Re TAP
Manchester is in a highly tricky situation here.
Given the mix of both legacy and Lo Cost this type of scenario is always likely and we have trodden this path with Madrid.
The mix of traffic is both a blessing and a curse !
We could of course see it a major positive, 15 flights a week to a European Capital, we should rejoice .....if it can be made to work..... at least the timings are reasonable !
That said I would question MAGs pricing policy re Lisbon. It must be competitive if RYR feel they can muscle in !
Should MAG have a framework in place that by some convoluted formulae protects the incumbent that was bold enough to both start and indeed invest in the route in the first place ....?
Maybe they should but it also has to take account of frequency/timings etc
If a secondary airline is prepared to pay highly prohibitive premium charges then presumably the belief would be that the market is robust enough to support two carriers.
Maybe a grace period should also be in place ?
Clearly this will not work where there are two carriers on present routes which I guess would open it up to a challenge BUT going forward what are the options available ?
Whilst it sounds draconian in my view there has to be a framework that protects an airlines investment on what might be perceived as a "fragile" route.
It should also depend on frequency and timings of course, what is most valuable to the NWest market, Legacy or locost ?
Jet2 feature Vienna this year, fantastic news, but if "Austrian" then came along and proposed a double daily morning/evening I suspect most would prefer the latter !
What then, should JET2 cry foul , its a dilemma the suits need to sort quickly ?
Airport City appears to be steaming ahead, (based on the business pages of the MEN) those customers want double daily to European markets so we can ill afford to lose TAP.
Madrid should have been a lesson we cannot just have a free for all but squaring the circle will be a delicate balancing act !