Startup Fly Atlantic is planning to launch Airbus A321LR or Boeing 737-8 operations in 2025, serving destinations in North America and Europe via its Belfast International home hub.
Andrew Pyne, the former CEO of Cypriot carrier Tus Airways, is setting up Fly Atlantic. Before Tus Airways, Pyne held senior roles with Icelandic carrier WOW air, Cypriot carrier Cobalt Air, VietJet Air, Russian carrier Avianova and Viva Macau Airlines.
Drawing on his experience at WOW, Pyne is looking to establish Belfast as a connecting hub for long-haul narrowbody flights between North America and Europe. Unlike WOW, which failed in 2019, Pyne said Fly Atlantic will operate a single long-haul narrowbody type from a lower-cost home base.
Fly Atlantic will fly under its own air operator’s certificate (AOC), launching with six destinations from Belfast—three in North America and three in Europe. The initial fleet will comprise six long-range narrowbodies, operating a single daily wave of connecting flights, with the aim of reaching 16-17 hours of daily utilization.
Sources familiar with the project suggested that Fly Atlantic will initially target Western European cities with no direct transatlantic air links, such as Hamburg, Lyon and Toulouse. The maximum range for the initial U.S. destinations would likely be Chicago in the Midwest, or Charlotte, North Carolina to the south.
Within five years, Fly Atlantic is slated to grow to 20 aircraft, serving 15 points in North America (roughly a third of which will be in Canada) and 20-25 European destinations. By then, Fly Atlantic is aiming to carry 5 million passengers annually, across two to three banks of daily connecting flights.
Both the A321LR and 737-8 are under evaluation. The A321LRs would be configured in a 16/182 layout, while the smaller MAX would be equipped with 12/150 seats. Pyne told Aviation Daily that he is “pretty agnostic” about the aircraft type. “Both aircraft are available in the time frame we are looking at,” he said. The final selection will depend on the lease contacts that are available when Fly Atlantic is ready to proceed.
For the time being, Pyne is focused on finding an anchor investor for the project. He said “serious discussions” are underway with at least one interested party. Talks are also underway to create feeder partnerships with other airlines. The AOC process is yet to begin and is expected to take around 12 months to complete.
Fly Atlantic’s team comprises former Virgin executive Marcus Manning as deputy CEO/CFO, former WOW Air executive Snorri Eggertsson as chief commercial officer, and Guy Maclean—who was previously with Qantas, Avianova and Cobalt—as chief of operations.
Reflecting on the Fly Atlantic project, Altair Advisory MD Patrick Edmond said, “It’s always good to see new entrants seeking to disrupt the status quo.”
However, Edmond noted that the transatlantic market is already highly competitive, making it a challenging market for new entrants. Icelandair has been offering one-stop narrowbody flights via Keflavik for many years. More recently, Aer Lingus has moved into long-haul narrowbody flights using A321LRs, with the added benefit of Dublin’s U.S. preclearance facilities. Then there is Icelandic LCC PLAY, offering a similar model via Iceland.
“Between the incumbent network carriers and the new entrants, a large proportion of the population of western Europe is already within range of one or more competing one-stop connections to north America,” Edmond said. “Fly Atlantic looks to be aiming at many of the same connecting O&D markets as Aer Lingus, but on a smaller scale and without the benefit of U.S. preclearance. One word to describe a startup going up against that much competition, with no clear differentiator, is ‘brave.’”
Pyne acknowledged that Fly Atlantic is entering one of the most hotly contested air transport markets in the world, with strong competition from the likes of Aer Lingus, PLAY and long-haul LCC Norse Atlantic. However, he believes that the model can work, reaching profitability within two years.
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