OAG Travel News

The airline had been serving Lindbergh Field with twice-weekly nonstop flights to London for only two months. Airport officials had wooed the airline with about $300,000 in financial incentives, beating out San Francisco and Seattle for the service.

Hampton Brown, manager of air-services development for Lindbergh Field, said the airport was not out any money on the incentives because its contract with Zoom required the airline to provide service for at least a year to be reimbursed for marketing and other expenses.

“The issue for Zoom was fuel costs,” Brown said. “When Zoom announced in 2007 that they would provide service to San Diego the oil price was at $44, it's now over $100 and has been for a sustained amount of time.”

Hugh and John Boyle, founders of Zoom, said in a prepared statement that yesterday was “a tragic day for our passengers and more than 600 staff.”

The Boyles blamed the soaring cost of fuel and the harsh economic climate for the airline collapse. The company was profitable last year, but the surge in oil prices resulted in Zoom's fuel bill jumping by nearly $50 million in one year.

“We could not recover that from passengers who had already booked their flights,” the Boyles said.

Zoom had secured a new investment package to try to keep the airline aloft, but creditors forced the closure, according to the statement.

The airline's abrupt grounding left an unknown number of ticket-holding customers in the lurch, including up to 260 passengers who may have had tickets for today's San Diego-to-London flight. That's the number of seats available on Zoom's scheduled flight, according to Lindbergh Field officials.

Other Zoom ticket holders include Charger fans who bought travel packages to London for an Oct. 26 game against the Saints at Wembley Stadium. Through San Diego's Aer Travel, the Chargers offered packages beginning at $3,900 that included a non-stop flight to London, a six-night hotel stay and a ticket to the game.

Chargers executive Jim Steeg said he did not know how many fans purchased the game package. He said it is “too early to say” what alternative arrangements might be made for fans, and referred questions to Aer Travel.

Aer Travel did not return a telephone call.

Lindbergh Field officials said there will be staff on hand today to assist Zoom passengers. The airline refered passengers to their credit or debit card companies to apply for a refund.

The company also said that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic agreed to offer special fares to assist Zoom customers that have been displaced by the suspension of flights.

Since British Airways halted its nonstop flights to London in October 2003, San Diego's airport had no airline that provided direct service outside North America.

Zoom flights departed from San Diego on Mondays and Fridays at 4:25 p.m. andarrived at Gatwick Airport in London at 11:10 a.m. the following day. They departed from London on Mondays and Fridays and arrived in San Diego the same day.

Local tourism officials had hoped the new international airline service would give San Diego better access to European travelers, who tend to stay longer and spend more.

Tourism is the San Diego region's third-largest industry, but international tourism makes up less than 5 percent of that.

“Zoom is disappointing news,” said David Peckinpaugh, ConVis president and chief executive officer. “The United Kingdom is a prime driver of international tourism and to have that nonstop flight was going to be a big assist for us.”

Zoom, which launched its San Diego service June 20, indicated that it was well-received, and had talked about adding a third nonstop flight next year, said Peckinpaugh.

“You'd have to have your head in the sand not to be concerned about the health of these airlines, particularly those with long-haul flights,” said Peckinpaugh. “Fuel prices have impacted those routes more than others.”

Earlier this week, Southwest Airlines, considered one of the U.S.'s strongest airline carriers, announced that it will eliminate nearly 200 flights early next year, six of them departing from San Diego. Numerous other airlines have also announced flight and route cuts to deal with fuel costs and the weak economy.

Zoom, founded in 2002, offered trans-Atlantic flights from New York, Fort Lauderdale, Bermuda and several Canadian cities to London; Paris; Manchester, England; Glasgow, Scotland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Cardiff, Wales.

Source: Penni Crabtree (San Diego Union Tribune)