Another teenager starts his own airline
Jul 19, 2005, 1:55 am
#1
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Another teenager starts his own airline
I wish him luck but personally feel its doomed. Establish low cost players cannot make the Canary Islands work let alone a start up by an 18 year old.
At least he won't be competeing with Easyjet on any routes though.
Schoolboy launches airline from his bedroom
An A-level student has launched a no-frills airline from his bedroom in Merseyside.
Daniel Reilly, 18, from Maghull, is thought to be the youngest chief executive of an airline in the world.
He was inspired to set up Nexus Airlines after completing a school project on low-cost airlines. He is currently leasing a Boeing 737 plane from Futura International Airlines, based in Palma.
The teenager said: "I started flying lessons when I was 16 and my friends started joking about us buying a plane together and flying people around the world. It was just a joke really but I took it a bit more seriously and decided to look into it.
"I've always been interested in aviation so I decided to do my A-Level business studies project on setting up an airline. I called round a few airlines and asked how they had done it and I slowly realised it was quite achievable."
Daniel, who attends Deyes High School in Maghull, showed his project to a financial adviser who found backers for the business.
Initially the airline will operate services from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura from its new headquarters in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Customers will be able to book flights - which cost from £50 one-way - from Friday, with the first flights taking off on November 1 this year.
In the meantime, the new airline chief is awaiting the results of his A levels in Business Studies, English Language, Sociology and General Studies.
He said: "Most of my school friends are now going off to university but I'm in charge of an airline.
"I don't know if I will be the next Richard Branson but I certainly wouldn't say no."
At least he won't be competeing with Easyjet on any routes though.
Schoolboy launches airline from his bedroom
An A-level student has launched a no-frills airline from his bedroom in Merseyside.
Daniel Reilly, 18, from Maghull, is thought to be the youngest chief executive of an airline in the world.
He was inspired to set up Nexus Airlines after completing a school project on low-cost airlines. He is currently leasing a Boeing 737 plane from Futura International Airlines, based in Palma.
The teenager said: "I started flying lessons when I was 16 and my friends started joking about us buying a plane together and flying people around the world. It was just a joke really but I took it a bit more seriously and decided to look into it.
"I've always been interested in aviation so I decided to do my A-Level business studies project on setting up an airline. I called round a few airlines and asked how they had done it and I slowly realised it was quite achievable."
Daniel, who attends Deyes High School in Maghull, showed his project to a financial adviser who found backers for the business.
Initially the airline will operate services from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura from its new headquarters in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Customers will be able to book flights - which cost from £50 one-way - from Friday, with the first flights taking off on November 1 this year.
In the meantime, the new airline chief is awaiting the results of his A levels in Business Studies, English Language, Sociology and General Studies.
He said: "Most of my school friends are now going off to university but I'm in charge of an airline.
"I don't know if I will be the next Richard Branson but I certainly wouldn't say no."
Jul 19, 2005, 2:53 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2004
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In the old days, teenagers would make their way up the business world by starting from scratch & showing business savvy selling things on the street people needed.
Now, unless they can become an instant airline mogul, or popstar, they're not interested & wind up on Big Brother in the end.
Why would those with the capital, give it on the basis of a school project, rather than a proper business plan by say, ex-management of an airline? His choice of A levels sounds a bit wishy-washy also. Maybe if he was in his 2nd yr of Uni. by now, might take him seriously - most 18 yr old wunderkids would have been by now - even I would have, had I stayed in Canada.
Now, unless they can become an instant airline mogul, or popstar, they're not interested & wind up on Big Brother in the end.
Why would those with the capital, give it on the basis of a school project, rather than a proper business plan by say, ex-management of an airline? His choice of A levels sounds a bit wishy-washy also. Maybe if he was in his 2nd yr of Uni. by now, might take him seriously - most 18 yr old wunderkids would have been by now - even I would have, had I stayed in Canada.
Last edited by tristan727; Jul 19, 2005 at 2:58 am
Jul 19, 2005, 3:09 am
#3
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tristan, whilst I can see why you're so pessimistic, I did a quick search and these plans seem to have been in the pipeline for 14 months or so.
The website (nexusairways.com) is a bit "mickey mouse" and they're initially going to do bookings by phone only. Perhaps that's why its such a popular concept - I mean BA must be raking in a small fortune off all those £15 fees people are paying
They also don't have an ATOL license. The suggestion is that they won't charge your credit card until the flight is ready to depart which presents cashflow issues for the airline and also will leave people stranded if they've spent all their money on holiday.....
Seriously though, I can only suspect the attraction to investors has been the exceptionally low overheads and the poor chap's probably offered too much equity in return. If it flies, he'll get nudged out by the investors, if it sinks, they probably haven't lost all that much...
