Zoom adds Stansted flights to Canada

Zoom Airlines, the low fares transatlantic airline established by former Direct Holidays bosses John and Hugh Boyle, is to start its first Stansted service. The Canadian carrier is offering £139 lead-in Stansted-Vancouver one-way fares on the flights which start on 15 May. The weekly scheduled service from Stansted is in addition to Gatwick and Glasgow departures to six destinations in Canada this summer. Zoom is backed by Scottish travel entrepreneur John Boyle and his brother Hugh who sold Direct Holidays to MyTravel. The airline has been operating in Canada for two years and has a fleet of three aircraft. The first flights to Canada from Gatwick and Glasgow start on 1 May using widebody 268-seat Boeing 767s. The aircraft will offer a standard seat-pitch of 31 inches, claiming to offer more legroom than most transatlantic carriers. Zoom also has a 66-seat ‘premium’ cabin at an additional cost of £79 each way, providing additional legroom, better in-flight meals and free drinks. The airline’s UK director Debbie Marshall, former managing director of Crystal Holidays, said the Stansted route had been added as flights from Gatwick to Vancouver had sold out for the summer. “Gatwick-Vancouver has been our most successful route so far,” she told TravelMole. Ms Marshall added that 80% of bookings had been taken online, helping keep costs down. The airline is able to offer low fares though a combination of the substantially reduced cost of operating out of Canada, non-union air crew and adopting the no-frills model of prices rising towards the date of departure. “What has really captured the public’s imagination is the completely flexible fares, you can book a return, one way or open-jaw much cheaper than other airlines,” claimed Ms Marshall. Zoom is also working with tour operators this summer and next winter, including Travelpack and Jetsave. The airline is evaluating other UK departure points for 2005. Report by Phil Davies