Flying above business class

Time-poor corporate fliers fed up with the hassle of long lines at check-in desks and sluggish security checks are finding alternatives.

It is called membership-only airlines -- where you can arrive 10 minutes before departure and not worry about parking the car, as well as board the plane on a more flexible timetable.
They are not private jets, but they are a cut above economy class or budget-airline travel. And tickets cost 25 percent more than the business class fares of traditional carriers.
"They are designed for senior management, vice-presidents of large corporations, because they are right now in-between services," Hans Schwab, chief executive of Club Airways said.
"As far as quality is concerned, we are very close to the feeling you experience on a private aircraft, with the difference that we are a scheduled service."
These airlines have seen a gap in the market on routes where corporate fliers are the most disgruntled.
In some cases, fliers have had to put up with poor service, efficiency and flexibility, but still pay business class fares.
"Business aviation is introducing a whole new range of products to draw people in at the bottom end of the market, who may eventually work their way up," Kate Sarsfield from Flight International magazine says.
Launched last February, Geneva-based Club Airways flies to Paris Le Bourget and London City Airport. It also has weekend summer flights to Nice, St. Tropez and Sardinia.
"I think the biggest part (of this service) is peace of mind and knowing that you can arrive about 10-15 minutes before," Schwab says.
"Once you arrive at an airport to take a regular flight, you are always thinking -- 'what is going to happen, how long is the line going to be'?"
Club Airways now has over 1,500 members, an annual fee of $2,000, with corporate membership running up to $20,000.
They are not the only airline focused on this type of traveler. Lufthansa has also been focusing on premium services for the last 20 months.
It runs a business-class only service linking Germany with the U.S. Planes with only 48 seats run the Dusseldorf-Chicago and Munich-Newark routes. The airline has also opened a luxury lounge at Frankfurt airport.
And Swiss International Air Lines is launching a business service between Zurich and New York this month.
In the future, City Airlines plans to introduce business flights to Milan, Zurich, Rome, Frankfurt and Munich. However, one question in Europe is airport access for business aircrafts.
"There is an issue here; operators argue that they can no longer get into the likes of Heathrow, London and other main hubs at peak times," Sarsfield says.
"They are calling for more relief airports, greater access to relief airports and good standards at relief airports."