EOS and MAXjet: An Update

February 07 2006

You may be wondering how MAXjet and EOS are doing.  You may first be wondering what they are (in which case you probably don’t care how they’re doing).  The new carriers, flying all business class seating across the Atlantic, have both been offering fare sales regularly.  So, in an OTR first, I’ve done a bit of an investigation into how their seats are selling, and here’s what I’ve learned:

Looking at the number of seats sold for the next six flights on each airline, the picture isn’t particularly pretty, and it’s quite ugly for EOS.  MAXjet has an average load factor (percent of seats sold) of 35%, with a high load factor of 49% and a low of 18%.  EOS has an average of 22%, with a high of 42% and a low of 10%. 

Sure, lots of business travelers fly on little notice, so the load factors will improve as the dates get closer, but these dates are pretty close to begin with.  Nobody makes money at 35% or 22%.  Or even at their high levels of 49% and 42%.  Admittedly, winter is slow for travel to London.  But it’s mostly business travel on these airlines, and it won’t necessarily pick up in summer.

Both of these guys have some cash to burn, so they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.  But these early numbers suggest it may be a rough road.

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