Low-budget airline mulls Chicago-Cork

“This is a significant development where consumers could consistently find a low airfare without having to wait for a sale,” said Professor Austan Goolsbee, an airline industry expert at the University of Chicago Business School.
ATA Airlines would use the same approach as several new U.S. carriers and offer deeply discounted tickets on non-traditional service routes; in this case it would be to link Cork and Midway Airport in Chicago. Midway is Chicago’s second airport, after O’Hare International Airport, which is the busiest in the U.S.
“U.S. and European legacy or traditional airlines are clearly in bad shape, but you see new companies flourishing that seek niche routes, like Jet Blue in the U.S. or Ryan Air in Ireland,” Goolsbee said.
The commitment by the Irish minister of transport, Seamus Brennan, last week to support a renegotiation of the Ireland-U.S. bilateral flight agreement to allow trans-Atlantic flights into Cork has spurred interest in opening new routes.
“Airlines are loath to announce publicly their intention of entering into a market for fear their interest could spur competition,” Goolsbee said.
An ATA Airlines spokeswoman would not confirm their interest in the Chicago to Cork route.
But ATA, a budget, “no frills” operator that already has trans-Atlantic-capable airplanes, was considering a trans-Atlantic route before Brennan made his remarks.
In papers filed with U.S. government regulators, ATA Airlines stated that it believed profits could be earned by low-cost airlines entering into the trans-Atlantic market.
“The company is currently evaluating capacity and demand in several secondary trans-Atlantic markets. ATA will consider beginning limited European service in Summer 2005 or Summer 2006,” the company stated in 8-K papers filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that were obtained by the Irish Echo.
A spokesman at the Irish ministry, Tom Riley, said change is inevitable for the airline industry.
“Separating Dublin, Shannon and the Cork airport authorities will make it a more competitive market, and opening up new trans-Atlantic routes is a part of these renegotiations,” he said.
And just what would this mean for airfare prices?
One statistic from a Pacific route might hint at future trans-Atlantic developments — ATA Airline’s current roundtrip fare to Hawaii from Chicago is $400 lower than Delta Airlines or US Airways’ current “sale” fare.