Buzz (airline)
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Buzz (styled as buzz) was a British
low-cost airline A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
operating services within
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. It was founded in 1999 as a subsidiary of Dutch national airline KLM and began operations on 4 January 2000. After being acquired by
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
in April 2003, it ceased operations at the end of October 2004. In 2019, Ryanair revived the Buzz name by rebranding its Polish subsidiary Ryanair Sun.


History

Buzz was launched by KLM as a sub-brand of KLM uk to compete with other
low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
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 airlin ...
, Go Fly and Ryanair by taking over many of the point-to-point routes of the former AirUK/KLM uk network. It started with 8 British Aerospace (BAe) 146-300 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 aircraft. In late 2002, buzz leased from ILFC another 6 737-300s previously operated by
Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...
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, TMs (Travel Managers) and TMCs (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 economi ...
(OFT). In addition to acquiring Buzz slots at
London Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's Airports of London, third-bu ...
, Ryanair acquired the leases of all 6 of the
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
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. Avro International Aerospace manu ...
s from KLM. In order to capitalise on the acquisition and save costs,
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
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 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.


Fleet

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


See also

* Buzz, the Polish subsidiary of Ryanair of the same name * List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom


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