Fly Atlantic, New Belfast-Based Transatlantic Airline Concept

Their business plan seems to be “How much money can we suck out of the taxpayers”.

The tail art kind of looks like DNA sequencing.

Lol….cargo demand to BFS is pretty anemic. In order to be attractive, they’d have to subsidize connecting truck service to DUB/LHR/MAN, which ain’t cheap or fast. And good luck competing with IAG/VS/AA.

And when was the last time you heard a non-native of Northern Ireland float the idea of a summer week in Belfast? Will Nationalist NI passengers be willing to sit next to Unionist? (Somewhat akin to the idea of Israelis and Palestinians sitting next to each other on a long flight…)

There is literally no market demand in pax or cargo for this idea.

Set up for all the staff working on Game of Thrones spin-off episodes.

Well, except for the higher-ups, who would get business class at a minimum, or their own Gulfstreams.

(Most GOT is filmed in/near Belfast, except for occasional far flung locations.)

Low Air Passenger Duty so yay

The answer to it all...

Ridiculous comment, the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland get by with each other every day just fine, and couldn't care less what persuasion the person beside them is.

dorm-room analysts need to keep out of real-world situations

There is definitely demand out of Belfast to warm-weather destinations in the Canaries and Azores in the shoulder seasons, which could use a 737. Morocco and other places are also promising. These same 737s could turn around and fly passengers farther into Europe. Not having at least A330s on hand is a shame, but I doubt this airline wants to go the way of Norwegian. Using 737s is a better way to control costs.

The idea is to connect passengers to other points in Europe. They could fly cargo there as well. I’m sure they would also do well at Stansted or Manchester.

The closest comparison would seem to be WOW, especially if connecting smaller airports at each end, although there is a fair bit of demand for holidaying in Iceland.
Galway is only a hour further from Belfast than it is from Dublin.
BA neglects passengers outside London, so feed from Bristol, Liverpool etc would make sense.
If there was not already an airline called Aer Lingus....

I believe Thomas Cook and VS operated some flights to South Florida and CUN back in the day and with those TATL flights seemingly gone, this could probably work in Jul/Aug and maybe even Dec/Jan. But I don't see how they could sustain O/D traffic year round nor be competitive enough to go side by side with legacy carriers and LCs/ULCCs like Norse or Level all while remaining profitable.

Also, regarding the planes used there seem to be conflicting reports of using A321s or A321neos, in which case if the latter were to be used, range should suffice (even with a high-density configuration) to fly to Florida/ many Caribbean islands.

People really need to stop trying to recreated Icelandair again and again, we have two of those successful ones in Icelandair and Aer Lingus and there isn't a market for anymore of those. Just stop it.

Belfast is in Great Britain. End of discussion. I would fly this airline .

Belfast is in Northern Ireland. It is in the UK but not in Great Britain.

One reason to choose Belfast as a base is that the usually punitive long-haul UK Air Passenger Duty doesn't apply for non-stop long-haul flights out of Northern Ireland.

Two problems:
1. Dublin doesn't have Air Passenger Duty, so this at best makes the playing field level rather than giving Belfast an advantage.
2. A passenger booking a through ticket to connect from a GB airport like Stansted or Manchester via Belfast to (for example) JFK will have to pay the full long-haul UK APD (just like a passenger connecting from Manchester via Dublin to JFK).
(The workaround for this would be to sell separate tickets MAN-BFS (short-haul APD) and BFS-JFK (zero APD), and link them together through an OTA like Kiwi or Dohop, the way that these OTAs currently offer itineraries combining unrelated airlines. I'm not sure if the UK authorities would really appreciate an airline engaging in this sort of tax-avoidance on its own flights!)

One big problem is that Dublin (and Shannon) offer US CBP pre-clearance, so you clear US customs and immigration before the flight rather than on arrival, and you can breeze through JFK (or other US airport) like a domestic passenger. This is a huge benefit which can save a lot of time and hassle. Belfast doesn't have this.

The Torrie’s continued masterful management of Brexit could mean this an EU carrier by the time it launches!

While, as a Northern Irish person, living in the US I am hopeful, but not optimistic about this venture.

As the article has said this business model has failed in the past. Also, one of major concerns is onward connectivity.

I like in the Dallas area, a lot of LCCs tend to use secondary airports, Norwegian for example used Stewart International for NYC and Providence for Boston, both these airports are OK if you want to stay in that city, but very limited onward connections to other places in the US.

Many people using this airline may want to go to other places to n the US, or live in other places in the US/Canada hence just going to small secondary airports is not a great idea.

Josh, your ignorance of local Northern Irish people's attitudes to each other is out-dated at best and plain wrong in these times.

First, adding nonsense like "period!" and "end of discussion!" do nothing to amplify your point, especially when it's clear that you don't know what you're talking about.

Second, the full name is "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," so let's see if you can figure out your error..............

Yet another Low-Cost, Long-Haul startup. I'm starting to lose track of them.
On a side note, the livery reminds me of a mix of Norse Atlantic (engines, titles, winglets) & Fiji Airways (tail). The tail pattern makes it one of the more interesting Eurowhites out there.

What airports in New York, will the airline use.

I am so excited that Fly Atlantic is going to operate between Toronto and Belfast. No mor going to Dublin