Originally Posted by
Dannyboy39
Going back to the 1980s, prior to the liberalisation of the European aviation market, routes were dictated based on bilateral relations between different states. It allowed the big players, such as British Airways, to rule the roost in the UK airline market. It enabled, due to a lack of competition on key routes, to charge excessively high fares.
When the likes of easyJet and Ryanair started their hyper-aggressive expansions, national carriers became squeezed out on short haul and now struggle to compete and turn a profit.
Not so at all. There is a far greater BA operation nowadays between London (three different airports) and Europe, LCCs, APD, et al notwithstanding.