The low-cost business-class airline model is a sound concept but needs to ensure it does not suffer falling load factors at certain times of year, according to British Airways UK general manager Richard Tams.
Speaking at the great debate on business travel at this year’s Advantage conference, Tams said airlines such as Silverjet, Eos and Maxjet – which have gone bust in the last ten months – offered an “excellent product”.
But he added: “The problem with that model is that 17 out of 52 weeks of the year are impacted in some way because they are incomplete trading weeks.”
One of the main reasons for this is breaks such as Easter or bank holidays.
“You have to have a plan to fill these aircraft in these times. We will be looking at that more carefully and plan a schedule to take account of that.”