First revealed in late 2011, UK-based startup airline Odyssey Airlines is planning to begin its operations at London City Airport in 2016. What’s interesting, though, is their ambition - Odyssey wants to provide a non-stop transatlantic service that’s Business Class only.
The airline plans to fly a fleet of Bombardier C-series planes from London to locations in North America, the Middle East, and other cities in Europe.
Odyssey has already raised $3.7 million in the form of a peer-to-peer loan and plans on getting an institutional raise in 2015, but still needs funds to “enter the next phase of development.” To raise these funds, Odyssey is set to use an online crowdsourcing website called Crowdcube. Their goal is $8.5 million.
This isn’t the first airline with this idea, however. Scandinavian Airlines (or SAS) announced that in August, they will be offering Business Class-only service (aimed at those in the oil industry) between Stavanger and Houston, Texas via their Boeing 737-700 planes. Qatar Airways also announced a Business Class-only service that will begin this month with flights from London to Doha, Qatar on their Airbus A319 planes.
Odyssey Airlines is the only airline to rely solely on crowdfunding in order to make their goal a possibility. In an article by Aviation News Online, Odyssey Airlines CEO Adam Scott (formerly of Goldman Sachs) said, “By using an online crowd funding platform we are offering an investment that is accessible to a large and diverse number of potential investors.”
So what do you think about Business Class-only flights? Do you think they’ll be successful for the airline?