I think EZY should be very very worried about new competitors like Wizzair as they soon will be able to undercut EZY prices and offer a better product at the same time.
If you got a good product, clean and state of the art aircraft, a nice paintjob, a large homemarket and low costs, the sky is the limit in Europe!
Maybe Wizzair does not have a flamboyant and charismatic CEO (neither does EZY at this moment by the way!) but donīt underestimate the potential power of the eastern european market, as low cost is the only kind of air travel that most people are able to afford. The donīt NEED British media coverage or British travellers on their airplanes in order to be successful.
Problem is that too many people like colegate think that the UK is the center of the universe.
Look at EZY for example. Their aircraft are dirty and old (especially at STN!) and even the new -700īs look old and dirty after only a couple of months because of a lack of cleaning.
The EZY paint job is horrible! You might say "thatīs not important, the ticket price is what counts for the pax" but believe me it IS important! People want a nice clean aircraft and a the paintjob is one of the aspects. If the paintjob looks ugle and the toilet stinks, passengers will have a VERY negative impression.
So far the EZY formula has worked well within the UK because (sorry to break the news) Britain runs not just one hour, but about one decade behind the rest of Europe. Mainland Europeans regard the UK as a country where everything is OLD, EXPENSIVE and DIRTY. Most Brittons donīt seem to mind at all. As a matter of fact, they LIKE it old and outdated and donīt seem to notice the potholes in the streets, the desolate housing blocks or the dirty carpet on the toilet floor. They donīt even mind sitting in an old and dirty 737-300 with an orange website written on the side of the fuselage.
The rest of Europe is a bit different though. Sure, people like to stavel cheap, but at the same time they want to sit in a clean aircraft and they are a bit more concerned about things like image, design and style. Iīm doubtfull if the EZY formula will work just as well on the mainland as it has in the UK, with competitors like Wizzair, Germanwings, V Bird, unless they become REALLY REALLY cheap. Like Ryanair....
