London to NYC: 12 dollars

[burnthebeautiful]

After reading a bunch of news about politicians doing a bunch of stupid crap, I was in need of cheering up, when I came across this article. All I can say is, I LOVE CAPITALISM

Following a recent de-regulation of EU flight laws, a handful of airline companies are going to start ridiculously low-cost transatlantic flights. New York City to London for 12 dollars, anyone? All I can say is, I LOVE CAPITALISM

I only included excerpts because the article is long, the entire article can be found by clicking on the link.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFsahqyZQs.s&refer=home

"April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Ryanair Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary plans to start a discount trans-Atlantic airline, offering fares as low as $12, following the ``open skies'' accord between the U.S. and European Union.

The new airline would fly from Ryanair's existing bases including London Stansted, Dublin and Frankfurt-Hahn, O'Leary said today in a briefing to reporters. The carrier would go to secondary U.S. airports at destinations including New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, Dallas and Florida.

The agreement to open up the market for trans-Atlantic flights will make the new airline possible, O'Leary said. The new carrier would compete against network airlines including British Airways Plc and Virgin Atlantic Airways on lucrative trans-Atlantic routes.

[...]

Aer Lingus said March 22 that it will use the open-skies accord to add three long-haul routes, to Washington Dulles, Orlando, Florida, and San Francisco, to its Dublin-based network by the end of 2007. The airline had been restricted to four U.S. cities under an Ireland-U.S. agreement to be replaced by the EU accord.

The new agreement, which takes effect in March 2008, allows EU airlines to fly to the U.S. from any of the bloc's airports, instead of just their home countries. It also opens London's Heathrow airport to more carriers, ending the lock Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and two U.S. companies have on trans- Atlantic flights to and from Europe's busiest airport.

[...]

Zoom Airlines, a privately held Canadian carrier controlled by Scottish entrepreneur Hugh Boyle, said yesterday it will introduce low-cost trans-Atlantic travel from June 21 with fares starting at 129 pounds ($255).

``We are doing this from June, four years ahead of Ryanair and Mr. O'Leary,'' said John Boyle, a co-owner with his brother Hugh. The airline will use a Boeing 767 to fly a daily London- New York service and may increase capacity if the service is successful, he said in an interview today.

BMI, the U.K.'s third-biggest airline, said March 22 it ``expects to announce shortly details of its first U.S.A. services from Heathrow.''

Amazing.

[error]

Somewhere, there are a bunch of bureaucrats looking for ways to screw the people who might want to take advantage of these ridiculously low fares.

[mvpel]

Thank Heavens - we'll be able to get to Russia next time without having to go through the disaster of an airport that is JFK.