Using unusual gateways, including Bellingham, Wash. and Portsmouth, N.H. and $10 introductory fares, SkyBus Airlines launches service on May 22 with its Airbus A319s. It is offering nonstop service from Columbus to the Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay and Seattle/Vancouver areas, and to Ft. Lauderdale, Richmond, Kansas City and Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC. It will have at least 10 seats on each flight at the $10 fare before taxes and fees, according to reports, which will remain beyond the introductory period.
SkyBus is seen as similar to Allegiant Airlines which is also serving traditional regional airlines markets. For example, Portsmouth, NH is 55-minutes from Boston and convenient to Portland, Maine and Manchester and Concord, NH; Bellingham is located between and is convenient to both Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia.
With service at Greyhound levels, the airline takes passenger service to a new low although it is not that far removed from moves made by mainline carriers. SkyBus exclusively focuses on low fares and charges passengers for virtually everything, ensuring that its names clearly says it all. Baggage check is between $5 and $50 depending on the number of bags, although passengers are allowed to bring on one bag and purse or briefcase. Given moves by legacy carriers that largely do the same thing – charging for inflight snacks and desirable seats, SkyBus’s philosophy at least lets passengers know what they are getting and aren’t constantly reminded that, while other airlines want their money, they are not good enough for top treatment because they are not members of the right club or haven’t racked up enough frequent flier miles.
Because it has food on board for sale, passengers will not be allowed to bring their own food aboard, and it cited Starbuck's  as being too hot to bring on board. In addition, passengers can only buy tickets tickets point-to-point, forcing them to buy two segments each way if they are going beyond the Columbus hub. It they want to board early, it will be $10.
Initial reports also indicated that SkyBus would also launch service to Westover Air Base at Springfield, Mass., Cancun, Cozumel, Nassau, Punta Gorda, San Diego, San Antonio, St. Augustine, and Newburgh.
“In these early stages, I anticipate the impact will be minimal,” said Velocity Group Partner Doug Abbey, who recently published a report on how low-cost carriers are poaching on regional territory. Related Story
“On the Columbus - Boston route, for example, nonstop service is currently being offered by American Eagle, Delta Connection, and JetBlue (JBLU) with Embraer (ERJ) 190s. Generally speaking, passengers flying these carriers today are traveling point-to-point. The hour-plus drive to Portsmouth from Boston has a cost-benefit that impacts all but the most price-sensitive passenger. Fares offered by the incumbents may eventually drop between the two cities in an effort match the normal, not introductory, SkyBus price, but seats will be severely limited. On a more positive note, if SkyBus is, in fact, able to attract significant numbers of new passengers to airports which currently lack competitive air service, or have only a limited number of regional flights, such as Bellingham and Punta Gorda, then I anticipate the number of flights offered by regionals will grow there as well. We've already seen this trend develop at places like Manchester and Providence after Southwest has begun service.”
Its market philosophy is to serve primary metropolitan airports such as Kansas City, Ft. Lauderdale, Richmond and Greensboro/Winston-Salem and convenient well-known airports such as Burbank in the Los Angeles area and Oakland in the San Francisco Bay area that, it says, many travelers prefer over their more congested counterparts. It is also going after secondary airports such as Portsmouth, NH and Bellingham, WA that give
travelers easy access to nearby major markets.