Businesses can book flights on the new aviation kyyt app. The Uber-like app will choose which company will fly the route.
The reduction in scheduled flights is creating new ways for companies to organise employee travel. A new Finnish startup is offering companies the alternative of booking flights on an aviation kyyt app.
An eight-seater Jonair aircraft from Sweden taxi to the Helsinki-Vantaa business terminal, and after passengers have boarded, the plane continues to Tartu, Estonia.
You can book a flight using a Lygg ride-sharing app like Uber. Based on the number of passengers and the length of the trip, the app will choose which airline will ultimately fly the route. The image of luxury associated with business flights is fast disappearing.
There are fifty companies offering flights, and the number of seats on the planes varies between 8-33. The first to start is the triangular route from Helsinki via Tallinn to Örebro.
Flights from Tampere to Stockholm and Tallinn will start soon.
– When the direct flights to Stockholm have ended, companies struggle to get replacement connections, and there is interest in new types of flights, says Kekäläinen.
New scheduled standard routes in Finland
The corona pandemic reduced the supply of scheduled flights to such an extent that companies operating in the provinces have difficulty getting to, for example, the negotiations taking place in the capital region. A model based on business flights could maintain flight connections, and even open new routes.
Such is the route starting between Iisalmi and Helsinki. There have never been scheduled flights from Iisalmi before, but Lygg will start flights as soon as the necessary renovation of the airport in Iisalmi is completed.
– Let’s bring direct connections to those areas where there are none. The model enables a direct flight a few times a week.
According to Kekäläinen, a twice-weekly route is profitable if there are at least 60 round trips per month. Companies must commit to flights in order to open the route.
In addition to Iisalmi, flights are being negotiated in, for example, Mikkeli. Also in Lappeenranta, an investigation is starting to see if there is a need for, for example, flights to Stockholm.
A big change in air transport is about to begin
Swedish Jonair is one of the first airlines to join Lygg’s travel offer. The company flies to Helsinki-Vantaa from Umeå to pick up passengers.
Jonair’s turnover last year was 10 million euros. The company expects turnover to increase by at least 10 percent through Lygg, as flights in the Nordic countries increase.
– When we look at how big taxi traffic like Uber has become on roads, it can be the same in aviation as well. We believe that the ease of booking trips is reflected in more regular travel than before, Eriksson continues.
According to Eriksson, the demand for business flights has started to increase significantly during the corona pandemic, when scheduled flights have no longer been able to get there.
Prices for charter flights fall
According to Flymaas oy CEO Risto Kekäläinen, the interest of airlines has been more abundant than expected. Lygg does not fly itself, but rents the capacity of different companies as needed.
– We offer the airline an entire year’s flight program and full hours. The number of flight hours is greater than with the traditional charter model, says Kekäläinen.
One plane can fly a thousand hours a year. In this case, the flight price is cheaper than with traditional charter flights.
Flymaas is aiming for a turnover of around 6.5 million euros this year, and the operating margin should be 25 percent. According to Kekäläinen, the contract routes have been profitable right from the start. One third of the budgeted capacity for this year has already been reserved.
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