| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 01/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 48 |
| Copyright: Other |
Freedom flights
Moss’ sterling effort could pay off
Former Flights By Inspirations director goes solo and sets up own seat-only operation
THERE is never an easy time to set up a seat-only operation but former Flights By Inspirations commercial director Paul Moss seems to have picked a good year for the launch of Freedom Flights.Rival operators are surprisingly unruffled by his 50,000-capacity debut programme, which may indicate they believe the market is strong enough to sustain a newcomer.
Set up with the financial backing of charter carrier Sabre Airways and seat-only operator Club Travel 2000, the company is offering flight-only deals during peak travel periods.
“We will only be flying at times when there is more demand than other operators can possibly satisfy,” said Moss. “We won’t be flying at times when there is no demand, so we won’t be flooding the market with cheap seats.”
The February half-term holiday saw the launch of Freedom’s first flights and the company operated a substantial programme until the end of last month. However, it will offer only a few flights during May and June.
“We will have a very heavy programme from July to October; then we will stop for six weeks until Christmas,” said Moss. “I don’t think our programme will be big enough to worry any of the established seat-only operators.”
Moss cut his teeth in the seat-only market at the now defunct The Flight Company. Afterwards, he spent four years at Flights By Inspiration. Finding himself without a job following FBI’s acquisition by Thomas Cook, Moss decided to launch his own seat-only operation.
In order to secure financial backing and a guaranteed supply of seats, he took on Sabre Airways as a partner. “There is no way you can start a business like this with a capacity of 50,000 in year one without having secured a supply of seats,” said Moss. Most of Freedom’s flights will be with Sabre this year but Moss said the deal left him free to use other carriers.
The additional investment came from Club Travel 2000 which also gave Freedom instant credibility and immediate access to viewdata via Club Travel’s computer system.
Moss said Manchester-based Club Travel 2000 had been looking for a southern base but didn’t want to go it alone.
“We are a sister company of Club Travel and we recommend them to anyone looking for flights from the north, while their sales team recommends us to clients wanting flights from Gatwick.”
Freedom is selling itself as a friend of independent agents, insisting that it has no plans to market itself as a direct-sell company. “The response we have had from agents so far has been fantastic,” said Moss. “Our unique selling point is that we are a small, flexible company that can respond quickly to agents’ requests and give their clients exactly what they want.”
In addition to flights, the operator is selling car hire in all destinations and car parking at Gatwick from £2.99 a day. It will pre-book seats at £5 per adult and offers use of a Gatwick lounge for £14.95 per person. All services are commissionable.
Going it alone: Moss set up Freedom Flights after finding himself jobless at Flights By Inspiration
freedom flights