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NEW BRITISH LOW-COST CARRIER STARTS SERVICE IN GERMANY

Whoever flies with Debonair should not expect a big meal. However, the new British low-cost carrier, which has been in service for a mere three months and is based at the Luton airport close to London, is offering unbeatable ticket prices.

Already the new carrier, with its four BAe 146-200 regional airliners, is aiming at the German market. A return ticket from Munich to Barcelona for 320 Marks and 198 Marks for a return ticket from Munich to the D¸sseldorf express airport, M–nchengladbach, ñ none of the established carriers can compete with these prices.

Even though Lufthansa and Deutsche BA are bating customers with low price tickets, these are tied to pre-booking times and minimum duration times of stay at the destinations. Who wants to fly on the D¸sseldorf-Munich route with a 230 Mark low-fair ticket from the British Airways subsidiary, Deutsche BA, must book the flight at least seven days in advance and has to calculate with two overnights (one on the weekend). Lufthansa's 240 Mark low-cost tickets even requires 14 days advanced booking.

None of this applies to Debonair. The tickets are not tied to conditions, a return on the same day is possible. However, a "first come, first serve" policy applies. If the cheapest fair is booked out, the next higher fair is to be paid. In the worst case this would be 420 Marks for the D¸sseldorf/M–nchengladbach ñ Munich route, which is still 100 Marks cheaper than the unconditioned rate (Economy) of the comparable Lufthansa connection. This is only possible through Debonair's strict cost saving course. The aircraft are cost efficiently maintained through outside companies and the carrier's customer service is basically limited to the mere transport. According to Debonair head Franco Mancassola, an ex-Continental and ex-World Airways manager, the costs are 30 percent below the competitor's level.

Debonair is the first low-cost airline operating in Germany. According to Mancassola a new connection to Berlin-Tempelhof could be opened soon. Experts say that the established airlines have to take the new carrier seriously since it is competing on the highly frequented European routes, such as London-Munich or London-Madrid.

Also, more and more companies are watching their travel budgets. Employees, who were used to fly on business class tickets, are now being booked by their travel departments on low-fair tickets. Anyone else, who does not depend on the aircraft for a business trip, only cares about the ticket price anyway: The big chance for Debonair.

From page 30 of FLUG REVUE 9/96