PREMIUM AIR


WORDS GARY NOAKES


As Aer Lingus rebrands with a more ‘high-end’ look, and other airlines rethink first, business and premium economy strategies, travel buyers are also weighing up the worth of flying premium class


S buyingbusinesstravel.com


OME AIRLINES JUST EMBODY “PREMIUM TRAVEL”, while some have broader appeal, which is why Aer Lingus recently spent months mulling over how to change its livery to suit its place in the market.


Its new colours and fonts represent Aer


Lingus’s first image update since 1996, and its revamp is a reminder that the world has changed a great deal over the past 23 years, particularly for business travel. The Irish carrier is attempting to tread a fine line between convincing premium travellers the airline is corporate enough in its offering, while retaining a value message for the majority of its customers who fly in economy. It’s partly about the size of the lettering, according to Dara McMahon, the carrier’s director of marketing and digital experience: “Too much and it says low cost; too small and it says full service.” The airline’s previous jolly green livery “communicated it would get you to Ireland, but it would not get you to New York”, according to its research. Hence the change in livery towards something that suits both types of passenger.


STANDING OUT


Back in 1996, during Aer Lingus’s last re-brand, there would have been no such dilemma – there were far fewer carriers pitching for high-end premium business. It was in 1995 that flat beds first appeared


2019 MARCH/APRIL 73


on British Airways, but just in first class. BA’s Club World, which brought flat beds and decent sleep to business class, only began to revolutionise the industry from 1999. Nowadays, this is the norm, leaving airlines puzzling over how to differentiate themselves to appeal to premium travellers. Most low-cost, long-haul carriers are currently focusing on premium economy. In contrast, Aer Lingus claims its business class product is up there with the best on its transatlantic routes and “tends to be one-third of the price of a comparable business class product”, according to chief operating officer Mike Rutter.


Aer Lingus has updated its image with new livery


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