Originally Posted by Jack1985
Ryanair slashing there fares to London Stansted after easyJet's initial commencement of its Cork to London Gatwick route had minimal effect and easyJet had then increased their service from 2x Daily to 3x Daily. Francis is exactly right who with a brain in the CAA would think letting Ryanair directly compete with easyJet with a 2x Daily route to London Gatwick with 1p fares would see both continue to operate side by side? idiots is who decided they could and Cork could have been in a much better place if Ryanair's proposal was refused.
That makes no sense. You say Ryanair slashing their fares had minimal effect and then in the same post acknowledge that Ryanair slashing their fares forced easyJet off the route. And somehow that's the CAA's fault?
The CAA can't dictate to Ryanair what fares it can charge, or how it competes against other airlines. All it can do is facilitate airlines operating into Cork. So to blame the CAA for Ryanair's strategy is nonsense.
Originally Posted by Jack1985
Infact the CAA twice shot themselves in the foot, they also destroyed the Cork to Dublin market a route which would continue to operate today with a drastically lower frequency with RE, the lesson? Don't sell out strong performing routes to an ultra low cost carrier who will destroy the market and reduce your changes of growth. Imagine if Ryanair had not been granted incentives to fly to Dublin and London Gatwick? easyJet would most certainly have a base here and a Dublin route could still have been maintained.
What did you expect the CAA to do here? Ban Ryanair from flying to Dublin? We live in an open economy where companies are free to compete with each other. Until the government or the European Commission introduce legislation to ban below cost selling, then there's nothing wrong with Ryanair using this strategy to eliminate the competition.