Eastern Airways
and maintenance and also has its own simulators for pilot training.
On being a smaller independent player, he says: “It costs lines of profi t to subcontract. You need control over all the aspects of what makes an airline tick. It helps our reaction time to opportunities and it helps employees understand what business we are in.”
Fleet make-up
In developing Eastern Airways, Lake has been very focused on acquiring the right aircraft at the right price. The mainstay of the fl eet, the Jetstream 41 (29 seats), was acquired for minimal cost from British Airways CitiExpress division (a regional operation itself when this was closed down). Twelve of the 23 Jetstream aircraft were acquired from BA, with others coming from United Express. The other main aircraft in the Eastern fl eet is the 50-seat Saab 2000, of which it has eight. “You need to remain fl exible in your attitude to assets,” says Lake. The right aircraft for the right route is fundamental to success. “Developing routes from 30 seats to 50 seats and above means that fl eet planning has to be adaptable.” Eastern recently added two 37-seat Embraer 135 regional jets from Air France. Jet equipment had previously been acquired and then disposed of when the economics didn’t add up, but this time “there was an opportunity in the price of acquisition of the aircraft,” says Lake. One is used on the company’s Aberdeen–Stavanger route, which serves the oil business, and the other is made available for charter work. Lake still sees the oil routes on which the airline was founded as fundamental. “They are the key to the business. Oil remains an economic necessity, but as time progresses we have found other niches, generally business-related point-to-point traffi c, around Europe,” he says.
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Eastern operates a mixed fl eet including Jetstream 41, Saab 2000 and Embraer 135 regional jets.
Aberdeen remains Eastern Airways’ largest hub, with 15 routes and more services than any other carrier. Another niche in which the carrier has played successfully is in the ad hoc charter sector. As well as in the UK, an aircraft has been based in France and has picked up a signifi cant amount of business, particularly from football teams. This is “an important part of our activity,” says Lake.
Developing niche markets When it comes to route development, Lake has a very clear philosophy: “There is no short cut to burning off shoe leather,” he says. Offi cial statistics may provide a general guide but are not suffi cient, he believes, as the basis for an economic investment. “Do your research, go and visit, engage with the economic people and understand what is driving the business.”
As a result of this approach, Eastern has sought out and developed niche markets that might have remained undiscovered by other carriers which have a more mechanistic approach to route evaluation.
Case study 1: Inverness One good example of this was the company’s experience at Inverness, near Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. Inverness is an isolated city, which has had effects on its economic development. It takes around four hours just to reach the other Scottish cities of Edinburgh or Glasgow by road or rail. Access to two key English centres of business and industry, Birmingham and Manchester, was impossible for a day or even an overnight trip.
Eastern Airways saw the potential to develop viable air services for business travellers and introduced double daily
www.routes-news.com
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