Zoom UK OK'd for LGW-JFK Service

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Zoom Airlines gets O.K. for U.K. sales of proposed U.S. service (04/04/2007)

By Andrew Compart

Zoom Airlines, a low-cost, low-fare transatlantic carrier, received Transportation Dept. approval to begin marketing and selling tickets for its proposed London-New York service -- but for now, only in the U.K.

The approval also could be an indication Zoom is likely to overcome Delta's objections to its application to offer service between London (Gatwick) and New York (Kennedy).

Zoom filed an application with the DOT Jan. 22 asking for permission that would let it start daily service June 7 between London (Gatwick) and New York (Kennedy) using 767 aircraft on the route.

Zoom Airlines was established as a Canadian carrier and offers scheduled service from eight Canadian cities to five U.K. destinations, including London (Gatwick), and from four Canadian cities to Paris. But last August the Bank of Scotland acquired a minority stake in Zoom for about $11 million, and at the time the company said it would use the money to establish Zoom U.K. to fly to non-Canadian destinations, such as the U.S.

Delta has challenged whether Zoom could be considered a U.K. national, which is a prerequisite for getting U.S.-U.K. authority under the aviation agreement between the two countries.

Zoom argues not only that it is -- as evidenced in part by the U.K. citizenship of its founder and chairman and its incorporation in the U.K. as a separate legal entity from Zoom Airlines of Canada -- but also that under the U.S.-U.K. agreement it is up to the U.K. to decide whether the airline qualifies or not.

Zoom filed a request March 6 for DOT approval to let it begin sales and marketing in the U.K. for the proposed U.S. service.

In approving that request April 2, the DOT noted that the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority said it has provisionally concluded that Zoom "can demonstrate majority ownership and effective control by nationals of the United Kingdom." It also noted that U.K. authorities have given approval for the U.K. sales and marketing to begin.

The DOT is waiting for the U.K. ruling on the carrier's fitness and citizenship before making a decision on granting U.S. regulatory approval for the service.

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http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.as ... leid=55738

Will be great to see Zoom's 767s at JFK. 8)

The exact times have not been published yet but should be known by tomorrow and I will post them.

The media release on the website states that the flights will depart LGW in around noon arriving at JFK in the late afternoon and then will depart in the early evening arriving at LGW at 6am. The early morning arrival in LGW suggests the flight will depart somewhere in the 6:10pm range which means she will be shootable on departure and arrival!

Actual times to come soon.

Flights start June 21st and will be daily.

Pretty exciting addition to the local scene.

Wow, June 21? That's quick.

Interesting, but with all the competition between NY and London, how much cheaper can they be to gain market share? As I understand it, this is similar to the original low fare concept that Maxjet abandoned for this reason and ended up all business class.

Ok here is schedule:

Thu, Fri, Sat, Mon

ETD LGW 13:00
ETA JFK 15:45

Sun, Tue, Wed (via Bermuda)

ETD LGW 11:00
ETA JFK 16:15

ETD JFK 17:30 Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon
ETD JFK 15:30 Tue, Thu
ETD JFK 19:45 Wed

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Originally Posted by Iberia A340-600

Sun, Tue, Wed (via Bermuda)

ETD LGW 11:00
ETA JFK 16:15

ETD JFK 17:30 Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon
ETD JFK 15:30 Wed, Thu

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So on Wednesday she departs 45 minutes before she arrives? ;)

What's the source on the schedule?

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Originally Posted by Winglets747

So on Wednesday she departs 45 minutes before she arrives? ;)

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Daylight Saving Time :D

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Originally Posted by Winglets747

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Originally Posted by Iberia A340-600

Sun, Tue, Wed (via Bermuda)

ETD LGW 11:00
ETA JFK 16:15

ETD JFK 17:30 Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon
ETD JFK 15:30 Wed, Thu

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So on Wednesday she departs 45 minutes before she arrives? ;)

What's the source on the schedule?

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Whoops, sorry about that. I typed in the schedule quickly while I was in History class. :)

Source is the Zoom website.

On Wednesdays she departs at 19:45.

Hey at least its a new afternoon arrival for JFK! Not like the late night Middle Eastern birds. (and yes I know why they are planned to arrive/depart that late).

Its always fun to see new logo's on jets at JFK but what market is there for this service???

How many airlines are going to serve the route??? That goes for High and through low cost airlines.

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Originally Posted by s2vKJFK

Its always fun to see new logo's on jets at JFK but what market is there for this service???

