Kiss Flights website established
Start-up flight-only company Kiss Flights has established a website to start selling to 11 destinations next summer.
Described as a "dynamic travel company", the firm has been set up by Gatwick-based aviation broking firm Meridian Aviation.
It says Kiss Flights is a trading name of Meridian Aviation and the companies share the same address.
Kiss, which is advertising ATOL bonding protection on its website, plans to fly from Gatwick and Manchester to seven Greek islands, Dalaman in Turkey, the Egyptian Red Seas resorts of Sham el Sheikh and Hurghada and the Canary Islands.
All were key holiday destinations served by collapsed XL Leisure Group airline XL Airways.
Managers of former XL seat-only arm Freedom Flights attended this week's ABTA Travel Convention in Gran Canaria in the guise of Kiss Flights.
Meridian Aviation is acting as the general sales agent for Swedish carrier Viking Airlines, which is due to operate the flights for Kiss using two Boeing 737s.
In a note to agents on the kissflights.com site, the company says: "Our aim is to deliver outstanding service, competitive prices and commission to the independent travel agent,
"We've chosen the most popular destinations including Egypt, Greece, Turkey and the Canary Islands specifically for the independent travel trade and with the dynamic packaging market firmly in mind."
The company aims to offer a low deposit payment scheme, offering better rates for early bookings.
It says "innovative trade promotions" will be run during key industry booking periods to help leverage seat sales.
With permission from TravelMole
Just looked at the prices for next year and they are not cheap £444 per person Manchester to Dalaman during the school holidays, they won't be getting my business at those prices.
EDIT: Sorry, but as airline staff often tend to refer to their employers or their rivals in a derogatory and potentially libelous manner on such sites, it is not appropriate for us to link to that one.
David HT Mod
hi all,just been searching for flights to crete for the 1st of september,found a good deal on alpha rooms site,confirmed price 398 for 2 adults,the flights were with kiss airlines,well ive never heard of this company so went on their website.the flights i found there were totally different times and 40 quid dearer,im confused as to how alpha rooms can confirm a price and on the actual airline website the same flight is not there and the ones that are,are more expensiveim confused i dont want to book with alpha rooms ad then get stung at a later date,can anyone explain,thanks
Kiss Flight is an agent for Viking Airlines and Pegasus rather than an actual airline. You'll find more details on the Viking airlines topic. Alpha Rooms probably have a negotiated discount with the airline, hence offer a discounted fare.
Darren
I have found some reasonably priced seats flying with Kiss this month to Kos, anyone had any dealings? If so, what were they like?
moved to flights forum
Kiss Flights Is An Agent For Viking Airlines So As Such You Will Find More Information In Our Viking Airlines Thread About Peoples Experience With Them
Gower
If only all the operators were efficient and nice as these guys.
Kiss Flights team - if you read these forums, keep up the good work and don't become like some of the other big operators whereby everything is a no, no,no.
Your work ethics set you apart from the other operators and i believe this will pay good returns in the years to come.
Thanks
Thanks for the replies, we have found a flight to Kos for 10 days which is much cheaper than anyone else is quoting but I was worried as I have never heard of them. I did check the website and it looked ok, and I was pleased about the 15kg of luggage each included in the price (we got stung by Thomson last year as the agent didn't tell us and we didn't realise there was no luggage included till the tickets arrived). Will let you know what the flight was like when we get back.
We flew back with Jet2, which seemed a bit less friendly, no sandwiches etc. available to buy, just drinks and sweets, which wasn't great for the midnight munchies! Seats were ok but not very padded and a bit utilitarian. All in all it was fine for the price which was £110 less than the next cheapest. We were delayed on boarding but they landed at Gatwick on time so not too bad.
Ninkynonk,
It was great thanks Gower, and I was pleasantly surprised by Viking.
Em
I thought anyone planning to book flights with Kiss should know that the English Office is not privy to what is happening in Turkey. My son and family are currently stuck in Turkey because the flight they were booked on last night was overbooked. They had asked me to reconfirm their flight this end because they were unable to do it from Turkey, I phoned at 9am yesterday and was told that all was as it should be and that there was no need to reconfirm. My son was supposed to be on a flight booked `with Goldtrail and we managed to get him and family booked onto this airline. I don't think Turkey will be their destination of choice any time soon!
Kiss Flights ceases trading
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2010/08/17/34491/kiss+flights+ceases+trading.html
from travelweekly.co.uk
BBC have now picked up on this story.
Viking airlines have a statement at http://www.flyviking.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pubDsp.dspNews which indicates they will be getting rid of the aircraft and crews used on Kiss charters. Which may make life difficult for the CAA if they still have to get people home!
Statement from Kiss Flights parent
The parent of Kiss Flights has ceased trading today, leaving the travel industry once again having to deal with the consequences of a peak-season failure.
