Flybe welcomes BA's no frills announcement
11.01.06
As one of Europe's leading low fares airlines, Flybe has welcomed BA's announcement that it will move closer to the no frills model on many of its short haul flights. However, as an airline that has successfully made the change from traditional carrier to a full low cost airline, Flybe sees BA's latest move as a halfhearted superficial approach to low cost travel that will not be sustainable.
Flybe says that BA needs to 'fully address their inherent cost base, as well as a full fleet rationalisation. It adds that previous attempts to mix a full service legacy model with low fares have proved unsuccessful, as seen most recently with Duo and Debonair.
Flybe expects little effect against its model from BA's announcement, saying that it has 'a strong track record for outperforming BA in passenger carryings and number of passengers on head to head services'. It includes market share figures on a number of routes to back up this claim:
Edinburgh - Southampton: 64%
Glasgow - Southampton: 67%
Birmingham - Glasgow 54%
Manchester - Southampton 57%
Mike Rutter, Chief Commercial Officer, Flybe says 'This move highlights BA's inability to fully implement the model, as it must address both its cost and fleet base. Flybe has consistently surpassed BA on head to head services and has hugely increased passenger numbers from routes that BA has pulled out of, a great example is from Belfast City to Glasgow where we have achieved a 125% increase in passenger levels.
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