Originally Posted by airbourne
In terms of selling the EI brand, all you have to do is look at the sponsorship of things in Ireland and the UK by airlines. Oh great, EI can sponsor the Capital London breakfast show for the LGW launch, but Emirates will sponsor a premier football team! I feel when I look at Aer Lingus, its all about the short game with them. If it is not an instant hit, they pull it. Start small, build and develop. Sometimes I wonder is the planning done with a blindfold and a pin the tail on the donkey?????
Airlines don't sponsor events/teams/venues for the sake of it, they do it to increase brand awareness and advertise their business. Aer Lingus clearly saw a need to do so with their LGW route and sponsored the Capital FM breakfast show which has been a huge success for them. Similarly they sponsored the Belfast Giants so as to increase their brand awareness in the North. And to advertise their business product, they've sponsored the breakfast with Ivan & Chris show on Newstalk.
Look at Etihad, they knew they had to promote their brand here as they were virtually unknown when they first started their Abu Dhabi route and what did they do? They became the main sponsor of the hurling championship. Their CEO being a hurling man probably helped as well, but they didn't just sponsor it for no reason. Aer Lingus don't need to do this because their brand is already very well known in Ireland.
Originally Posted by airbourne
Do you remember the excitement last year when there was talk of a return to the west coast? There was interest alright, but not from EI. Does anyone want to take a bet that we might get UA operating a SFO-DUB route in 2012/3. What is the smallest aircraft type in UA's fleet that could do a non stop service and turn a few quid?
There may well be a lot of interest in the route, but theres not enough people willing to pay the necessary fares in order for a west coast route to be profitable. Thats the only thing holding Aer Lingus back, the market is clearly there, but the yields aren't.