A 23-year-old who left school aged 15 could become one of the youngest entrepreneurs in the aviation industry.

Adam Dovey, of London Road, Brighton, is preparing to launch Nexus Airways with his 19-year-old business partner Daniel Reilly.

He plans to start off flying between Liverpool and the Canary Islands and then expand with flights between Liverpool and Heathrow.

If the short haul routes perform well the pair hope to launch an upmarket long haul service between Gatwick Airport and Shanghai this autumn.

Mr Dovey said: "I didn't go to university. I left school at 15 and worked in several sales jobs for a mobile phone company."

Later he was a health care assistant working with psychiatric patients.

He launched a company in June 2005, training carers to deal with violent patients, and met Mr Reilly at a young business people's networking group in London later that year.

He said: "I'm bringing a sales and marketing background to the airline."

Mr Reilly spent £50,000 launching Nexus last summer but the airline never got off the ground because a backer, Luton-based company Travel Extras, went bankrupt before the maiden voyage.

Passengers who had paid for seats were offered flights on rival airlines' routes operating out of Manchester Airport instead.

Now, with Mr Dovey's backing, Mr Reilly is set to relaunch Nexus. He said it would cost another £50,000 to get the airline running.

Mr Dovey said: "What happened before was no reflection on Daniel's ability."

Most of the money is going towards paying the Civil Aviation Authority for a licence which will act as an insurance policy for passengers if the airline goes out of business.

The rest will pay for the lease agreements on the airline's Boeing 737 aircraft.

Mr Reilly said: "It was hugely frustrating not to launch last year but this time around there should not be a problem.

"It's all down to the passengers. If we get enough bookings there's no reason the airline shouldn't work."

Mr Dovey and Mr Reilly are the latest in a series of young entrepreneurs hoping to start their own airlines and they are confident they will be the first to succeed.

Monday, February 27, 2006