With all the furore concerning slot allocation at London Heathrow it may come as something of a surprise that a new carrier has managed to start services that claim to be the first transatlantic low cost operation at the UK gateway.
Canadian leisure carrier, Air Transat, started services from Toronto Pearson International to Heathrow last Saturday (12 May), but in fact will only operate at weekends, perhaps explaining why the airline has secured slots at all.
Air Transat, branded as Canadian Affair, is already a familiar sight at UK airports, flying into Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Exeter, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, but this is its first foray into fortress Heathrow.
The development will attack ” albeit only slightly ” the current duopoly operated by flag carriers, British Airways and Air Canada ” out of Heathrow ” although fellow Canadian airline, Zoom already competes with Air Transat at Gatwick.
The carrier and BAA are understandably bullish about the news, which elicited the following comments:
"We are delighted to introduce low-cost services from Heathrow. British travellers now have the option of flying to Canada from this premier airport, whilst taking advantage of our lowest fares which are widely available, unlike some other operators,” said Canadian Affair managing director, Anette Rayner.
And Heathrow managing director, Mark Bullock, being somewhat diplomatic with Air Canada and BA as long established customers, added: "BAA welcomes Canadian Affair to Heathrow - the world's number one hub-airport. Canadian Affair's new and exciting non-stop service to Toronto will provide passengers with even more choice and will further open up the growing Canadian tourism market."
Well quite, but is the news really the all-singing, all-dancing development that both those quotations seem to suggest? Air Transat departs early afternoon on Saturday and Sunday, probably the quietest time at the world”s busiest international airport. Slots are hard to come by. But trying to run a seven day week operation is something else. Is this just a flag raising exercise with the marketing costs already met from the Gatwick operation?
And as for so-called transatlantic low cost, many of the established flag carriers are already offering extremely good deals in a bid to compete in what must be one of the most difficult markets of all.
How will Air Transat differentiate itself between those full-service carriers especially when they only operate two flights a week?
Flights will be operated by a wide-bodied Air Transat Airbus A310 aircraft, offering a choice of two classes. Economy Class passengers will enjoy leather seats, complimentary hot meals with complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and a range of in-flight entertainment, but is that so different or better than what is already on offer?
And even in what Air Transat says is its Club Class, the seat pitch is 35”, hardly guaranteed to set the world on fire when BA and Virgin”s premium economy cabins feature that or more.
Well done Air Transat on your initiative. But the jury is still out on whether it will work, just as it is regarding its short haul equivalent Click Air. Competiton is what it is all about.