A new airline catering to the business class passenger
Duo was created after a management buy-out from the small British carrier Maersk Air in June 2003. Maersk used to fly British Airways passengers on the City Line franchise in smaller planes around Britain and Europe, before starting under their new brand and image.
In comparison to the low frills airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet, BMI Baby or, to a certain extent, V Bird, Duo is aiming at the affluent buisness class passenger by offering chauffeur service, lounges, valet service, proper in-flight menus and short check in times. Duo has a fleet of eight Canadair Regional Jets: 5 CRJ-700's with 68 seats and 3 CRJ-200's with 48 seats. Very comfy aeroplanes with plenty of legspace.
They have two hubs: Edinburgh and Birmingham, from which they fly daily to 15 european cities in Scandinavia, Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy: Berlin,
Bordeaux, Cologne, Copenhagen, Geneva, Helsinki, Lyon, Milan, Munich, Nice, Oslo, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich.
All this comes at a cost: Duo operates three different fares: Privilege, Advantage and Websaver. The Privilege fares include all mod cons incl. lounges and the chauffeur service, but a single fare to Birmingham from Cologne sets you back 350 Euro the last time I checked. The advantage fare is about half of that, and I couldn't find any Websaver fares on offer.
Will it work?
I doubt it. In Europe's current economical climate most large companies now put their executives on Ryanair flights, and I can't see Duo become profitable very soon.
Good food, though.
Update 5/2004: After less than a year, Duo has closed its doors and went into administration.
http://www.duo.com