BUZZ will look towards Eastern Europe next winter as it plans to expand after a year in operation.
Target cities will include Warsaw, Budapest and Prague. Currently Go is the only low-cost carrier to serve the Czech Republic capital.
Buzz and KLM UK chief executive Floris van Pallandt said the Stansted-based airline will build up traffic on 14 routes during the summer before launching further destinations for 2000/2001.
Van Pallandt said growth to Eastern Europe will be in tandem with a concentration on German and French cities.
Buzz launched with flights to Paris, Lyons, Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf earlier this month. Marseilles, Bordeaux, Montpelier, Toulouse and Hamburg will be added from the end of March.
“We wanted to concentrate on Germany and France because if we scattered ourselves around Europe it would be expensive,” said van Pallandt.
But he said Buzz would start niche routes if they were economically viable. Vienna and Helsinki fall into this category.
Some areas of Europe will be staying Buzz free for the immediate future, said van Pallandt, as the carrier did not want to compete with its owner KLM in the Netherlands nor with its partner Braathens in Scandinavia.
Growth will come when the carrier adds to its fleet of eight 110-seater BAe146 jets and two Boeing 737 aircraft. The 142-seater B737s arrive next month to provide extra capacity on key routes.
Buzz will look at further investment in 150-seater aircraft, with van Pallandt considering more B737s or Airbus A318s for winter 2000/2001.
He dismissed fears that KLM set up Buzz to drive the independent carriers EasyJet and Ryanair out of the market.
He said: “Buzz’s mission is to fill the gap in the low-cost market by connecting Stansted with new markets in Europe.
“There is huge market potential. We are not going to be the last and there is opportunity for others to participate.”
He claimed the European low-cost market will serve around 15m passengers by 2003. In 1998, just 5.4m flew with budget carriers.