So what did you do at 18

Well if you are this guy you would say. Start an airline From the Liverpool Daily Post.

New airline chief waiting for his A-Level results Jul 18 2005 By Kate Mansey, Daily Post Staff Daniel Reilly promoting Nexus Airways at Liverpool Airport A TEENAGER dubbed the next Richard Branson has launched his own airline from his bedroom in Maghull. Daniel Reilly has not even received his A-level results yet but has launched a low-cost airline which will fly from Liverpool to the Canary Islands with flights costing as little as £50 for a one-way journey. Tickets for Nexus Airlines, which has been financed by investors in Yorkshire, go on sale at the end of next week. Daniel, a former pupil of Deyes High School, Maghull, said: "I have been planning this for two years and now it is about to become a reality. It's really exciting." The teenager, who lives with mother Nicola Reilly in Brook Road, Maghull, said: "I started flying lessons two years ago and my ambition was to become a pilot. "The idea of setting up my own airline started as a joke when my friends said I should charge to fly people abroad. I put together a business plan and contacted a financial adviser and now it is really happening." The airline, which will lease a Boeing 737 Jet from Palma-based Futura International Airlines, will fly twice a week to Tenerife, and once a week to Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. But Daniel will be staying firmly on the ground in a managerial role as all the fully trained crew and other staff will be contracted out to established aviation agencies. A regular holidaymaker in Tenerife, Daniel got the idea when he was visiting his family's second home on the island. Daniel said: "Every time we went out there it was costing around £300 for a return flight which is ridiculous and I noticed there was no low-cost alternative. The British market seemed really far behind in this as Germany has had a service for years." If successful, Nexus Airways will be the first of its kind in the country and a first for Liverpool. The first four-hour-long flight for the no-frills airline is due to depart on November 1 this year. Robin Tudor, corporate affairs manager for John Lennon Airport, said: "Clearly we are delighted to see any new airline operating from John Lennon Airport. This would be a first for Liverpool and perhaps the whole country. We have already received quite a few calls from people interested in the flights." Daniel has now teamed up with Luton-based travel agency Travel Extras Worldwide which will provide hotels, car hire and insurance services for Nexus passengers. Jayne Jackson, marketing and PR director for the company, which currently works with BMI Baby and FlyBe, said: "We will be working with Nexus Airways to supply any passengers with all other ancillary products." Daniel, an only child, receives his A-level results in Business Studies, English Language, Sociology, and General Studies at the end of August but has shunned university to be an entrepreneur. He started the airline with the help of his mother's partner, Michael Smith of Thornton, Bradford. Daniel said: "From the age of 16 I knew university wasn't for me. I just wanted to get out into the real world. I don't know if I will be the next Richard Branson but I wouldn't say no. "I hope this time next year the business will be doing well enough to be able to expand to other destinations."