Skybus to Add Flights at PTI Starting at $10
By Fran Daniel, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.
Apr. 25–Skybus Airlines Inc. said yesterday that on May 29 it will begin offering a daily nonstop flight to Columbus, Ohio, from Piedmont Triad International Airport.
The new airline is the second discount carrier to announce plans for service at PTI in just more than a month.
Allegiant Air LLC, based in Las Vegas, said it will begin nonstop jet service May 24 from PTI to Orlando Sanford International Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Tampa Bay.
PTI officials are hopeful that these airlines are just the beginning of low-cost service at the airport.
High fares and declining daily flights have taken a toll on passenger boardings at PTI for more than two years. With the addition of service from Allegiant Air and Skybus, the airport will have 77 flights daily.
“It’s not the end of the search for a low-fare carrier, but this is a good start,” said Ted Johnson, the executive director of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority.
Skybus, based in Columbus, has been gearing up to provide nonstop service since it formed in 2004. The airline’s other initial flights from Columbus include service to Los Angeles through Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., starting May 22; Richmond, starting May 23; and San Francisco through an airport in Oakland starting June 12.
Tickets are on sale at www.skybus.com for flights through Dec. 15.
“Beginning today, passengers can buy airline tickets for less than the cost of a tank of gas,” said Bill Diffenderffer, the chief executive of Skybus. Skybus will offer at least 10 seats at $10 each on every flight. The company said it would announce additional destinations as its fleet of Airbus A319s full-size jets expands.
Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for Skybus, said that the airline chose PTI for a combination of factors.
Skybus aims to serve markets where there have been demonstrated demand for service from Columbus and there isn’t nonstop service from the city. The airline also likes airports in which it is easy for planes to arrive and depart.
“We see PTI as a gateway, not only to the Winston-Salem-Greensboro-High Point area, but all of North Carolina, which is not really well-served from Columbus,” Tenenbaum said.
The airline plans to have four jets by June 12. It will lease additional aircraft as it builds its fleet.
Skybus said it is able to keep its fares low for several reasons, including the use of fuel-efficient aircraft and offering advertisers space on the inside and outside of its fleet.
“We know travelers are looking for really low fares and nonstop flights, and we believe our pricing structure will not only attract current flyers, but open up the market to many others who now find air travel simply too expensive,” Diffenderffer said.
Keith Debbage, an aviation analyst and a professor of geography at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, said that the Triad has had mixed results with low-fare carriers in the past 15 years. Among the low-fare carriers that didn’t make it at PTI are AirTran, CalLite, Eastwind Airlines, Independence Air and Shuttle America.
“The lack of a low-cost carrier obviously intrigues some new entrant carriers,” he said. “They saw that there was no low-cost service here, and I’m sure they did their homework and noticed that we’ve had low-cost service for the last decade.”
Debbage said that although Allegiant and Skybus are niche low-fare carriers that serve limited markets, he would be surprised if PTI attracts a third niche, low-fare carrier.
— Fran Daniel can be reached at 727-7366 or at fdaniel@wsjournal.com.
——
Skybus Airlines Inc.
–Headquarters: Columbus, Ohio.
–Chief Executive: Bill Diffenderffer.
–Established: 2004.
–Number of Employees: 150 (excludes maintenance and ground operations that are outsourced).
–Fleet Size: Will start with two A319 full-size jets on May 22, add a third on May 29 and a fourth on June 12.
–Cities Serving: Nine — Columbus, Ohio; Greensboro; Richmond; Boston (through Portsmouth, N.H.); Kansas City; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Los Angeles (through Burbank, Calif.); San Francisco (through Oakland, Calif.); Seattle/Vancouver, British Columbia (through Bellingham, Wash.)
—–
Copyright (c) 2007, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:AAI,