BermudAir, the business-class-only airline that just started service on August 31, is officially switching gears. It’s rebranding, if you will.
As per a recent announcement, going forward the airline won’t limit itself to only offering business class service. Reportedly due to high demand, BermudAir is now planning to offer economy seating on all of its flights as well.
“After nearly 170 successful flights, it’s clear that there is strong demand for direct, short-haul and premium flights between Bermuda and the East Coast,” Adam Scott, BermudAir’s CEO and founder, said in a statement. “We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback from our guests about their experience onboard BermudAir, but guests also desire more options and flexibility. BermudAir is uniquely positioned to fill that need with our dual-class cabin.”
As Thrillist previously reported, the airline launched two routes in August and one in September, the first two connecting Boston and NYC’s Westchester County Airport with Bermuda and the latter one bringing passengers from Fort Lauderdale to the island. The trip is only about two hours long allowing travelers, in a blink of an eye, to get to their dreamy destination.
One sure wonders, though, why the fast change of plans? In addition to, as BermudAir put it, making moves to serve a higher demand of customers, there might be other bigger issues behind the decision. It isn’t news, in fact, that it is tougher out there for business-class-only airlines.
The issues that an all-business-class airline encounters-and that usually lead to its failure-are many, but they can be summarized in just a few most common ones. As Forbes points out, the track record of business-class-only carriers isn’t great, and it’s usually because of five different factors, starting from the fact that there isn’t as much demand for high-priced seats, which leads to such airlines having to sell business class seats for a much lower price to fill the plane, which isn’t profitable in the long run.
Another issue, according to the same Forbes analysis, is linked to the route such an airline is offering. If there are major airlines serving the same route, a passenger with a frequent flyer membership to such a major airline wouldn’t really be incentivized to switch to a different one serving the same route. Which goes hand in hand with another issue-larger airlines have more advantages than smaller nonstop competitors, including the possibility of creating joint ventures with other big carriers, which leads to much more benefits for passengers and airlines involved as well.
Still, those concerns haven’t stopped the trend from proliferating. Another new all-business-class airline startup, named Beond, is launching with inaugural flights to the Maldives next month.
