whiskeyflyer
...but most callers it seems couldn't give a damn as long as they got cheap flights ...
Yep - you got it!!! The experince of RyanAir is the one they will be drawing on.
Obviously they are buying market share at the moment with low prices and everyone does that. Remember when VS started on the LHR route? They soon found that demand was so high that their prices could drift upwards to meet SA/BA drifitng (slightly) down. Thereafter they can all rise together. This process is seen in almost all countries and I expect that we shall see it all again.
In the UK, where the LCC market is very established and has been through a round of consolidation already, we see that the LCCs such as EZY and FR are not always the lowest cost on a route. When you pick flights for comparison - then the LCC is always cheaper but when you pick flights for real (ie when you HAVE to travel on certain dates and times) then you may find surprises. The true LCCs build market share for those going on holiday who can book months ahead and then make money out of those who are travelling in the short term. Naturally, it will not be possible to see how Mango is actually doing until a year has gone by and the start up offers and the competing offers have happened and gone away.
I agree that the financing of a soft loan is suspicious but it is a battle their competitors cannot win. One can only presume that they have avoided using SAX for this due to historic contracts and seniority.
As to the paint job ... clever but VERY expensive. Expensive to design and to execute. I take this as another example of them having too much easy money as a true LCC does not waste that much money. One possibility is that they will scale it down in a couple of years time and only the first half dozen a/c will have this livery. This would also allow them to write down the high cost of this artwork to start-up costs.