Flystar from Astraeus

A new scheduled-services brand and accompanying online booking engine have been launched by Astraeus.

"Flystar", will be the name applied to Astraeus' new and growing scheduled services - and passengers are now able to book flights at www.flystar.com.

Aircraft will remain Astraeus branded in the short-term, but the Flystar name will become progressively more prominent across the fleet as scheduled services and online booking are rolled out.

"Astraeus has established a strong reputation in the charter sector, and our growing expertise and experience is proving to be invaluable, as we seek out, set up and develop niche scheduled service routes," said Richard Cann, General Manager- Scheduled Services.

"An online booking facility is a crucial aspect of scheduled air travel, so we have ensured that the design and technology was of the most recent and highest order, with built in capacity for future growth - something we expect to deliver.

"We have already quietly but successfully established a number of scheduled services in what might be described as niche markets to fast-growing leisure, business and holiday destinations.

"Our initial destinations were to points in West Africa and the Middle East, which have proved tremendously successful - but more recently we pioneered the first direct UK services from London-Gatwick and Manchester to the Cape Verde Islands, and such was the take-up, that we introduced a second weekly flight, with plans to introduce services to a second island, Boa Vista, on July 10.

"In May we launch a scheduled service to St John's, Newfoundland, and we have our eyes on several more potentially lucrative niche scheduled routes."

The new www.flystar.com site is clear, clean and simple-to-use. It has an intuitive booking system which will show customers a range of options on and around their preferred time and date of travel."

It includes sections with routes and timetables, destination information, what to expect before and during your flight, as well as live arrivals information.

UK independent airline Astraeus commenced operations in 2002, employs more then 300 people and operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft from a number of UK airports, flying charter and scheduled route to destinations in North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

29 May 2007