FR's primary success has been based re-selling Boeing aeroplanes. We now know that avenue has been closed to them, Boeing got wise and Airbus are ready not to be mugged. Their second success was based on traffic growth and hub expansion. The current climate has stalled their business model.
Is this the business model that added 18% more passengers in the last quarter ?
Selling on aircraft is a nice earner but its primary success is moving people.
Worse still, the Lo-Co market is even showing signs of saturation. There aren't many places left FR can open new bases and there aren't many places where they don't fly to already. One of MOL's new options is to go acquisitive with an existing Lo-Co airline and I agree with his synopsys that Aer Lingus is currently a basket case.
Italy has 60 Million domestic passenger journeys per year and Ryanair is only really starting to expand there over last 12 months.
In France it has pretty much left domestic travel alone because of the AF supporting policies but as shown on its MRS - Lille services it is getting the yields and will continue to open up opportunities.
Low Cost market is in Maturity in some countries but only scrating the surface in others and has probably 6-7 years before reaching that stage across Europe as a whole.