The website (nexusairways.com) is a bit "mickey mouse" and they're initially going to do bookings by phone only. Perhaps that's why its such a popular concept - I mean BA must be raking in a small fortune off all those £15 fees people are paying
They also don't have an ATOL license. The suggestion is that they won't charge your credit card until the flight is ready to depart which presents cashflow issues for the airline and also will leave people stranded if they've spent all their money on holiday.....
Seriously though, I can only suspect the attraction to investors has been the exceptionally low overheads and the poor chap's probably offered too much equity in return. If it flies, he'll get nudged out by the investors, if it sinks, they probably haven't lost all that much...
Last edited by Swiss Tony; Jul 19, 2005 at 3:15 am
Jul 19, 2005, 3:25 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 55
I wonder if his backers will pull out if he gets Ds.
'Sorry madam this flight is cancelled'
-'What on earth for?'
'I'm afraid the owner failed his A-Levels'
I seem to remember seeing a lad with his flying licence on the local news. Wanted to set up his own airline flying 4-5 peple at a time from Kent to Oxford iirc. Same Kid?
'Sorry madam this flight is cancelled'
-'What on earth for?'
'I'm afraid the owner failed his A-Levels'
I seem to remember seeing a lad with his flying licence on the local news. Wanted to set up his own airline flying 4-5 peple at a time from Kent to Oxford iirc. Same Kid?
Last edited by spencergrady; Jul 19, 2005 at 3:28 am Reason: More Stuff
Jul 19, 2005, 3:56 am
#5
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Originally Posted by Beany
I wish him luck but personally feel its doomed. Establish low cost players cannot make the Canary Islands work let alone a start up by an 18 year old.
At least he won't be competeing with Easyjet on any routes though.
At least he won't be competeing with Easyjet on any routes though.
Jul 19, 2005, 4:23 am
#6
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Originally Posted by graraps
Would you rather be competing against Easyjet or Air Berlin? I know which one I'd pick!!!
Wasn't it Branson who said 'the quickest way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire and then start your own airline'.
Jul 19, 2005, 6:12 am
#7
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Why I he talking about ATOL ? If this is an airline surely ATOL is irrelevant, if on the other hand he is chartering planes and reselling the seats then it would be relevant. This doesn't look like an airline to me it looks like a charter operation. I wish him the best of luck, having done whole plane charters in a previous life I can say it is a financial nightmare - nothing like watching thousands of pounds of your money taxiing down the runway.
Jul 19, 2005, 7:44 am
#10
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I have a rather wealthy cousin who mentioned to me that he once started an airline.
When I gasped, he said that it was easy: just had some business cards printed up.
This was in the days when a business card was all that was required to get airline discounts.
Rita
When I gasped, he said that it was easy: just had some business cards printed up.
This was in the days when a business card was all that was required to get airline discounts.
Rita
Jul 19, 2005, 7:47 am
#11
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Originally Posted by rkt10
I have a rather wealthy cousin who mentioned to me that he once started an airline.
When I gasped, he said that it was easy: just had some business cards printed up.
This was in the days when a business card was all that was required to get airline discounts.
Rita
When I gasped, he said that it was easy: just had some business cards printed up.
This was in the days when a business card was all that was required to get airline discounts.
Rita
Jul 19, 2005, 7:57 am
#12
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,762
Doomed to failure is the phrase that springs to mind, on the basis of previous examples.
Anyone remember EuroScot flying out of Bournemouth. Everything hired in and a payroll of less than 10. Bankrupt after not very long at all. Although to their credit they did at least get off the ground.
Anyone remember EuroScot flying out of Bournemouth. Everything hired in and a payroll of less than 10. Bankrupt after not very long at all. Although to their credit they did at least get off the ground.
Jul 19, 2005, 8:10 am
#13
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According to the advertising link from his website they are expecting 100,000 passengers, presumably in the first year. With just 10 flights per week that corresponds to 192 passengers per flight or >100% capacity utilisation! Either that or they are already factoring in future expansion. I'm pretty sure the investors won't be banking on those numbers however.
The grammar and spelling of the website are truly atrocious which doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.
The grammar and spelling of the website are truly atrocious which doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.
Jul 19, 2005, 11:16 am
#14
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Anyone else a little cynical and think the investors put this boy up as a corporate front to the airline in order to get lots of free publicity?
Jul 19, 2005, 12:10 pm
#15
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Originally Posted by fbgdavidson
Anyone else a little cynical and think the investors put this boy up as a corporate front to the airline in order to get lots of free publicity?
