Buzz (airline)
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
low-cost airline operating services within Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. It operated from 2000 until 2004 as a subsidiary of KLM and then Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
.
History
The airline was established in 1999 and started operations on January 4, 2000. It was launched by KLM as a sub-brand of KLM UKKLM UK
KLM UK was the brand name of a British airline subsidiary of KLM, which operated services within the UK and between the UK and the Netherlands using ATR-72, Fokker 50 and Fokker 100 aircraft...
to compete with other low-cost carrier
Low-cost carrier
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...
s such as EasyJet
EasyJet
EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...
, Go Fly
Go Fly
Go Fly was the name of an award-winning British airline. It was purchased by EasyJet.-History:Bob Ayling, ex-chief of British Airways, approached EasyJet's founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, to ask whether he could visit claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget...
and Ryanair by taking over many of the point-to-point routes of the former AirUK
AirUK
Air UK was a wholly privately owned, independentindependent from government-owned corporations regional British airline formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines. British and Commonwealth -owned British Island Airways and Air Anglia were the two...
/KLM UK network. It started with 8 BAe 146
BAe 146
The British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992...
-300 aircraft transferred from the KLM UK brand which retained the Amsterdam feeder routes (transferred to KLM Cityhopper
KLM Cityhopper
KLM Cityhopper is the regional subsidiary of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines . The airline, with its head office, the Convair Building, on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Schiphol-Oost, Haarlemmermeer, operates short haul services in and around Europe...
in November 2002). This was shortly followed by two leased ex-Deutsche BA Boeing 737-300 aircraft. In late 2002, buzz leased from ILFC another 6 737-300s previously operated by Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
and the first 2 737s were returned to lessor Shananda in early 2003. Buzz also was the first low cost airline trying to attract the high yield business travel segment, especially by promoting its flights to/from London Stansted to Frankfurt (international airport!) and Düsseldorf. Buzz had a local commercial manager in Germany (2000–2003) who established the first direct contacts to corporates, TM´s (Travel Managers) and TMC´s (Travel Management Companies).
On 31 January 2003 KLM announced its intention to sell Buzz to Ryanair, estimated to be in the region of €20.1 million, and was completed on April 10, 2003 following approval from the UK Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...
(OFT). In addition to acquiring Buzz slots at London Stansted Airport
London Stansted Airport
-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
, Ryanair acquired the leases of all 6 of the Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
737s and sub-leased 4 of the BAe 146
BAe 146
The British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992...
s from KLM.
In order to capitalise on the acquisition and save costs, Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
restarted Buzz as a wholly owned subsidiary called Buzz Stansted, which retained the 10 aircraft on the UK register. Several of the original Buzz operations staff were transferred to the new organisation and an application was made for a new Air Operators Certificate (AOC). After route proving flights on April 25, 2003 an AOC was issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority on 28 April 2003 with the first revenue sectors being operated the same day.
The aircraft fleet, the majority of which retained the Buzz livery, flew several of the original Buzz routes and some Ryanair routes that had been operated by 737-200s under the Ryanair call sign. However, the BAe 146 aircraft were returned to KLM in January 2004 and the 737s continued operating the remaining routes that were not dropped following the withdrawal of the 146s.
In September 2004, Ryanair decided to close Buzz Stansted and flying operations ceased on 31 October 2004. The 737 aircraft were returned to ILFC and the Ryanair 737-800s took over from the Buzz aircraft. Ryanair also discontinued some of the original Buzz routes and redirected others to other airports as they were considered nearby to where existing Ryanair services operated.
Fleet
Before ceasing operations, the Buzz fleet consisted of the following aircraft:.| Aircraft | Total |
|---|---|
| Boeing 737-300 Boeing 737 Classic The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new... |
8 |
| BAe 146-300 | 10 |
| Total | 18 |
External links
- Buzz (archive)