The low-cost airline that gives away its profits (and serves free food)
A new “socially responsible” low-cost airline that plans to give more than half of its profits to charity hopes to launch this year offering cheap flights from Stansted to India.
POP, which stands for People over Profit, wants to give its passengers the opportunity to select the “community causes” they wish to support when booking tickets.
The airline is not yet in existence but is ready to begin crowdfunding the £5million needed to start its inaugural routes from the London airport to two destinations: Amritsar and Ahmedabad. Should it succeed they would be the first non-stop services to both cities from the UK.
“My vision is to create an airline that, unlike any other before it, serves not just the passengers travelling between the UK and the developing world but, just as importantly, delivers tangible benefits to the communities they are visiting,” said Navdip Singh Judge, POP’s chairman.
Though billed as a low-cost airline, POP says it will still offer customers on its flights a generous 46kg hold luggage allowance, complimentary snacks and hot drinks, and seat selection – all perks passengers on the likes of Easyjet and Ryanair pay extra for. Fares have not been announced, but the airline has ambitions to begin flying before the end of 2016.
The last 12 months has seen a number of carriers make a play for passengers wishing to travel long-haul, especially across the Atlantic, for less, with the likes of Norwegian and Wow Air offering eye-catching £99 fares to major American cities. But POP could be the first to offer such a service to India.
The airline says it hopes to come into being as a “corporate social responsibility business” and as well as donating 51 per cent of its profits will also seek to “neutralise” its carbon footprints through the community projects it supports in both the UK and India.
“In every way POP wishes to be known for giving a fair deal – with significant reductions in journey times, highly competitive fares, self-selected on-board and ground services, excellent ground services and convenient point-to-point flights,” the airline said.
It will launch its bid to raise start-up funds this month, offering investors the chance to buy “gold passes” for £500 that allow one free off-peak return seat as well as five years of VIP treatment, including additional baggage allowance and free, unlimited ticket name changes.
The airline has selected two of India’s secondary cities as its first destinations and says it is targeting the VFR market – visiting friends and relatives – and will schedule its flights accordingly with family-friendly departure times. It hopes to begin its services from Stansted flying an all-economy 378-seat, Airbus A330-300.
Amritsar, a city with a population of around 1 million in the north-western state of Punjab, is perhaps best-known among travellers for its magnificent Golden Temple, considered one of the holiest Sikh shrines, and the adjacent Amrit Sarovar lake. It is usually reached by air from the UK via Delhi.
Ahmedabad meanwhile is one of the world’s fastest growing cities. With a population of 7.19 million, it is the gateway to Gujarat and western Rajasthan. Writing for Telegraph Travel, Amar Grover said: “Its prize draw is the Calico Textile Museum. It sounds dull but inside is an unrivalled collection of Indian fabrics, textiles and costumes.
"Other highlights included Bhadra, the city’s original 15th-century citadel, and an old quarter with labyrinthine lanes containing ancient mosques and still-venerated tombs. Completed in 1524, Ahmedabad’s huge principal mosque – a confection of pale sandstone now missing its delicate minarets – still draws thousands on Fridays and readily accepts visitors.”
