Using unusual gateways 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. However, at least one gateway is tradition regional territory. It is serving Seatte/Vancouver from Bellingham, Wash. SkyBus is seen as similar to Allegiant Airlines which is also serving traditional regional airlines markets. Related Story
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. For example, Portsmouth, NH is a 55-minute drive from Boston but its catchment area also includes Portland, Maine and Manchester and Concord, N.H. Bellingham is located between and is convenient to both Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. Its gateways include serving LAX through Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport, in addition to flights to Ft. Lauderdale as well as Greensboro/Winston-Salem, N.C. June 12, Skybus begins service to San Francisco, Oakland and the Bay Area, through Oakland International Airport, and adds a second daily nonstop flight to Los Angeles/Burbank.