Experts are unanimous: the main problem of any carrier is that it is difficult to make a stable profit in the transatlantic air transportation market. From the trinity of «pioneers»-discoverers — Norwegian, WOW and Play — two failed to establish low-cost transatlantic flights. Norwegian closed its long-haul routes during the pandemic, and Wow Air went bankrupt in 2019. Both Primera Air and business class service from La Compagnie failed. Even British Airways has not been able to resume all of its flights from London City Airport to New York following the pandemic.
Fly Atlantic plans to fly to 35 destinations from its base in Belfast, with tickets going on sale in early 2024. The company hopes to take a leading position in the low-cost transportation market between Europe, the US and Canada.
It is already known that Fly Atlantic will start with six aircraft. Most likely, these will be Airbus A321 or Boeing 737 MAX. The airline itself says it is negotiating with both the French and the Americans. During the first four, the fleet will expand to 18 liners.
Today there are no direct transatlantic flights from Belfast. Dublin, located in Ireland, does the job well and is very popular on US routes. First of all, because it is the airports of Dublin and Shannon that allow travelers to pass border control in the United States before departure. Currently, US-bound pre-screening is only available in six countries, one of which is Ireland. But Serena Ireland is not among them.
However, Fly Atlantic has already opened an office at the airport and hopes to create 1,000 jobs.