Originally Posted by
EI-BUD
Interesting wording. Aer Lingus at the face of it were an ideal brand to fulfill this role. Their cost base and value carrier status gave them a sporting chance of success, however, easyJet set out on a protracted bid to drive the airline out of LGW, and took the threat very seriously adding multiple new routes that EI was launching in an instant.
It was a worthwhile experiment. Knowing when to cut and run is not a failure in my eyes, it's the right thing to do.
It wasn't the right thing to do. Anyone with aviation experience would tell you that trying to launch in someone's strongest / highest earning base where you have zero brand recognition and without a unique USP is doomed to failure.
What was Aer Lingus's offering ? Cheaper than U2 ? More flights ? More options ? in short it was not able to offer something that was not already been covered by someone else. A me too offering was never going to be able to compete unless you had a billion to throw at it and take 3 years to get there.
It was a colossal waste of money because aside from Ex Pats heading back to Ireland the reality is Aer Lingus has got zero brand recognition in London. It serves its core market well, trying to be something, that it clearly is not, was always a lost cause.