p14-15 news May 8 6/5/09 22:17 Page 15
ttglive.com
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Aer Lingus’s loss was the passengers’ gain, as
there was plenty of room to stretch out. Service battle in the skies;
The 29 to 30-inch seat pitch is the same as
easyJet’s but the leather seats give it the feel of a
full-service carrier.
marketing battle on the ground
EasyJet’s 156-seat A319 had 125 people on
board – an 80% load factor. More healthy for the
EasyJet is ‘rattled’; Aer Lingus is ‘no cause for concern’. The
airline but more cramped for me. Seats and the
carriers’ combative bosses spell out strategies to Chris Gray
interior generally were looking tired and cheaper
than on the Aer Lingus aircraft.
AER LINGUS this week EasyJet believes its size
Catering released a series of at Gatwick means Aer
Aer Lingus’s full-service illusion is broken by the television, press and Lingus’s arrival is little
catering service. Its Skycafe menu looks more outdoor adverts to more than an irritant that
upmarket than easyJet’s “boutique and bistro”, coincide with the launch it can happily see off.
but it’s much the same product. of the final two of its six EasyJet’s takeover of GB
At £3.50, Aer Lingus’s bacon baguette is just Gatwick routes going head Airways has made it the
cheaper than easyJet’s £3.85 version. Enda Corneille to head with easyJet. Paul Simmons biggest carrier at Gatwick
But a bottle of wine or a beer are the same at Marketing for the first by “quite some margin”,
£3.50 each. Most prices, from a £2 Carte Noire group of routes earlier this year reached a high said regional general manager Paul Simmons.
coffee to a £10 teddy bear, are exactly the same. (or low) point when Aer Lingus attempted to It has 39 aircraft based at the airport and
get 999 semi-nude people to pose in central passenger numbers have risen to 9.6 million.
Crew London to publicise its £9.99 starting fares.
Aer Lingus’s crew were new to the no-frills game Routes planned
of selling everything onboard to passengers and Advertising drive Simmons said its launch last month of routes to
were a little uncomfortable about it, so there was Those fares have now gone, to be replaced by Vienna, Munich and Zurich – competing with
no hard sell. Again, good for the passenger, but prices from £24.99, but Aer Lingus corporate Aer Lingus’s services – had been planned for
not necessarily for Aer Lingus’s ancillary revenue. affairs director Enda Corneille said marketing some time and was not a specific response to
EasyJet’s chief steward was practising for a for all the routes – Malaga, Faro, Nice, Vienna, the arrival of the Irish flag-carrier.
career in stand-up and his wisecracks as Munich and Zurich – would remain as energetic. But he pointed out that when Aer Lingus
passengers came onboard had two women sitting EasyJet believes its rival, which issued a went head to head with easyJet in Belfast early
close to me in hysterics. One vowed always to fly profits warning last week, will come to regret last year the Irish carrier ended up dropping
easyJet because of his performance. the expense of its television advertising. four routes, and he suggested that perhaps the
The crew were less smooth and less polished But Corneille said easyJet’s criticism same thing may happen at Gatwick.
than Aer Lingus’s, but many people clearly like reflected how it had been taken aback by the
easyJet crews’ friendly informality. challenge from Aer Lingus. Service standards
“EasyJet’s response to us has been very EasyJet’s load factors on the head-to-head
Routes and pricing muted. We have crept into their house and routes were averaging 87%, he said, but admit-
Aer Lingus announced in December that in April it stolen their lunch. Customers have responded ted that yields were “coming under pressure”.
would start flying from Gatwick to Malaga, Nice, to the new kid on the block,” he said. “The routes were obvious destinations to add
Faro, Vienna, Munich and Zurich. The first three “EasyJet launched routes to Zurich, Munich as part of our join-the-dots strategy. We will
services duplicated existing easyJet routes. and Vienna in response to us, which shows they compete strongly with them within the rules of
In February, easyJet responded by announcing were rattled.” the game as we did in Belfast, where they
it would fly to Munich, Zurich and Vienna from added routes like Amsterdam and then were
April 20. Gatwick goal forced to pull them,” said Simmons.
Prices vary but a test search on May 5 for a Corneille said Aer Lingus had to spend on “We regard Aer Lingus as a competitor but no
flight to Vienna on Friday, June 5, to Vienna and marketing to become established as a carrier cause for concern. One thing we will do is point
coming back on Sunday, June 7, found Aer Lingus flying leisure routes from Gatwick to Europe. A out the service differences between us and the
on £134.95 and easyJet on £120.98, both including straw poll of passengers on TTG’s easyJet flight competition. Aer Lingus’s hand bag allowance is
taxes and charges. from Vienna to Gatwick suggested he has a point, 6kg, Ryanair’s is 10kg but we have no limit.”
as none knew Aer Lingus operated the route. EasyJet also plans to emphasise its onboard
Verdict Corneille said it will take some time to get the service. The introduction of Starbucks coffee
Little to separate the two. If pricing and times carrier known in the UK market, but added that this month is part of a strategy to position the
were the same, Aer Lingus’s assigned seating and load factors so far had been in the mid-70s. airline as the Sainsbury’s rather than the Aldi
more comfortable seats would be my choice. But “The model is all about volume so anything of no-frills aviation.
easyJet’s crew was more fun, and if you don’t below 75% you’re not happy with,” he said. Simmons is sceptical of Aer Lingus’s attempt
mind paying £6 for Speedy Boarding you can take Corneille added that 270,000 people had to transform itself at Gatwick from a legacy
your pick of seats. booked seats on flights up to July, so there airline to a no-frills carrier. “You have to be one
As timings on the Vienna route are virtually clearly was demand, and those customers may thing or another. We are a low-cost airline first
identical, it all comes down to price. have come from easyJet. and foremost and always will be,” he said.
08.05.2009 15
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