Virgin Atlantic, Norse Atlantic – and potentially soon Fly Atlantic. The Belfast International startup, created by three established aviation figures, aims to take off in summer 2024. It hopes to connect North America with Northern Ireland, the wider UK, and continental Europe on a lower-cost basis using 737 MAXs or A321neos.

It would be a similar set-up to Iceland's PLAY; it's no coincidence that one of the team was an advisor to WOW Air. And all three figures identified so far worked for Cyprus' Cobalt Air, which had the far-fetched idea of creating a hub in Larnaca. While Belfast no longer has North American flights, it has, in the past decade, had Continental, United (replacing Continental), Norwegian, Virgin Atlantic, Thomas Cook, and Jet2.

Fly Atlantic: what's known?

According to a statement, the startup plans to initially operate six MAXs or A321neos, rising to 18 by 2028. Flights are expected to go on sale in the first three months of 2024, with 35 routes to be operated eventually. Andrew Pyne, the CEO of Fly Atlantic, commented,

"Our vision is of Belfast as a strong aviation hub linking Europe and North America. The lack of direct transatlantic air services has clearly been an impediment to Northern Ireland’s economic and tourism development...

"We looked at many options throughout the UK and Ireland. Belfast International stood out for the facilities... and by their enthusiasm for and commitment to making this project a reality [read: incentives]. The Council has been right behind the project from the start."

Stephen Ross, Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, said that for Fly Atlantic, "improving connectivity is a key part of our Economic Development Strategy" and that this would be achieved "thanks to Fly Atlantic and Belfast International Airport's unique partnership."

And Graham Keddie, Belfast International Airport's Managing Director, said, "We look forward to them bringing this project to fruition as it would have very real economic benefits for Northern Ireland's economy." Clearly, Fly Atlantic is targeting significant incentives.

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Who's setting it up?

Fly Atlantic appears to be from Channel Airways, with various websites listing Andrew Pyne, Guy Maclean, and Paul Simmonds. They have known each other for years but seem to have now-defunct Cobalt Air, from Cyprus, as a critical point in common.

1. Andrew Pyne: Fly Atlantic's CEO. Previous roles include CEO of TUS Airways, Senior Strategy Advisor of WOW Air, CEO of Cobalt Air, Director of International Operations at VietJet, CEO of Russian carrier Avianova
2. Guy Maclean: Fly Atlantic's COO. Previous roles include COO of TUS Airways, Accountable Manager at Cobalt Air, Director of Safety and Quality at Avianova
3. Paul Simmons: Presumably Fly Atlantic's CCO. His current role is Executive Director of Blue Islands. Previous roles include CCO at Cobalt Air, Group CCO at the Air Arabia Group, CCO at Malaysia Airlines, CCO at Flybe, and Director of the UK Market for easyJet

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Belfast to the USA

Aside from connecting passengers from Northern Ireland to North America, Fly Atlantic would need to stimulate point-to-point demand. This would be important as P2P passengers are higher yielding.

While I do not know the leakage figures, a good number of those traveling to/from the US must surely travel to Dublin, about two hours away, to fly nonstop. Some would give up pre-clearance in exchange for lower fares from Belfast. Or they fly to the UK mainland and then backtrack, with nonstops (at the right price) providing a good alternative.

Fly Atlantic would partly aim at these passengers while appealing to more price-sensitive passengers whose ultimate destination is Dublin. After all, the Irish capital no longer has any lower-cost alternatives.

Former US network

Analyzing Belfast International's US network in the past ten years shows regular flights to the following places. It's clear that Fly Atlantic would serve New York and Boston. Las Vegas was also served with a handful of Thomas Cook flights, while Jet2 linked Newark with limited Christmas shopping services.

What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments.