Go Fly (styled and trading as go<sup>go</sup>) was the name of a British low-cost airline, founded by British Airways in 1998. It operated flights between London Stansted Airport (from which it was head quartered) and destinations in Europe. The airline was purchased from BA in a management buyout backed by the private equity firm 3i in 2001. In 2002, it was bought by its rival EasyJet and was merged into EasyGroup's airline's operations by 2003.
History
thumb|right|Boeing 737-300, landing at [[Málaga Airport]]
thumb|right|Boeing 737-300, taking off from [[Bristol Airport]]
British Airways' CEO, Bob Ayling, approached EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou to ask whether they could meet, claiming that he was fascinated by how the Greek entrepreneur had made the budget airline formula work. Haji-Ioannou not only agreed, but allegedly showed Ayling his business plan.
In 1997, BA announced that, under the project name Operation Blue Sky, it would launch its own low-cost airline to meet the changing demand for air travel in Europe. According to Ayling, the new airline would "quickly become a favourite with the budget traveller" via its pricing scheme and available flights. Barbara Cassani, who had been British Airways' General Manager in New York and had been credited with turning around the airline's flagging fortunes in the transatlantic market in the early 1990s, was chosen by Ayling to set up the new venture. The new airline would be run separately from British Airways as a wholly owned subsidiary, and would compete in the European low-cost carrier market, dominated by Ryanair and EasyJet. In 1998, the name of the new airline was announced as Go Fly Limited, following a lengthy debate over how to choose a name that would best suit the positioning of this new airline, which was already facing challenges from EasyJet, and Virgin Atlantic, among others.
The airline's fleet consisted of Boeing 737s. The first two, 737-300s G-IGOC and G-IGOE, were acquired via lease from Philippine Airlines.
An additional plane, a 737-3Q8 G-IGOF, was leased in 1998. Other early routes were to Copenhagen, Bologna and Lisbon.
Go was very much the brainchild of Bob Ayling, and when he left British Airways, Go Fly's future was rendered shaky. In 2000, BA announced it planned to sell Go as part of efforts to improve profits, coupled with concerns that Go was attracting customers from BA's own services.
Estimated gains from the sale fluctuated and in January 2001, BA admitted that its initial estimates may have been incorrect, and that they now valued Go Fly at £200 million. Go was sold later that year for £100 million in a management buyout led by Cassani with the support of private equity firm 3i. The airline's management team remained in place. In 2001, Go reported that it had carried 57.3% more passengers that year than in 2000.
In 2002, EasyJet announced that it would buy Go Fly for £374 million to expand its own operations. By December of that year, Go Fly was operating under the easyJet Air Operators Certificate (AOC) and was absorbed into the EasyJet brand the following year. Although it was reported that Cassani might seek to block the deal with EasyJet, this did not happen. She did not accept a position with the new entity, and in November 2003, Barbara Cassani published Go, An Airline Adventure, which chronicled the airline's existence.
Fleet
Go Fly's fleet consisted of the following aircraft:
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"
|+ Go Fly Fleet
|-
!Aircraft
!style="width:80px;"|In Fleet
!Notes
|-
|Boeing 737-300
|align="center"|28
|align="center"|
|-
|BAe 146-200
| align="center" |1
| align="center" |Given to Titan Airways as G-ZAPO
|}
See also
- List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
References
Bibliography
- Cassani B., Go : An airline adventure, Little Brown, 2003; re-issued by Time Warner Books, 2005