New starter Crewflyer recently turned heads with a partnership with Megabus to serve Gatwick Airport. James Day visits the company to learn about how a niche air crew transport service has enjoyed such a successful start
In late 2017, Megabus announced that it had partnered with a new minibus operator, Crewflyer, to expand its service to cover Brighton. As yet another example of a large operator delving into smaller vehicles, I felt it was worth travelling down to Three Bridges to pay the company a visit.
I met with Lisa Stevens, who handles the operator’s marketing, to find out more on the new operation, set up just five months ago by former air crew member Adam Miller.
The service
Crewflyer was created as a dedicated transfer service primarily for air crew to get to and from work. The service travels between Brighton and Gatwick, though many of the staff members on board will travel on to Heathrow as well. It’s a 24 hour service, and the company claims it is currently the only operator to offer such a service.[wlm_nonmember][…]
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There is substantial demand for the service from Brighton specifically because it is a desirable city to live in and relatively close to the airport. This makes it the location of choice for a large number of air crew.
“Adam is a former British Airways crew member who lives in Brighton,” Lisa explained. “The idea has been nurtured by him for five years and has now come to fruition with business plans in place and vehicles specific to the service. It’s his baby and has involved a lot of planning, with careful thought about the vehicles used.”
The service is point-to-point, with a single stop in Brighton’s Poole Valley coach station and at Gatwick Airport’s bus station, keeping journeys quick. A small sales distribution point has been set up in a Chapter 13 cafe at Poole Valley.
It is a mirrored service, operating hourly from both ends of the route, though it tends to be at its busiest approaching 0400hrs, when the shifts of ground crew security begin and early flights start to depart.
Lisa explained: “We transport anybody that holds airport ID, including dual-IDs for Heathrow and Gatwick. There’s a shuttle service between the two airports – not provided by us – which means we can take staff to Gatwick to allow them to catch another service on to Heathrow.“
The service operates a cashless ticketing policy, using Mobile Onboard My Mobile Tickets service as the primary method of payment. There are facilities onboard to take payment via debit or credit card, and customers can of course book through Megabus’ own ticketing service.
The fleet
The company was licenced to operate three vehicles in August 2017. Two of the vehicles were delivered in August, with the other delivered towards the end of November, and all share the same livery. The service then had a soft launch in September, getting more into gear the following month.
Since the service runs 24 hours a day, two of the vehicles are in operation at all times, with the third is kept at the company’s Gatwick operating centre as a spare.
The vehicles were provided by Go Vauxhall-Crawley. They were all supplied as 17-seater (including driver) Vauxhall Movano F3900 L3H2 CDTIs and were converted by Vauxhall, though each has been downseated to 14 to allow for additional luggage space. The vehicles carry the seats with them, and they can be installed if required to allow for 16 seated passengers.
An accessibility step is included for disabled passengers, with a specific seat and space onboard to stow a wheelchair.
Each minibus is powered by a Euro 6 2.2 litre turbo diesel engine, coupled to manual transmission.
Mobile Onboard’s Beam WiFi service has been included on each of the vehicles, along with a custom-built boiler unit, allowing hot drinks to be provided to passengers. The company is also working on obtaining destination blinds, which will display the route numbers CF001 and CF002. USB charging points and real-time tracking are also future considerations.
It’s fair to say the company feels that small vehicles are the way forward, and something all operators should engage in.
“The minibuses are very cost-effective compared to other vehicles available on the market – half the price of some alternatives,” Lisa said.
“They’re also efficient and economical to run and maintain, while meeting Euro 6 emissions standards. Gatwick does not fall under the proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone area in London, but we would be silly not to comply with it anyway and it’s only a matter of time before similar regulations are rolled out throughout the country.”
Go Vauxhall-Crawley is doing more than just providing the vehicles, and has taken the opportunity to expand its offering.
Lisa explained: “We have a good relationship with the guys at Go Vauxhall, and the company is going to actively provide our maintenance.
“It’s a new venture for them as well as us. They have never had a fleet like this before under a proper service agreement. It’s the first time they have been a nominated maintenance provider.”
