January 30, 2017–

Bliss Jet, a brand new indirect air carrier, is preparing to launch a bespoke, individually ticketed seat service by business jet between London Stansted and New York’s LaGuardia Airport this Spring.

With 800,000 first and business class seats offered by airlines between London and New York each year, the route is one of the most robust in the world. Now, for $11,995 each way – a fare comparable with legacy airlines’ first class, Bliss Jet services will operate out of discreet private terminals. Discounted fares for passengers booking in advance or purchasing multiple seats will also be available.

Bliss Jet will offer a maximum of 10 seats on board large-cabin, long-range Gulfstream G450 and G550 business jets between the two cities. The jets will be flown by established US charter operators, including White Cloud Charter LLC and Jet Access Aviation, between Sheltair Aviation’s fixed-base operation (FBO) at LaGuardia Airport and Inflight Jet Centre’s award winning VIP terminal at London Stansted.

Regular services are being timed to get passengers into their city hotel rooms, or back home by midnight local time.

On Sundays, Bliss Jet will depart New York LaGuardia at 11:00 amto reach London Stansted at 22:30, while on Thursdays, flights will depart from London at 20:15 (in what will be the last flight of the day to the capital from London), arriving in New York at 23:15.

 

Unique at LaGuardia – from London

Bliss Jet is offering the only intercontinental flights from the more centrally convenient LaGuardia.  Before Bliss Jet, London passengers’ only option was to travel to the much more distant and congested JFK and Newark International Airports.

With a 30-minute check-in time at each end, thorough and efficient security screening and two customs officers are scheduled to meet each flight in private terminals for maximum discretion, Bliss Jet’s goal is to provide the closest offering to the halcyon days of Concorde – in terms of style and speed.

Door-to-door journey times will be reduced by as much as four hours each way compared with scheduled airlines.

Inflight passengers will enjoy comfortable, spacious seating, have free access to in-flight Wi-Fi as well as their own choice of food (pre-ordered ahead of time) and an extensive selection of inflight entertainment options. For an extra fee, Bliss Jet will offer chauffeur services for onward travel and cater to any of their customers’ other personal needs through soon -to-be appointed concierge service partners.

“The difference between Bliss Jet and the former failed all-business class models EOS, MaxJet and SilverJet is that they were all fundamentally traditional airline models – trying to mirror the private jet experience.  Bliss Jet, however; is based entirely on a’ la carte, and for the first time travellers can purchase a seat – one way or return, without the full charter cost of US$100,000 plus for a business jet experience,” said President and CEO David Rimmer.

“We are excited to bring individuality to a mass-market product and offer frequent flyers on one of the world’s busiest routes something very different and delivering the most precious commodity – time.”

Bliss Jet will appeal to hedge fund companies; the investment banking fraternity; senior executives; music, film and sport industries, David suggested.

A veteran of the business aviation industry, David Rimmer started his aviation career as news editor for leading US aviation magazine Business and Commercial Aviation. He joined charter company ExcelAire as VP Sales and Marketing and served as President through to 2013.  He then served as president of Alerion Aviation until mid-2016 when he founded Bliss.

• Top film releases, newspapers and magazines available to download from Heathrow ‘EntertainMe’ kiosks

2016 Air Transport IT Summit, Barcelona, Spain | May 25, 2016– Passengers departing from Heathrow’s Terminal 5 this summer will be able to access recent Hollywood movie releases on their iPhones or iPads to watch during their journey. Using Heathrow EntertainMe kiosks movies, magazines and newspapers can be quickly downloaded in around a minute to enjoy at the airport and in-flight.

Two Heathrow EntertainMe kiosks offering a mixture of free and paid content will be located at gate level in each of Terminal 5’s satellites as part of the initial trial. Alongside local and international newspapers and magazines, recent movie blockbuster releases and classic titles will also be ready for quick download. Passengers can simply select their content on an interactive screen and pay via ApplePay or with their contactless credit or debit card. Once the passenger has downloaded their content, they will be able to enjoy it during their trip without having to access Wi-Fi or data services.

Heathrow’s EntertainMe kiosks have been developed by SITA and its partners, Orange Business Services and Adaptive Channel, to allow easy access to the latest entertainment. Today 90% of passengers are carrying a mobile phone or tablet and the 2016 Passenger IT Trends Survey reports that 46% of them are using their devices to access entertainment.

Roberto Segala, Heathrow’s Head of Commercial Services, said: “We are constantly looking to enhance the travel experience for passengers at Heathrow and these new EntertainMe kiosks designed by SITA will provide a unique entertainment solution for our customers.

“The initial trial will take place in Heathrow’s iconic Terminal 5, which serves more than 30 million passengers a year. We are very excited about this newest addition to Heathrow and look forward to seeing our customer’s reaction to this innovative product.”

Dan Ebbinghaus, Senior Vice President, Communication and Infrastructure Solutions, SITA, said: “We know passengers want access to the latest entertainment on their mobile devices and Heathrow’s EntertainMe kiosks make that quick and easy. Passengers get the content in seconds and can then access it without needing, or paying for, any data connection. Having these SITA-designed kiosks at Heathrow Terminal 5, which was voted the ‘World’s Best Airport Terminal’ for the fifth year in a row, is a great testing ground for this innovative service.”

The Heathrow ‘EntertainMe’ kiosks include a range of the latest newspapers and magazines, movies, TV series and, of particular interest to many travelers, city guides, destination video tours and similar items. They will be regularly updated to include new movie releases and other key content as they become available.