Airly to deliver Australia first members-only carrier

Passengers, annoyed by the regular delays experienced while travelling between different cities and airports across the country, are soon to be rewarded with Australia’s first members-only carrier, “Airly.”

Airly co-founders Alexander Robinson, Luke Hampshire and Ivan Vysotskiy are looking to borrow the business model of the successful start-up airliner “Surf Air” in California and bring it to Australia after incorporating a few modifications. Airly will be offering unlimited flights connecting Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra initially. It also has plans to expand services to Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Hobart.

“There are roughly 15 routes in Australia alone that suit our business model perfectly,” 32-year-old Airly co-founder Robinson told News Corp. “Once we have perfected things in Australia we will set our eyes abroad into New Zealand and Asia.”

Members will be required to pay a joining fee of $1,000 and a monthly fee of $2,550 to access the services. An eight-seater King Air 350 turboprop will be carrying the passengers.

Hampshire said that a large number of Australians are already interested in the idea, as it would enable them to save up to two hours. He said that presently they are working towards a membership number and, once they reach a break-even number, Airly will be launched.

“Moving 100+ passengers efficiently isn’t easy, and by operating a membership-based business model we can remove significant ground-based inefficiencies that major airlines face,” Robinson said. “Using smaller airports, where congestion and density improve the efficiency, also helps.”

Hampshire and Robinson both have experience in aviation. Robinson, who will be Airly’s chief executive, quit a job at Caterpillar to be a part of the project. Airly is expected to be launched in March.