New POP airline promises to puts ‘People Over Profit’
Melanie May | 1 June 2016 | News
A new low-cost, long-haul airline is launching that will donate 51% of its profits to fund social projects in the UK and India.
POP plans to be the only airline at launch to fly non-stop from the UK to two of India’s key secondary cities – Amritsar (Punjab) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat), with its People Over Profit (POP) proposition seeing passengers consulted when booking regarding their preferences over which of the community causes on offer they wish POP to support.
In the first instance, all of POP’s charitable giving will be made through the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), with plans for the establishment of a dedicated charitable foundation. In addition, the airline is seeking to neutralise its carbon footprint in ways that will also help its community projects.
Rewards-based crowdfunding to raise £5m for POP will start early this month in association with Trillion Fund Ltd, and will continue for 60 days. The crowdfunding campaign involves raising start-up funds for the company via the pre-sale of POP Gold Passes, each priced at £500. The first 10,000 Gold Pass holders will win one free off-peak return seat to any POP destination and will, for the following five years when flying with POP, be entitled to a range of VIP benefits both on the ground and in the air, such as extra luggage allowance, and free and unlimited ticket name changes.
The first POP flight is expected to depart from Stansted Airport in Q4 this year to Amritsar using a 378-seat all-economy Airbus A330-300 aircraft in POP livery. POP initially plans to operate three services weekly to both Amritsar and Ahmedabad.
Navdip Singh Judge, chairman and principal of POP, said:
“My vision is to create an airline that, unlike any other before it, serves not just the passengers travelling between the UK and the developing world but, just as importantly, delivers tangible benefits to the communities they are visiting.”
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#_flyPOP announces the charities it will be partnering in the UK @DCT_Charity @SkillForceUK https://t.co/c5ebUo0BrX pic.twitter.com/vEN26apx6x
— flypop (@_flyPOP) June 9, 2016
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.