Low cost airline comes to Austin 06:42 PM CST on Monday, November 5, 2007
KVUE.com
An ultra low-cost air carrier Monday announced it will begin service out of Austin Bergstrom International Airport and hopes to attract passengers with its price -- starting at $9.99.
The U.S. Department of Transportation granted Mexico's vivaAerobus the right to fly out of ABIA Monday afternoon. The carrier will fly nonstop to Cancun, Guadalajara, León, Monterrey, Puebla, and Queretaro.
The airline in no frills, and it will have a new terminal that will have no jet bridges, sophisticated baggage handling, gates or ticket counters.
“The costs of flights between Mexico and the US have been too high for too long. We are going to be the first airline to offer genuinely low fares on international flights. We will attract thousands of new American tourists to the beautiful cities in Mexico, and we will position the city of Austin as a new tourist and business destination for the people of Mexico,” said Mike Szucs.
Flights start in March. Tickets go on sale in a couple of weeks, and the company plans to expand to three more cities by the end of the summer.
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Now this isn't without problems:
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Major airlines upset over new terminal dealUpdated: 12/19/2007 8:16 AM
By: Reagan Hackleman
A planned low-cost terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is hitting some turbulence.
Three airlines are not happy with an agreement made by the City Council earlier this month that allows a private company to build a new low-cost terminal at Austin's airport.
"I think there is a potential that they could sue the city and they could demand equal treatment," city council member Lee Leffingwell said.
At least three council members say they were under the impression that only one airline, Viva Aerobus, a Mexico-based low-cost carrier, would use the new terminal.
"We became aware that there was going to be a plan to expand the ultra low-cost terminal from three to eight gates and also include domestic low-cost carriers," Leffingwell said.
And that, according to a memo sent to the City Council from the airlines, is the problem.
They believe that any carrier who comes into ABIA should have to pay the same gate fee per passenger that they have to pay," council member Mike Martinez said.
In the memo, Southwest, American and Continental Airlines said the low-cost terminal, also know as the "GCAS terminal concept" causes them great alarm.
"I can understand why they're upset because it's a change in the business model American, Southwest and Continental are used to, but in the end it's the consumer who wins," Aamer Shaukat, a traveler returning from El Paso, said.
If the three airlines can prove the city violated their lease, it might be hard for the low-cost terminal to even get off the ground.
Viva Aerobus still has plans to start offering service to six
destinations in Mexico starting in the spring. Round trip tickets will cost about $100.
The agreement with the private company set to build the terminal has only been approved. Nothing has been signed.
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