London-based Flight Options, a sports tour operator and dynamic packager, issued the following statement:
"In 2010, the companies suffered major setbacks due to very difficult and challenging conditions in the UK travel market resulting in poor yields and poor demand.
"The poor yields were mainly contributed to over capacity in the marketplace. Poor demand was attributed to volcanic ash, which not only closed the skies for seven days, but affected people's confidence for well over six weeks, good weather in the UK, industrial actions and financial issues in Greece, bad ATC problems across Europe. The demise of Goldtrail Holidays was devastating.
"All of the above have resulted in poor yields, very late booking trends (resulting in slow forward sales in September and October) which have resulted in severe cash flow issues."
Flight OPtions CEO Gary Ash added: "I am absolutely devastated by this unfortunate turn of events. Over the past 9 months we have been fighting in a very difficult travel market. However, recent developments have made it impossible to continue the operation of the companies.
"The effect of the volcanic ash was devastating. When the banks were in trouble the government bailed them out but when the tour operators had to cope with the enforced closure of the skies and the expensive cost of repatriation the government did not help.
"The demise of Goldtrail has cost us dearly as we have had to assume responsibility for a large number of unsold seats. On top of poor yields and very late booking trends, our fate was sealed by very poor forward sales."
The statement said for the year ended October 31 2009, Kiss Flights reported an operating profit of £500,000.
Seat-only operator Kiss Flights, run by former directors of collapsed XL Leisure Group-owned Freedom Flights, was purchased by Flight Options in January 2009.
Kiss held an ATOL, but it is not known how many clients are covered by the licence or how many are abroad.
The failure comes after the collapse of Goldtrail and Sun4U this summer.
Swedish charter airline operator Viking Airlines AB immediately issued a statement assuring customers of its financial situation.
"While one of Viking's tour operating customers, Flight Options, has unfortunately gone into administration, Viking is financially healthy and is set to continue its normal UK operations," it said.
"The company has already put into motion plans to downsize its fleet, immediately reducing the number of aircraft by three.
"Regrettably, this will result in some job losses, mainly in the UK. It should be noted that the majority of Viking's operations are based in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Middle East."
With permission from Travelmole
The parent of Kiss Flights has ceased trading today, leaving the travel industry once again having to deal with the consequences of a peak-season failure.
London-based Flight Options, a sports tour operator and dynamic packager, issued the following statement:
"In 2010, the companies suffered major setbacks due to very difficult and challenging conditions in the UK travel market resulting in poor yields and poor demand.
"The poor yields were mainly contributed to over capacity in the marketplace. Poor demand was attributed to volcanic ash, which not only closed the skies for seven days, but affected people's confidence for well over six weeks, good weather in the UK, industrial actions and financial issues in Greece, bad ATC problems across Europe. The demise of Goldtrail Holidays was devastating.
"All of the above have resulted in poor yields, very late booking trends (resulting in slow forward sales in September and October) which have resulted in severe cash flow issues."
Flight OPtions CEO Gary Ash added: "I am absolutely devastated by this unfortunate turn of events. Over the past 9 months we have been fighting in a very difficult travel market. However, recent developments have made it impossible to continue the operation of the companies.
"The effect of the volcanic ash was devastating. When the banks were in trouble the government bailed them out but when the tour operators had to cope with the enforced closure of the skies and the expensive cost of repatriation the government did not help.
"The demise of Goldtrail has cost us dearly as we have had to assume responsibility for a large number of unsold seats. On top of poor yields and very late booking trends, our fate was sealed by very poor forward sales."
The statement said for the year ended October 31 2009, Kiss Flights reported an operating profit of £500,000.
Seat-only operator Kiss Flights, run by former directors of collapsed XL Leisure Group-owned Freedom Flights, was purchased by Flight Options in January 2009.
Kiss held an ATOL, but it is not known how many clients are covered by the licence or how many are abroad.
The failure comes after the collapse of Goldtrail and Sun4U this summer.
Swedish charter airline operator Viking Airlines AB immediately issued a statement assuring customers of its financial situation.
"While one of Viking's tour operating customers, Flight Options, has unfortunately gone into administration, Viking is financially healthy and is set to continue its normal UK operations," it said.
"The company has already put into motion plans to downsize its fleet, immediately reducing the number of aircraft by three.
"Regrettably, this will result in some job losses, mainly in the UK. It should be noted that the majority of Viking's operations are based in Central and Eastern Europe and in the Middle East."
With permission from Travelmole
I am due to fly to Corfu end September, booked with Travelzoo end of May who acted as agents for Kiss flights who used Viking airlines. My question is who has my money of the 3 above? and as I had also booked a Hotel through Travelzoo acting as agents for You Travel can I cancel the Hotel if my flight is cancelled?
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