EOS Airlines - Suspends First Class Flights London to New York
| EOS Airlines ceased operations after 2 1/2 years of service on 27 April 2008. EOS Airlines had been flying all business class between London Stansted STN and New York JFK since November 2005. |
EOS had created a niche for itself in the business travel transatlantic market and had attracted some passenges away from the traditional carriers like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. EOS ran Boeing 757 planes configured to just 48 seats which meant service was much more individually targeted.
Each passenger had a mini 'suite' with a 78 inch fully-flat bed seat that included 21 square feet of personal space. (EOS stated this was the most space of any scheduled airline in the world - however, the first class long-haul product from India's Jet Airways has a claimed 26 square feet!) This gave the EOS cabin a feel like a hybrid between a large corporate private jet and a scheduled commercial airliner.
EOS flew a total of 44 weekly flights between London and New York.
The EOS unrestricted fare for London - New York was priced from $7,842 / £3,896 return all inclusive. The lowest fare was $2,350 / £1,171 return all-in - pretty good value when compared to BA's First Class (up to $13,900 / £6,900).
EOS also had a frequent flyer program called Club 48 where each qualifying round-trip would effectively earn $150.
The all business carriers hit the transatlantic market with much fanfare with EOS, Maxjet and Silverjet. However with oil prices at an all time high well above $100 per barrel, these airlines were operating older, less fuel efficient aircraft. In addition the credit squeeze in the banking sector has made financing more difficult to obtain - hence the demise of the independent all-biz sector.
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