking great for them.