Word: premium
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Catering to premium-class travelers is not new. Lufthansa, Swiss, KLM, Alitalia and others have flown smaller aircraft for that purpose on trade routes such as Stuttgart to Detroit. What's new is the leap by private investors into the transatlantic market. They are raising capital, buying planes and negotiating for airport slots--and it's starting to look like a trend. L'Avion began service between Paris and New York City on Jan. 3; Silverjet launched its single route between New York and London...
...traffic is so lush that established carriers like British Airways, American, Continental and United have shifted some of their capacity to accommodate increasing corporate demand. And since landing slots in London's Heathrow are still heavily regulated by treaty, these legacy airlines have been collecting rent from premium passengers. A first-class round trip on the New York--London route of British Airways, for example, can cost upwards of $14,000; its Club World, or business class, about $9,600. Yet coach can be $500 for a round trip...
Industry experts estimate that the new luxe carriers--EOS, Silverjet and MAXjet--may have as much as 20% of the premium traffic on the $1.75 billion New York--London route, known as NYLON in the business. The roughly 3,600 seats in premium cabins, about 30% of the total, represent more than $1.25 billion, or 70%, of the available revenue. And 100% of the profit...
...model seems like a logical one, though. A single-class cabin streamlines onboard service and crew training, and using smaller jets, like 757s, instead of 777s, lowers fuel and maintenance costs. So the new entrants can offer competitive premium service at a reduced price...
...that you would know it looking at his house. Agha lives in a graveyard. Land is at such a premium in Kabul these days that the dead compete with the living for space. A massive influx of refugees returning from exile following the Taliban's retreat has forced the near deserted neighborhoods fringing an old cemetery to squeeze between its graves. Agha's factory is his living room, where he has put his two wives and 11 children to work, cutting, shaping and gluing the intricate tissue-paper mosaics that make his kites stand out for their beauty and superior...