Jaunted

With the airline only a few months away from launch, we expect them to start advertising and generally getting the word out soon. What they might want to keep quiet however, is their Ryanair model of extra fees; expect to pay extra onboard for beverages, snacks, entertainment, and premium seats. Despite this, you won't be crammed into the plane like pickled herring; FlightGlobal has the seat pitch stats: "264 economy seats with 34in pitch and 40 premium-economy seats with a 38in pitch." That's consistent with the "more legroom" boasts of Jetblue!

So how can Feel Air go about offering such low ticket prices when rivals Continental, SAS and Thai Airways take double the amount from you? It seems they are cutting-and-pasting the successful areas of other independent airlines: "We are building a Ryanair-type cost religion, combined with AirAsia X operation and business model, wrapped up in a Virgin-style employment and branding philosophy," CEO Kai Holmberg said. If it works, Feel Air will then become a model all its own, a successful pastiche of past successes, if you will.

Rest assured that we'll put our feelers out for any more news on Feel Air. Oh yes—and how does the name "Feel Air" make you feel? Sorry, just had to ask!

Related Stories:
· Feel Air [Official Site]
· Feel Air plans low-cost, long-haul service [BusinessTraveller]
· Norwegian start-up Feel Air plans budget long-haul operation [FlightGlobal]
· Low-cost carriers [Jaunted]

[Photo: Aftenposten]