Just in case you missed the last chapter of this sorry tale, the BBC has reported that police are investigating claims of fraud involving Varsity Express. Martin Halstead, the company’s precocious CEO dubbed “Baby Branson” by the media, denies that either he or his company has committed any such wrongdoing.
Posts Tagged ‘Varsity Express’
Varsity Express falls to earth
Thursday, March 18th, 2010Varsity Express – Another First?
Monday, March 8th, 2010Unfortunately it looks as if the tiny airline formed at Oxford Airport to operate flights to Edinburgh and elsewhere might win the record of being Britain’s shortest-lived airline.
Many other airlines have failed to make it past the planning stages, and some of these have been little more than scams to get money from investors, but Varsity Express actually managed to operate services for a full week. A notice on their website today says that owing to a problem with the company sub-contracted to perform the flights, all services are suspended until further notice. They say they are attempting to find an alternative company.
We shall see.
New UK airline slips under the radar – almost
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010With very little publicity beyond the a story in the Oxford Mail, a couple of travel industry mags and blogs, and a short item in the Sunday Times business section, the UK begat a new airline earlier this month in the form of Varsity Express. Martin Halstead is the character behind the enterprise. Now 23, he was dubbed “Baby Branson” when at 19 he founded the short-lived Alpha One Airways. Hopes are higher for this new venture. Service kicks off with a weekday Oxford-Edinburgh service launching on 1st March, which goes to double weekday from 15th April, the second flight routing via Newcastle. The opening offer is an all-in one-way fare of only £49. The pundits suspect that this will soon be going up given the constraints of the 15-seat Jetstream being used.
