Buzz (airline)
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Buzz (styled as buzz) was a British
low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
operating services within
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. It ceased operations on 31-Oct-2004. Ryanair Holdings acquired the Buzz brand in 2003 and rebranded its polish subsidiary, Ryanair Sun, as Buzz in Autumn 2019. It operated from 2000 until 2004 as a subsidiary of
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
and then
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
.


History

The airline was established in 1999 and started operations on 4 January 2000. It was launched by KLM as a sub-brand of
KLM uk KLM uk was the brand name of a British airline subsidiary of KLM, which operated services within the UK and between the UK and the Netherlands using ATR-72, Fokker 50 and Fokker 100 aircraft. KLM uk had its headquarters in the Stansted House ...
to compete with other
low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
s such as
EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
,
Go Fly Go Fly (styled and trading as Go) was the name of a British low-cost airline, founded by British Airways in 1998. It operated flights between London Stansted Airport and destinations in Europe. The airline was purchased from BA in a management ...
and Ryanair by taking over many of the point-to-point routes of the former
AirUK AirUK was a wholly privately owned, independentindependent from government-owned corporations regional British airline formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines. British and Commonwealth (B&C)-own ...
/KLM UK network. It started with 8
BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...
-300 aircraft transferred from the KLM uk brand which retained the Amsterdam feeder routes (transferred to
KLM Cityhopper KLM Cityhopper is the regional airline subsidiary of KLM, headquartered in Haarlemmermeer, North Holland, Netherlands. It is based at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. As a subsidiary of Air France–KLM, it is an affiliate of SkyTeam. The airli ...
in November 2002). This was shortly followed by two leased ex- Deutsche BA Boeing
737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
aircraft. In late 2002, buzz leased from
ILFC The International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was an aircraft lessor headquartered in the Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles, California, US. It was the world's largest aircraft lessor by value, though ILFC's rival, General El ...
another 6
737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
s previously operated by
Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...
and the first 2 737s were returned to lessor Shananda in early 2003. Buzz also was the first low-cost airline trying to attract the high yield business travel segment, especially by promoting its flights to/from London Stansted to Frankfurt (international airport) and Düsseldorf. Buzz had a local commercial manager in Germany (2000–2003) who established the first direct contacts to corporates, TM's (Travel Managers) and TMC's (Travel Management Companies). On 31 January 2003 KLM announced its intention to sell Buzz to Ryanair for a price estimated to be in the region of €20.1 million. The sale was completed on 10 April 2003 following approval from the UK
Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...
(OFT). In addition to acquiring Buzz slots at
London Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...
, Ryanair acquired the leases of all 6 of the
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
737s and sub-leased 4 of the
BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...
s from KLM. In order to capitalise on the acquisition and save costs,
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
restarted Buzz as a wholly owned subsidiary called Buzz Stansted, which retained the 10 aircraft on the UK register. Several of the original Buzz operations staff were transferred to the new organisation and an application was made for a new Air Operators Certificate (AOC). After route proving flights on 25 April 2003 an AOC was issued by the British Civil Aviation Authority on 28 April 2003 with the first revenue sectors being operated the same day. The aircraft fleet, the majority of which retained the Buzz livery, flew several of the original Buzz routes and some Ryanair routes that had been operated by 737-200s under the Ryanair call sign. However, the BAe 146 aircraft were returned to KLM in January 2004 and the 737s continued operating the remaining routes that were not dropped following the withdrawal of the 146s. In September 2004, Ryanair decided to close Buzz Stansted and flying operations ceased on 31 October 2004. The 737 aircraft were returned to
ILFC The International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) was an aircraft lessor headquartered in the Constellation Place in Century City, Los Angeles, California, US. It was the world's largest aircraft lessor by value, though ILFC's rival, General El ...
and the Ryanair 737-800s took over from the Buzz aircraft. Ryanair also discontinued some of the original Buzz routes and redirected others to other airports as they were considered nearby to where existing Ryanair services operated.


2019 Revival

On 15 March 2019, Ryanair announced that they would revive the Buzz brand as the new name for Poland based
Ryanair Sun Buzz is a Polish airline headquartered in Warsaw. Formerly called Ryanair Sun, it is a subsidiary of the Irish airline company Ryanair Holdings and a sister airline to Ryanair, Ryanair UK, Malta Air and Lauda Europe. Formed in 2017 and initial ...
.


Fleet

Before ceasing operations, the Buzz fleet consisted of the following aircraft:


See also

*
Ryanair Sun Buzz is a Polish airline headquartered in Warsaw. Formerly called Ryanair Sun, it is a subsidiary of the Irish airline company Ryanair Holdings and a sister airline to Ryanair, Ryanair UK, Malta Air and Lauda Europe. Formed in 2017 and initial ...
*
List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom This is a list of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom. See also * List of airlines of the United Kingdom * List of airports in the United Kingdom and the British Crown Dependencies References

* * {{List of defunct airlines ...


References


External links


Buzz
(archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Buzz (Airline) Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct European low-cost airlines Airlines established in 1999 Airlines disestablished in 2004 Ryanair Air France–KLM 1999 establishments in England 2004 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1999 British companies disestablished in 2004