Oasis have stated that they plan to add an additional flight to San Francisco during 2007! Plans are being formulated for an expansion of the low cost long haul airline tha will include other North American routes and also serving additional european airports such as Cologne, Milan and Berlin. Up to 25 aircraft have been mentioned over the next 5 years however to utilise such a number considerable expansion will be required. Will be interesting to see how this develops.

Nivsy

Oasis have stated that they plan to add an additional flight to San Francisco during 2007!

Fantastic - we are back off to SF in 2008 so I'm very interested to see how this pans out and will certainly price them up at the time.

yes- that sounds really interesting

Sounds like the long way round to get to San Francisco...still HK would make for an interesting stopover.

The San Francisco flight will operate to Oakland, and will be flying from Hong Kong not London. So you would be flying Gatwick - Hong Kong - Oakland. Really a long way round and your not going to save that much over the likes of Virgin or United.

Oh well. San Fran and HK as twin centres anyone???

The San Francisco flight will operate to Oakland, and will be flying from Hong Kong not London. So you would be flying Gatwick - Hong Kong - Oakland. Really a long way round and your not going to save that much over the likes of Virgin or United

Oh I hadn't realised that!! Don't think I'll bother then!

Oasis has ceased flying as of today and filed for liquidation.

See: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSHKG17584020080409

I'm not sure if this will mean the end for low-cost long haul airlines having seen Phuket Air and Oasis fail.

I hope none of you had tickets booked.

Oasis goes into liquidation

Hong Kong-based low-cost airline Oasis has gone into liquidation, cancelling all of its flights.

Chief executive Stephen Miller told a press conference: "It is with great regret that Oasis Hong Kong Airlines has today voluntarily applied to the Hong Kong courts to appoint a liquidator."

Oasis launched in October 2006, flying daily from London Gatwick to Hong Kong, and then added flights from Hong Kong to Vancouver.

Cathay Pacific has stepped in to help stranded passengers.

"We sympathise with the many passengers in Hong Kong, London and Vancouver who have been stranded by the Oasis' decision, and we will do our very best to help them through this difficult and stressful period," said chief executive Tony Tyler.

"We hope our contingency arrangements can accommodate as many as possible of the school children affected, and take people home who have been stranded by the closure."

He said the demise of Oasis underlined the "tough and competitive nature of the international aviation business, particularly at a time of record high fuel prices and global economic uncertainty".

Special ticketing arrangements have been made to help Oasis customers who had confirmed bookings on the airline over the next two weeks, effective up to and including April 23.

A special one-way Economy Class fare of £160 will be offered to eligible Oasis ticket holders on the London to Hong Kong route.

Cathay has set up a hotline on 0208 834 8893 for passengers to get details of special ticketing arrangements.

Details can also be found at http://www.cathaypacific.com

"We will be doing our utmost to help people out, and will certainly do everything in our power to co-operate with the HKSAR Government and other carriers to minimise the impact on the travelling public" said Tyler.

With permission from Travelmole

Another victim of the credit crunch and record fuel prices, particularly the latter in this case. Oasis will not be the last by any stretch of the imagination - another reason to ensure that you have scheduled airline failure included in your travel insurance if booking flight-only or as part of a DIY holiday using independant brokers.

Cheers,
Jet

Jet beat me to it but I'll just add - be careful if you do buy via a broker, some Scheduled Airline Failure cover is limited to flights booked direct with the airline or as part of a bonded package. Buying flight-only via a broker or travel agent may not be covered.