BA's owner IAG launches its new
trans-Atlantic budget airline, Level, with its first flight from
Barcelona to Los Angeles on Thursday.
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Over the next three weeks
Level will roll out flights from the Spanish city to San Francisco,
Buenos Aires and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.
Fares start from £99 one-way and have been on sale since March.
Parent firm IAG, which owns Iberia, BA, Aer Lingus and Vueling, said it sold 100,000 tickets in the first month.
BA
has been at the centre of controversy following a disastrous computer
crash that stranded 75,000 passengers over the weekend.
Critics have said that BA has been relentlessly cutting costs to
take on competition from budget airlines. BA denies that this caused
the IT problems which it blames on an electrical power surge.
But
its owner IAG Group is now pinning its hopes on the new airline to help
it compete in an increasingly aggressive trans-Atlantic market.
Pricing structure
Level's pricing structure is divided into six types of fare. The most basic includes hand luggage only.
The
most expensive is Flexible Premium Economy which offers a hot meal, two
checked bags, and seat selection. Wifi is available - at prices
starting at 8.99 euros.
It will start out with flight and cabin crew from its sister airline Iberia and will create up to 250 jobs based in Barcelona.
IAG chief executive, Willie Walsh, said: "This is just the start.
"In
summer 2018 we will have more aircraft and will operate more
destinations from Barcelona. We're also planning to expand Level
operations to other European cities."
Norwegian competition
The
competition has ratcheted up since the arrival of the Boeing 787
Dreamliner in late 2011. The plane, made from composite materials was
lighter, more fuel efficient and cheaper to fly than any of its
predecessors. Aerospace analysts considered it a game changer for the
airline industry.
The Oslo-based budget airline Norwegian jumped at the opportunities
the new aircraft offered. It now has 13 Dreamliners in service with 30
more on order to fly passengers from cities including London and Paris
across the Atlantic.
This year Norwegian started offering $65
fares for a one-way ticket between smaller airports in the UK and
Ireland to similar destinations in New York state, Providence, Rhode
Island, and Hartford, Connecticut.
Crowded market
Level
has taken a different tack, opting for the latest Airbus A330 aircraft,
designed specifically to compete with the Dreamliner, and fitted with
293 economy and 21 premium economy seats.
But the trans-Atlantic
budget air space is about to get very crowded. From July Iceland's
budget airline WOW will be offering flights from London Gatwick, Bristol
and Edinburgh to Chicago from £139, and Lufthansa's Eurowings
subsidiary will be increasing its low cost offerings to Orlando, Florida
and Seattle.
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