Ata To Europe?

I am guessing that MDW may be a starting point for some of the Europe routes, but none will be non-stop or have just a tech stop. Having a tech stop would be very unprofitable and really raise the cost of that flight. I can see service like MDW-MCO-FCO or MDW-CLT-MUN. Just my thoughts........
 
I non revved on them from JFK to Belfast once on a 757, and they were running Shannon-JFK on the L1011. They also flew to Riga for a time.
 
Another LCC talking about Caribbean/International service....

Reuters

Thursday, March 4, 2004
NEW YORK The low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways plans to expand its fleet by more than five times in the next few years and to begin flying to overseas destinations. "We are looking at various Caribbean locations. Our product performs very well long-haul, and the Caribbean is a very big market out of New York," said John Owen, JetBlue's chief financial officer.

Jim
 
MDW might be a good point with a tech stop en route to Europe. EWR could use some international competition with CO. I wonder if ATA will add new larger aircraft larger than 757-300 for launching the service.

Speaking of the 757-300; have you ever seen one land or take off from Midway?
It's hard to believe they fly these things into "The World's Busiest Square Mile".
 
k2air said:
Speaking of the 757-300; have you ever seen one land or take off from Midway?
It's hard to believe they fly these things into "The World's Busiest Square Mile".
Yes, I have, and they seem to take off and land using the same amount of runway as their 757-200 stablemates.
What was fun was watching ATA's now-retired 727-200s taking off from MDW--now those were the planes that looked as though they were going to be leaving tire tracks on the roofs of cars traversing 55th St!
 
Low-cost airlines turn up heat on int'l routes
Tuesday March 9, 3:02 pm ET
By Jui Chakravorty


NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - Low-cost airlines are continuing their rapid expansion with moves into international markets, the latest area in which the new breed of carriers is turning up the heat against larger, "legacy" airlines.

LCC apply to Intl Destinations
 
Low-cost airlines turn up heat on int'l routes
Tuesday March 9, 3:02 pm ET
By Jui Chakravorty

NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - Low-cost airlines are continuing their rapid expansion with moves into international markets, the latest area in which the new breed of carriers is turning up the heat against larger, "legacy" airlines.

Article

Jim
 
My apologies, flying2low. I didn't see that you had posted this before I posted the same thing.

Jim
 
My apologies to everyone - I didn't notice that flying2low had already posted this.

Jim
 
A minor correction issued to the article " Low-cost airlines turn up heat on int'l routes".

In NEW YORK story headlined "Low-cost airlines turn up heat on int'l routes," please read in eighth paragraph ... AirTran Airways competes with Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL - News) and US Airways (NasdaqNM:UAIR - News) for the Freeport market ... instead of ... AirTran goes head-to-head with Delta Air Lines and US Airways on its Denver-Freeport routes ... (removes head-to-head).

In 12th paragraph please read ... international destinations in Canada and Mexico ... instead of ... international destinations in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. (removes Puerto Rico).

Jim
 
Meanwhile, ATA has released a few more details regarding their planned overseas flights.
Like I posted four months ago, Cologne, Germany is one of the destinations on the shortlist.
Still no word on the US gateways:


U.S. low cost carrier ATA plans flights to Europe
Friday June 25, 11:09 am ET

COLOGNE, Germany, June 25 (Reuters) - U.S. low-cost carrier ATA Airlines (NasdaqNM:ATAH - News) plans to fly to destinations in Europe starting next year and is negotiating with German airport Cologne-Bonn, the company said on Friday.

"We want to fly to two or three European cities, and are currently in intensive talks concerning this," ATA Vice President Douglas Yakota told reporters in Cologne.

He added that Germany, and in particular the Cologne-Bonn airport due to its success in low-cost travel, were high on the list of potential destinations.

German long-haul charter carrier LTU reacted sharply to these plans, underscoring intense competition in the beleaguered airline industry.

"You have to assume that we'll come with a corresponding offer for the same price and possibly better quality," said LTU managing director Juergen Marbach.

ATA parent ATA Holdings Corp. last month reported its quarterly net loss widened to $64.7 million from $11.4 million.


(Reuters)
 
This would be their 1st successful forray into Europe. Around 10 years ago they applied to the DOT for route authority from PHL to Riga I believe with a L-1011. They were not granted authority.
 
phllax said:
This would be their 1st successful forray into Europe. Around 10 years ago they applied to the DOT for route authority from PHL to Riga I believe with a L-1011. They were not granted authority.
Not quite correct. At various times throughout the '90s ATA flew scheduled seasonal (summer only) trips from JFK to both Riga, Latvia (as mentioned) and also to Ireland (Belfast, Dublin, and/or Shannon). Believe they used 757s on these routes rather than L-1011s.