Regional charter platform Flyvbird has launched operations with its first flights carrying passengers in Germany this month between Friedrichshafen and Mönchengladbach airports. The per-seat trip booking service, which provides flights with aircraft operated by partners, is also now offering connections to Strausberg, near Berlin, as well as Hof, Straubing and Mannheim.
Flyvbird is also now rolling out its new brand commercial brand name, Vini. This is based on the electric blue feathers of the lorikeet bird, which the company said, "stands out, adapts and is always in motion."
Following a ‘test flight’ between Vilshofen and Friedrichshafen on August 31, fully-booked commercial services onboard the nine-passenger Cessna Caravan started on September 1. “Vini is now in its pilot phase and weekly departures are live,” confirmed the company, which claims to have received over 30,000 requests via its booking platform for potential routes prior to the launch. Four sectors were flown in the first day of operations.
According to Vini's team, led by its founder and CEO Tomislav Lang, Friedrichshafen Airport in southern Germany close to Lake Constance and the borders with Switzerland and Austria has been an ideal launch pad for the new operating model. “We test, measure and learn – transparent and data-driven. But without first steps, there is no proof… the team at Lake Constance deserves applause,” the company said.
Connecting Underserved Communities
The popular yet long-underserved destination is just one of a “high network of underutilized airfields” Vini believes will “[enable it] to conquer an unoccupied market without competition” with an “asset-light approach”.
Vini is primarily targeting business travellers through the launch of what it describes as Europe’s “scalable on-demand network for regional air mobility”. Passengers were able to book through Vini’s proprietary AI-driven app, which the company says is key to “efficiently pool decentralize traffic streams and optimise on-demand commercial offers” at “competitive prices with trains and cars”.
With its partners, Vini intends to operate three Tecnam P2012 Travellers from 2025, while also eyeing “a clear roadmap to electric-hybrid-electric aircraft as they become available.” These models could include the nine-passenger Microliner being developed by German startup Vaeridion, which estimates that in Germany alone, over three million travelers a year have “almost no scheduled regional flights.”