How many airlines are going to serve the route??? That goes for High and through low cost airlines.

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If you think about Zoom could be considered the first low-cost airline operating on the route.

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Originally Posted by lijk604

Hey at least its a new afternoon arrival for JFK! Not like the late night Middle Eastern birds. (and yes I know why they are planned to arrive/depart that late).

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Uhh, why?

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Originally Posted by s2vKJFK

Its always fun to see new logo's on jets at JFK but what market is there for this service???

How many airlines are going to serve the route??? That goes for High and through low cost airlines.

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NYC-London is a huge market. It's rare to see a flight go out with more than a handful of seats. While Zoom is new, consider that in the past year BA and VS have each added a JFK-LHR flight. As the market continues to grow, there's an increase in the number of premium pax (first and business), regular pax (economy plus/economy), and pax who just want to get from A to B and want the cheapest option (those are the people Zoom is going after).

There's a similar thinking with Eos and Maxjet (and L'Avion): they're going after people who want first/business service but not at the price legacy carriers sell it for.

Total NYC-London carriers:
BA
VS
AA
DL
CO (ex-EWR)
Air India
Kuwait
MaxJet
Eos
Zoom

Add Silverjet out of Newark, as well.

I knew I was missing one! :twisted:

I really still don't see how much cheaper Zoom will be compared to the rest of the pack.

Also don't you think as the NYC Metro Area to London market grows that the airlines all ready established on this route won't just continue to add more service?

Don't forget Zoom will be flying JFK-LGW where the preferred route is JFK-LHR for most passengers, and of course no code shares or advantage program.

I think the industry is going a little Niche crazy and I gather in a few years from now we are going to be saying for airlines like MaxJet, EOS, Silverjet, and Zoom "Who"? They will be nothing more than memories and pictures for the photo archives of JFK and EWR history.

HAVE FUN QUOTING ME AND DISAGREEING WITH ME!!!

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Originally Posted by s2vKJFK

I really still don't see how much cheaper Zoom will be compared to the rest of the pack.

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Sample booking July 11-18

Zoom: $698.65
AA/VS on Orbitz: $867
Single airline option: $905

Difference: AA/VS is $168.35 and single airline (in this case, DL--to LGW) is $206.35.

Note that if booking UK-US, the fare for those dates works out to $517.61. That's a savings of $350.

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Also don't you think as the NYC Metro Area to London market grows that the airlines all ready established on this route won't just continue to add more service?

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They'd love to, but LHR is slot restricted. Consider the case of when BA gets a new LHR slot. They may be able to fill a 744 year-round, but yields could be much better for example to HKG. And when BA has 9+ flights to NYC (JFK and EWR) but only 3 to HKG, HKG is looking like a better option.

Add in the theory of the A380--keep the same number of slots but increase pax count--and well, BA ordering the A380 is a wildcard and VS has deferred their A380 order to 2013 or thereabouts (causing some to believe VS will ultimately cancel the A380 order). Fat chance you'll see anything bigger than a 777 from a US airline NYC-LON.

DL is reportedly ready to jump on a second JFK-LGW flight, but is short on aircraft. New planes that join the fleet (777s in 2008...or next month if you believe the rumors:wink:) will be used for ultra-long-haul flights, i.e. ATL-JNB/BOM (maybe even another NRT if they can get the slot there) JFK-TLV. One theory is that when DL gets another 777, the 777 will replace the 763 and make ATL-JNB nonstop and the 763 previously used on the route will do JFK-DKR-NBO.

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Don't forget Zoom will be flying JFK-LGW where the preferred route is JFK-LHR for most passengers, and of course no code shares or advantage program.

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Not getting FF miles would be a huge consideration for many of us here, but there are plenty of people who would trade $200+ in savings for 7,000 FF miles (which are probably worth somewhere between $70-$140).

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I think the industry is going a little Niche crazy and I gather in a few years from now we are going to be saying for airlines like MaxJet, EOS, Silverjet, and Zoom "Who"? They will be nothing more than memories and pictures for the photo archives of JFK and EWR history.

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There are certainly a lot right now (and another one is expected to start soon), and while I'm not expecting all of them to last, I do expect a handful to last, either independently or through mergers.

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HAVE FUN QUOTING ME AND DISAGREEING WITH ME!!!

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Don't mind if I do. :lol: :wink:

I am going to be using Maxjet in a couple of weeks so it will be interesting to see how the service is getting on and how it will cope with all this competition. I took advantage of its $599 each way specials.