LEEDS 5

[harrogate]

It's gonna be interesting.

The reaction in the City is purely knee-jerk. There's not much intelligence behind that, other than casual uninformed whispers about some airport up north.

I don't think that Jet2 can hope for brand loyalty on a grand scale. But then people really don't like the Ryanair stealth fees these days. Booking on their website really is a nonsense for the uninitiated, as all the fees start plopping on top of the fare, and taking the total cost to something not far off a Jet2 fare price.

I've been doing quite a lot of work with youth brands and young audiences in the travel sector lately and it's interesting to read the resentment a lot of them have for Ryanair, even though low cost has long been their overriding motive when looking to travel. The travel brands I've been working on (both new and established) are starting to see that it's becoming less about low cost alone for this audience, with more of them wanting a bit more for their money, and they're prepared to pay for that. You only have to read the online discussions on youth travel websites about Air Asia's longhaul services to KL and Oz to see that a large proportion of them still prefer to pay more for a better quality product, even when cost is still a massive consideration.

Like I say - interesting times ahead at LBA. I don't think Jet2 will run, because if they run from Leeds then they're just avoiding the fight. If they can't fight it out at Leeds, then where else can they expect to fight it out and win against an airline that's got 34 bases and expanding? Ryanair will just hunt them down.

The up-side is that punters in the Leeds area are gonna benefit in the short-term. But short-term is not what the airport needs right now, ahead of critical expansion. People talk about the Jet2 monopoly at Leeds, but if they're killed off by Ryanair, then inevitibly a Ryanair monopoly will prevail, and rest assured they'll spit their dummies on a much grander scale should they not get their own way on future issues that aren't compatible with the objectives of Ryanair, but which may be in the interest of the airport and surrounding conurbations.

Personally, I think it's a shame that Ryanair have elected to go for the same routes as Jet2. Competition is great, but the airport's growth potential has been compromised compared to if Ryanair had chosen to try largely new routes. But it's a question of conflicting commercial objectives of individual airlines, rather than doing what would be best for the airport and area as a whole, which is unsurprising.

Ryanair is not the steamroller they once were, though. They've failed in quite a few expansions in recent years, so you never know. I for one will be watching with interest.