Megabus interest
Crewflyer was approached by Megabus at Gatwick Airport’s 2017 Transport Forum on October 6. Alongside a number of speakers, the event gave exhibitors the opportunity to have stands, one of which was populated by Crewflyer. The event was ideal for the company, as the airport’s transport sustainability was discussed at length.
“We were allowed to have a stand, with banners and leaflets, and Megabus happened to have the stand next to us,” Lisa said. “They approached our MD Adam and it all went from there.
“We did a photoshoot and launched the partnership on November 16. A minor rebranding of the vehicles was required to add the Megabus brand, and we had our first sale that day.
“It moved very quickly and has enabled Brighton-based staff to buy tickets to Heathrow through Megabus, and opened up the whole Megabus network to Brighton and vice-versa. We’ve carried passengers from Bristol and Cardiff already.
“Megabus tickets are incredibly cost-effective for passengers and Brighton is a lovely location to visit.”
Lisa explained that the partnership with Megabus had opened up the service to the public much more, thanks to its robust sales platform.
She added: “We do offer the service to the public as well, and they can buy directly from us, though the sales platform at Megabus is better than what we have at the moment.
“It’s a working relationship we have with them – a joint venture.
“The involvement of the Megabus brand has opened up the market. I’ve had inquiries from as far afield as Manchester asking about connecting times.
“The Megabus network is fantastic. It reaches from down here all the way up from Inverness.”
Marketing progress
Lisa’s previous role was at a motor manufacturer, where she provided PR, events management and worked on their partners programme. She was involved with anything to do with publicity and marketing.
Crewflyer’s Managing Director Adam Miller was a long-standing customer of the company, and Lisa brought her marketing expertise over after she was made redundant, gaining a position at Crewflyer about a month after the service launched.
“The service is all based on customer service, and we’ve had amazing feedback so far,” said Lisa.
“There were a few teething problems to start with, but they were very quickly ironed out. We listened and spoke to people individually, rather than taking a blanket approach. “
Lisa is kept very active in her role: “I go to the main British Airways crew report room, I’ve been to the EasyJet Academy and I’ve been both airside and landside at Gatwick. I have a landside pass for the airport, though I have to be escorted airside of course.
“All our information is available online and we have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. We have a lot of social media activity.
“We’re in association with Gatwick as a two- year deal which we think is likely to renew, as we’re beneficial to the airport and its staff. They understand that they need to get a higher percentage of passengers and staff to the airport via public transport by the end of 2018, so we’re here to assist.”
Students have also taken an interest in the service, as Lisa explained: “We’ve been contacted by both Sussex and Brighton universities to see if there’s anything we can do for them. We went to the universities with Sid, the Megabus mascot, and it was recognised by a lot of the students.
“A lot of students use it because it is reasonable travel. Whether we can do something extra for the universities is something we will look into in the New Year.
“We’ve also had a local radio station talk to us about doing a vlog on the service. There’s plenty of early interest.”
Securing drivers
Currently, eight full-time drivers work for Crewflyer, in order for it to maintain its 24 hour service.
“It has not been easy to recruit drivers, and I think the transport industry as a whole is experiencing a massive problem with skilled workers and wages,” said Lisa.
“Drivers salaries are what get quality staff. We’ve committed to providing our staff with above average earnings. We have attracted quality drivers as a result.
“It’s also important to have good communication between the team in the office and the team on the road. We need to be working as one.”
Relationship with Gatwick
Gatwick Airport provided a licence for the service to operate within its bounds, but Lisa said the benefit is reciprocal and the airport appears to greatly appreciate the service.
“Gatwick has been very easy to work with – I speak to them every other week,” Lisa said.
“We have not experienced any problems whatsoever. They’re 100% behind us as we’re helping them with what they are trying to achieve – more staff and passengers arriving via public transport.
“The service is also opening up a window of where people can be employed from. If people without a car know they can still reliably get into work at those unsociable hours, they’re happy to work there.”[/wlm_ismember]
