Britannia in fight for low-fares flyers

BRITAIN'S biggest charter airline Britannia Airways is trying to fight back against the onslaught of Ryanair and easyJet by setting up its own low fares operation.

With the falls in the package holidays market and growth in the tourist industry being stolen by the no-frills airlines, Britannia, part of TUI, the German-owned Thomson Holidays group, has said it is aiming to fill the spaces on its aircraft by selling non-package seats direct to the public.

This new 'seats-only' policy, in which passengers can buy one-way tickets without having to buy a holiday or to return the usual seven or 14 days later, is the TUI reaction to what it sees as the no-frills attacks on its British and German markets.

The move could eventually also spell the end of the Britannia Airways brand, a name synonymous with the package holidays boom of the 1970s, ferrying passengers from Luton Airport - still its base today.

In a statement, TUI said: 'The seats-only business is TUI's strategic response to strong growth in the low-cost carrier market. The 5% growth of the UK holiday market in the last four years is almost all attributable to the dynamic increase in the no-frills sector. Our integrated business model combines no-frills and charter elements.'

TUI's move follows the trend. MyTravel, the former Airtours, launched its dedicated no-frills airline MyTravelLite last year to take advantage of the consumer boom in low-fare travel.

Air 2000, the airline arm of First Choice holidays group, has already gone down the route being followed by Britannia.

A spokesman said: 'This is not no-frills, it's about selling charter seats in a more flexible way.'

Monarch Airlines, which ferries Cosmos holidaymakers, has launched Monarch Scheduled services.

The charter airlines have been fighting a losing battle against Ryanair and easyJet. In recent years, the number of charter airline passengers has fallen from about one third of the British aviation market to only a fifth.

Ryanair has grown at an amazing rate. After the takeover of Buzz, it will carry 24m passengers this year. EasyJet, after its merger with Go, is carrying 20m passengers a year.