Airport Express announced today it has joined 39 independent airport shuttle operators in the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, France, Italy, Scotland and Spain to form the world’s largest ground transportation company, GO Airport Shuttle.
Serving 110 airports from Kahului Airport in Maui, Hawaii to Charles de Gaulle Airport in France, GO boasts a fleet of 3,765 vehicles, carrying almost 29 million passengers annually.
The company will continue to be locally owned and operated, but Airport Express’ familiar red, white and blue vans and motor coaches are being converted to a new green and white GO identity. Each participating operator is converting its vehicles as well.
A key component of the new company’s business model is a central Web-based reservation system, www.goairportshuttle.com, which also launches today. Through it, customers can conveniently visit one Web site to book door-to-door transportation to and from both departure and destination airports, or they can call one phone number 1.877.544.GoGo (4646). In addition, they’ll now be able to accumulate frequent rider points on their ground transportation as they do for other travel-related expenses.
“The GO concept responds to a growing demand in the market for a single-source ground transportation company,” says John McCarthy, newly-elected president of GO Airport Shuttle and president of Continental Air Transport in Chicago, which operates the newly named GO Airport Express.
The company’s next largest competitor serves 19 airports – all in the United States. GO Airport Shuttle, organized as a closely held corporation, is owned and operated by a core group of 40 GO operating companies which must adhere to the same set of operating standards. It is licensing the use of the GO identity and reservation system to the other companies.
The new company is an outgrowth of GroundNet, a consortium of airport transportation companies founded in 1993. Continental Air Transport was a founding member.
While positioning itself as a global company, GO Airport Express and all local operators that comprise GO Airport Shuttle will remain independently owned and managed.
“Chicago residents and visitors will still receive the high level of service they have come to rely on in our 153 years of business. Additionally, the GO Airport Shuttle brand means customers will receive that same quality of service in every location,” says McCarthy. “When you go with GO, the boss is always nearby to make sure the passenger experience is comfortable, affordable and on time.”
GO Airport Shuttle provides shared-ride transportation service to and from 110 airports around the world. Reservations can be made online at www.goairportshuttle.com or by calling 877.544.GoGo (4646).
Founded in 1853 as the Parmelee Transportation Company, GO Airport Express offers door-to-door services between Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports, downtown Chicago, as well as most Chicago neighborhoods and its surrounding suburbs. For more information visit www.airportexpress.com.