Go Fly
Boeing 737-300
IATA ICAO Call sign
GO GOE GO FLIGHT
Founded1998
Commenced operations
May 1998
Ceased operations
March 2003
HubsLondon Stansted
Fleet size24 (2001)
DestinationsMainland Europe
Parent companyEasyJet
HeadquartersLondon Stansted, England
Key people
Websitewww.go-fly.com

Go Fly (styled and trading as gogo) was an English low-cost airline founded by British Airways in 1998. It operated flights between London Stansted and destinations in Europe. It was sold in 2001 in a management buyout backed by 3i and in 2002 to EasyJet and the brand retired in 2003.

History

Boeing 737-300, 1999

British Airways' CEO, Robert Ayling, approached EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou to ask whether they could meet, claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget airline formula work. Haji-Ioannou not only agreed, but allegedly showed Ayling his business plan.[1]

In 1997, Brotish Airways announced that, under the project name Operation Blue Sky, it would launch its own low-cost airline to meet the changing demand for air travel in Europe.[2] According to Ayling, the new airline would "quickly become a favourite with the budget traveller" via its pricing scheme and available flights.[3]

Barbara Cassani, who had been British Airways' General Manager in New York and had been credited with turning around the airline's flagging fortunes in the transatlantic market in the early 1990s, was chosen by Ayling to set up the new venture. The new airline would be run separately from British Airways as a wholly owned subsidiary, and would compete in the European low-cost carrier market, dominated by Ryanair and EasyJet. In 1998, the name of the new airline was announced as Go Fly Limited, following a lengthy debate over how to choose a name that would best suit the positioning of this new airline, which was already facing challenges from EasyJet,[4] and Virgin Atlantic,[5] among others.

The airline's initial fleet consisted of Boeing 737-300s leased from Philippine Airlines.[6][7]

An additional plane, a 737-3Q8, was leased in 1998.[7] On 22 May 1998, Go Fly flew for the first time from its base at London Stansted to Rome Ciampino.[8] The following afternoon saw the airline's inaugural flight to Milan Malpensa Airport.

As part of EasyJet's campaign against Go Fly, Haji-Ioannou and nine other EasyJet staff booked tickets for the flight, arriving in orange boiler suits.[7][9] Other early routes were to Copenhagen, Bologna and Lisbon.[7] In July flights to Glasgow were started, then to Munich in November and Venice in December 1998, followed by Málaga, Faro, Bilbao in April 1999 and Madrid.[7][8]

After leasing three further planes, including a former Air Liberté plane and another ex-British Midland jet in 1998 and 1999, six additional planes were delivered direct from Boeing, leased from GE Capital Aviation Services, bringing the total to 13. Although this was four more than originally envisaged, additional routes helped to spread the overheads.[7]

To stem mounting losses, a significant change in strategy was announced in June 1999, cutting back on the existing schedules in favour of new routes tapping into the summer holiday market to Alicante, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca. This was followed by winter schedules targeting skiers travelling to Lyon and Zürich, together with a new route to Prague.[7]

In 2001, Go Fly expanded its UK operations, opening a second base at Bristol Airport, bringing low-cost travel to South West England for the first time.[10]

Go was very much the brainchild of Robert Ayling, and when he left British Airways, Go Fly's future was rendered shaky.[11] In 2000, BA announced it planned to sell Go as part of efforts to improve profits, coupled with concerns that Go was attracting customers from BA's own services.[12]

Estimated gains from the sale fluctuated and in January 2001, BA admitted that its initial estimates may have been incorrect, and that they now valued Go Fly at £200 million.[13] Go was sold later that year for £100 million in a management buyout led by Cassani with the support of 3i.[14] The airline's management team remained in place.[15] In 2001, Go reported that it had carried 57.3% more passengers that year than in 2000.[16]

In 2002, EasyJet announced that it had agreed terms to purchase Go Fly for £374 million to expand its own operations.[17] By December of that year, Go Fly was operating under the easyJet Air Operators Certificate and was absorbed into it on 30 March of the following year. Following the takeover by easyJet the Go brand disappeared [18][19] Although it was reported that Cassani might seek to block the deal with EasyJet, this did not happen.[20] She did not accept a position with the new entity, with Cassani publishing Go, An Airline Adventure, which chronicled the airline's existence.[7]

Fleet

As at December 2001, the fleet comprised 24 Boeing 737-300s..[8]

References

  1. ^ Curtis, James (24 May 2001). "Behind enemy lines". Marketing. London, England: Haymarket Media Group. pp. 28–29. ISSN 0025-3650. EBSCOhost 4575615. Gale A75481956.
  2. ^ Burnham Finney, Paul (31 December 1997). "Business Travel; Hong Kong's Huge New Airport, Chek Lap Kok, is Set to Open in April, Tourist Slump and all". New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  3. ^ "New BA Low-Cost Airline Meets Legal Threat". BBC News. 17 November 1997. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  4. ^ "the EasyJet case against Operation Blue Sky". Archived from the original on 1 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  5. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross (19 September 1999). "Nurturing a No-Frills Airline". New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  6. ^ Kingsley-Jones, Max (28 January 1998). "Blue Sky Prepares for Launch as PAL 737-300s are Secured". FlightGlobal. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Barbara Cassani; Kenny Kemp (2003). Go: An airline adventure. ISBN 0-7515-3560-5.
  8. ^ a b c The other low-cost airlines Airliner World January 2021 page 65-67
  9. ^ "Stop Stansted Expansion Campaign - SSE News Archive - April to June 2006". Archived from the original on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  10. ^ "Go to Bring Low Airfares to the South West". Bristol Airport. 9 March 2001. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  11. ^ "Outlook: Eddington Axes Ayling's Legacy. But Will it Work?". The Independent. 7 November 2000. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  12. ^ "BA to sell Go airline as profits surge". BBC News. 6 November 2000. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  13. ^ Harrison, Michael (5 January 2001). "BA admits Sale of Go May Raise Just £200m". The Independent. London, England. p. 19. Gale A68752207. NewsBank 132A8C7499DF0FE8.
  14. ^ "BA sells Go for £100m". BBC News. 14 June 2001. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  15. ^ Levy, Alan (20 June 2001). "All Signals Go: Airline Sold". The Prague Post. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  16. ^ "3I Go Fly Dec passengers up 57 pct yr-on-yr". ADVFN. 4 January 2002. Archived from the original on 1 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  17. ^ "Easyjet buys Go for £374m". BBC News. 16 May 2002. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  18. ^ "Barbara Cassani: Profile". 18 June 2003. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  19. ^ Cowell, Alan (17 May 2002). "World Business Briefing / Europe: Britain: Discount Airlines Merge". New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  20. ^ Kemp, Kenny (12 May 2002). "Cassani: I Won't Stop Takeover of Go; UK Businesswoman of the Year". The Sunday Herald. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.

Further reading

  • Wickstead, M.J. (2014). Airlines of the British Isles since 1919. Staplefield: Air Britain (Historians) Limited. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4.
  • "Go-Fly". Airliner World. Shepperton Valley. November 2015.

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