Debonair (airline)

Debonair
BAE 146-200
IATA ICAO Call sign
2G DEB DEBONAIR
FoundedAugust 1995 (as Valuair Europe)
Commenced operations
19 June 1996 (as Debonair)
Ceased operations
1 October 1999
HubsLondon Luton Airport
Destinations
Fleet size13 (at closure)
Traded asEasdaq component
HeadquartersLuton Airport, Luton (Bedfordshire)
Key peopleFranco Mancassola (CEO)

Michael Harrington (Deputy CEO)

Silvio Petrassi (General Manager)
Employees480 (at closure)
Websitehttp://www.debonair.co.uk/

Debonair was a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport offering flights to and from Spain, France, Germany and Italy[1][2] . It ceased operations in October 1999 due to financial difficulties.[3]

History

Faro Airport in 1997

Debonair was founded by Franco Mancassola who had previously worked for Continental Airlines, and founded Discovery Airways in Hawaii.[4] Indeed the company was established in August 1995 as Valuair Europe but changed to Debonair on 20 December of the same year[5].

Debonair's first flights took off on June 19, with weekday daily flights to Munich, Mönchengladbach and Barcelona from London Luton Airport.[6] From July, Debonair also added a Madrid route alongside Newcastle and Copenhagen, and later in November a direct London Luton to Rome flight.[7][8]

It floated shares on the Easdaq in September 1997 and raised $41.9m.[9] By mid-1998, the airline was on a heavy cost-cutting strategy which was beginning to slow the losses compared with the year prior.[10] Although at the same time, Debonair sought to introduce special services for its frequent flyer programme including fast track boarding and inclusive meals onboard and on some routes its ABC - Affordable Business Class product.[11][12] Debonair appealed to business travellers, who made up 58 percent of its passengers by 1998.[13] In late 1998, Debonair entered a working relationship with Lufthansa, leasing five aircraft for their CityLine operations from Munich. Whilst the aircraft were in Lufthansa colours, the flights were in the hands of Debonair staff.[14] Debonair also entered a similar agreement with Swissair who were launching their Express brand to operate a BAe 146 on their behalf from Zurich to Venice and Bologna[15].

Boeing 737-300 at Gatwick airport on 2 May 1999

Debonair also maintained a codeshare agreement with AB Airlines, which resulted in the lease of a Boeing 737-300 from January 1999 remaining in service until Debonair's operations ended.[16]

On 1 October 1999 the airline's shares were suspended, and the following day the operations of Debonair were grounded following a court ruling to appoint Deloitte as administrators.[17][18][19][20] At the time of closure, the airline had just embarked on a new national advertising campaign, which was pulled from the media at the last minute. However, some advertising made it onto London Underground trains.[21] Following the closure of Debonair, founder Mancassola was critical of British Airways subsidiary Go as a cause for the airlines demise.[22]

Fleet

At the time of closure, the fleet consisted of the following aircraft[23]:

Aircraft In
service		 Orders Passengers Notes
CY Y Total
Boeing 737-300 1 — – 139 139 Named "English Rose".
BAE 146-100 2 — 77 – 77
BAE 146-200 5 — 80 – 80
4 — 82 – 82
1 — – 96 96
Total 13 —

Previous fleet

Swissair Express operated by Debonair at Zurich Airport in August 1999
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Remarks
Boeing 737-300 2 1998 1999 Leased from AB Airlines
BAC 1-11 1 1999 1999 Leased from European Aviation
Fokker 50 1 1998 1999 Leased from Denim Air
BAE 146-100 1 1997 1997 Leased from Flightline

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Debonair Airways". aviationweek.com. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  2. ↑ "IATA Passenger Agency Programme" (PDF). ACCC. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Harper, Keith; Milner, Mark (2 November 2001). "Low-cost is flying high". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "Debonair float to raise pounds 25m for expansion". The Independent. 26 June 1997. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  5. ↑ Wickstead, M.J. (2014). Airlines of the British Isles since 1919. Staplefield (West Sussex - U.K.): Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. pp. 197–198. ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4.
  6. ↑ "Debonair Begins Service From Luton Airport". Aviation Week. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Debonair links". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "THE 'OTHER' LOW-COST AIRLINES". Key Aero. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "Debonair debut". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "New-look Debonair narrows its losses". The Independent. 12 August 1998. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Low-Fare Debonair Adds Frills To Build Passenger Loyalty". Aviation Week. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Obituary Franco Mancassola". Business Traveller News. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  13. ↑ Lawton, Thomas C (2002). "Learning from the demise of Debonair". Cleared for Take-Off: Structure and Strategy in the Low Fare Airline Business. Routledge. ISBN 978-0754612698.
  14. ↑ "Debonair builds on Lufthansa relationship with aircraft deal". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  15. ↑ "Debonair begins services from Zurich to Venice and Bologna". Aviation Weekly. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  16. ↑ "Debonair extends AB Airlines link with Boeing 737 lease". Flight Global. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  17. ↑ "Debonair crashes in airline price war". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  18. ↑ Hartley-Brewer, Julia (2 October 1999). "Anger as low cost flight firm is bust". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "Debonair Airlines' Flop Is an Isolated Incident". WSJ. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  20. ↑ "Business The Company File Flights business still up in the air". BBC. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  21. ↑ "Debonair campaign pulled as troubled airline is grounded". Campaign. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  22. ↑ "Debonair chief blames Go for airline's failure". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  23. ↑ Wickstead, M.J. (2014). Airlines of the British Isles since 1919. Staplefield (West Sussex - U.K.): Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. pp. 197–198. ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4.

Further reading

  • Harbison, Ian (December 1998). "The Cat's Whiskers". Commuter World. Wappinger Falls: 30-32.

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