tristar500
Totally agree but look at the German market. It is fair to say that the GB/EIRE airlines dominate Europe.
We can see that alot of airlines within Europe operate from mulitple airports in different countries. ie) FRA, DUS, HAM, MUC, SXF etc. whereas foreign airlines serving the UK (except the massive airlines) only serve LON and not too many regional airports (MAN and maybe BHX/GLA/EDI). This is probably due to the size of airlines such as FR and EZY who offer a product unmatchable on price due to their size.
In Germany, AB seem to be making alot of the buying. An airline that was never a true 'LCC' has now expanded into the long haul by buying other airlines. Can anyone see EZY buying up BMI and Virgin to get their long haul up and running?! No. AB and LH will become the two only majors in Germany over the next couple of years but BA don't have the power of LH in their own market alot due to FR and U2 etc. The UK will never have two majors and little else. VS, BMI, BA, U2, FR, BE and others are going to be around for along time. Yes, there will be some consolidation just as there currently is (U2&GB/BE&BACON&LOGANAIR). The UK is alot more of an open market thankfully.
I just hope it stays that way....