A new members only subscription based flight service called Airly has been announced in Australia by co-founders Alexander Robinson, Luke Hampshire and Ivan Vysotskiy. The company is borrowing the “all you can fly” business model of such U.S. flight start-ups as Surf Air and Wheels Up. Aircraft used will be the Beechcraft King Air 350.
Airly’s initial 54 flights a week will consist of routes between Essendon in Melbourne, Bankstown in Sydney and Canberra, with plans to expand to other Australian locations such as Archerfield in Brisbane, Moorabbin in Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, and the Gold Coast.
“There are roughly 15 routes in Australia alone that suit our business model perfectly,” Mr Robinson, 32, from Melbourne, said. “Once we have perfected things in Australia we will set our eyes abroad into New Zealand and Asia.”
Airly says there has been tremendous interest in the service. The company notes their service will allow many of the frustrations of air travel to be avoided, including the significant time involved in flying commercial.
““Moving 100+ passengers efficiently isn’t easy, and by operating a membership-based business model we can remove significant ground-based inefficiencies that major airlines face,” noted Robinson. “Using smaller airports, where congestion and density improve the efficiency, also helps.”
The service has an initial joining fee of A$1000 ($700 US) with membership tiers beginning at A$2550 (approx. $1780 US) per month. Members will also be offered the option to buy guest passes. The company plans to begin operations in March of this year.
“We really think we are going to turn air travel on its head for the regular commuters,” said Mr. Hampshire.
Airly’s website is www.flyairly.com