MyAir develops mix-and-match policy with A320s and CRJ900s

Milan-based Italian LCC MyAir has begun to implement its new business model which involves the use of a mixed fleet of 180-seat A320s and 90-seat CRJ900s.

MyAir has ordered 19 CRJ900/CRJ1000s arriving through 2011. So far it has four working in conjunction with its seven A320s.The remaining CRJs are scheduled for delivery between now and 2011.

In 2006 the airline reported carrying 1.2 million passengers with load factors in each quarter being 69.1%, 73.7%, 78.0% and 69.6%, reflecting the seasonality of demand. Revenue was around €99 million which generated a profit of over €2 million. This reveals that the average fare was around €83.

Venice: 2nd base after Milan Bergamo

The airline started operations back in December 2004 from two bases at Milan Bergamo (BGY) and Venice Marco Polo (VCE) operating a mix of domestic and international routes usually with daily frequency. Since then Bari, Milan Malpensa, Naples and Rome have become additional Italian bases and an aircraft is now also based at Bucharest Baneasa (BBU) in Romania.

This summer a total of 15 routes were served from the Venice base though only Paris Orly and Bucharest were served with daily frequencies. A number of seasonal destinations are operated in the peak June to September period which include Cagliari, Olbia, Pantelleria and Ibiza. This summer saw the introduction of new routes to Morocco (Marrakech and Casablanca), France (Bordeaux, Lille, Marseille, Metz-Nancy) and Bulgaria (Sofia). All of these were served with between two and four flights per week.

New domestic routes for winter

With the start of the winter season MyAir is launching two new domestic routes from Venice to Sicily with daily flights scheduled to Catania and Palermo. It will face competition on both of these routes from Alpi Eagles (operating Fokker 100s) and Windjet (operating A320s) who operate double-daily to both destinations.

Frequency on Paris Orly will be increased to double-daily from the end of October to enable day return flights. The Venice to Paris market is also highly competitive with competition from Air France and Vueling (to Paris CDG) and Ryanair (Venice Treviso to Paris Beauvais).

MyAir’s routes from Venice fan out in all directions to France, Spain, Morocco, Romania and Bulgaria (apparently Italy and Spain are first choice countries for Romanians and Bulgarians keen to take advantage of their new rights to work throughout the whole EU).

MyAir racing ahead

Following a growing trend among airlines to be associated with motor sport MyAir.com is the official sponsor for Davide Rigon in the Euroseries 3000 championship. After five of this season’s eight races he leads the championship with 70 points despite being beaten at the last race at the Nurburgring by just 46 thousandths of a second.