Seven-month-old low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines Inc. is the "best-financed" airline in U.S. history, an airline vice president said.

"We are the best-financed airline in the history of the aviation industry in the United States," airports and ground operations Vice President Dennis Carvill told New York's Mid-Hudson News Network.

"We are capitalized to $160 million of initial startup capital, and that has given us the ability to do what we are doing, that is to grow rather quickly," he said.

The bare-bones airline -- which mimics many cheapskate travel tactics Ryanair Holdings PLC pioneered in Europe -- offers fares starting at $10 one-way ($21 after taxes).

To keep costs low, it flies to outlying fields such as Pease International Airport in Portsmouth, N.H., an hour from Boston, and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City.

Skybus, of Columbus, Ohio, received no subsidies or cash incentives to operate at Stewart, one of its latest additions, Mid-Hudson News said Monday.

The airline, which flies to 17 cities coast to coast, filled more than 80 percent of its seats this past summer, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Chief Executive Officer Bill Diffenderffer, a former Continental Airlines Inc. executive, told the Journal demand for air travel jumps sharply if ticket prices are under $100 one-way. And it increases sharply again if prices are under $50. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 03 December 2007   

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