Aer Lingus - 5
When I said this I meant EI would be better suited to the business customers rather than Easyjet.
U2 already have their brand well established and fraid they would be the choice first before EI.
A bit of advertising and initial low fares is not going to get many business people who fly changing V existing provider who they comfortable with.
I think EI is in for a kicking at LGW because U2 will keep the fares low on the the joint routes on the basis they can make it up elsewhere.
EI doesn't have that luxury as its Irish business has had a torrid 6 months, its transatlantic is bleeding badly.
Not to mention Aer Lingus have the advantage of a nicer and easier to use website. Easy's is just cluttered to the hilt!
Both have reasonable functionality which is a given after that its price and brand recognition.
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Think you need to look at BA statements showing how much the business market is dead and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
I have yet to meet anybody who flew an airline because they had a nice website
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flying_shortly
I could not disagree more regarding the U2/EI websites.
Aer Lingus advertises 'fares' on a day by day basis, but then adds on 'Taxes and Charges' which are at least the same amount again. You then get charged a further £5 it seems when you finally come round to book.
You also cannot see the times available on each day until you 'click through' to the next booking page, it simply shows you the cheapest on offer for the whole day. This makes it an absolute pain to compare flight times and prices day to day.
I find the EZY website significantly easier to navigate!
I could not disagree more regarding the U2/EI websites.
Aer Lingus advertises 'fares' on a day by day basis, but then adds on 'Taxes and Charges' which are at least the same amount again. You then get charged a further £5 it seems when you finally come round to book.
You also cannot see the times available on each day until you 'click through' to the next booking page, it simply shows you the cheapest on offer for the whole day. This makes it an absolute pain to compare flight times and prices day to day.
I find the EZY website significantly easier to navigate!
That won't give EI any indication of the market's viability at all. It's a different business model. Easy's and Ryan's pax numbers look good and that's the indicator I think EI will look at....
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IF someone is looking at taking over Ex BA routes and Building business passengers then looking at BA and what is happeneing to them is a very good indication which is what poster suggesting EI better than U2 on the business side.
If you wanted to book a certain time and date, you've only to click once to get that info. with Aer Lingus. The most important info. is presented quickly with Aer Lingus for the cost concious customer. Also, sports equipment is free with Aer Lingus where it's 18.50gbp with Easy.
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Sports equipment is not free with Aer Lingus, they charge £25.00 per item, per one way flight. There are plenty of advantages to flying with Aer Lingus but free sports equipment isn't one of them and neither is baggage as Aer Lingus have higher baggage charges as well.
The higher charges might not look so great for passengers but they will be an important factor for Aer Lingus at Gatwick as they make quite a bit of money from them.
The higher charges might not look so great for passengers but they will be an important factor for Aer Lingus at Gatwick as they make quite a bit of money from them.
Racedo,
Funny enough, EZY has in the last several years won the yearly business traveller award so it's apparently a company many business people like/choose to fly with!?
Johnrizzo,
About my statement of possible future base closures: Correct you would think EI knows it's gotta be a hard battle and cost a lot of money when starting up a new base etc.
However my concern lies with the future CEO who will take over the controls and he might not agree with the previous one who came up with these new bases idea.
When a new boss enters the arena and the company's cash-burn goes faster than a speeding bullet- he will choose or be forced to reduce his costs as his first move ASAP and that could be the end of LGW and maybe BFS.
The expansion plan isn't going as fast as planned either in LGW. I know of several guys who were about to start in the company and they have been put on hold using DUB crew instead. In fact DUB crew now cover 50% of the crews needed in LGW. This sounds to me like a plan for something that won't run in the longterm.
Funny enough, EZY has in the last several years won the yearly business traveller award so it's apparently a company many business people like/choose to fly with!?
Johnrizzo,
About my statement of possible future base closures: Correct you would think EI knows it's gotta be a hard battle and cost a lot of money when starting up a new base etc.
However my concern lies with the future CEO who will take over the controls and he might not agree with the previous one who came up with these new bases idea.
When a new boss enters the arena and the company's cash-burn goes faster than a speeding bullet- he will choose or be forced to reduce his costs as his first move ASAP and that could be the end of LGW and maybe BFS.
The expansion plan isn't going as fast as planned either in LGW. I know of several guys who were about to start in the company and they have been put on hold using DUB crew instead. In fact DUB crew now cover 50% of the crews needed in LGW. This sounds to me like a plan for something that won't run in the longterm.
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Sports equipment is not free with Aer Lingus, they charge £25.00 per item, per one way flight. There are plenty of advantages to flying with Aer Lingus but free sports equipment isn't one of them and neither is baggage as Aer Lingus have higher baggage charges as well.
Anyways, just from my point of view as a regular joe soap customer, I prefer Aer Lingus's website.... I have no connections with the company...
In fact DUB crew now cover 50% of the crews needed in LGW. This sounds to me like a plan for something that won't run in the longterm.
Funny enough, EZY has in the last several years won the yearly business traveller award so it's apparently a company many business people like/choose to fly with!?
People who fly BA would more likely fly EI if it replaced them on the route and BA communicated that EI replacing them but given BA are getting hammered on business this is not a route any sane airline would go down.
EI is trying to do LC with their own high cost structure.............recipe for burning lots of cash.
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''EI is trying to do LC with their own high cost structure.............recipe for burning lots of cash''
EI's costs in LGW and BFS are as low or lower than EZY. Local crew on local terms, and cheap airport costs.
EI pilots are crewing some LGW flights because LGW captains/f-o's are direct-entry so they cant be allowed to fly on there own from day 1
EI's costs in LGW and BFS are as low or lower than EZY. Local crew on local terms, and cheap airport costs.
EI pilots are crewing some LGW flights because LGW captains/f-o's are direct-entry so they cant be allowed to fly on there own from day 1
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Business class passengers are not flying impact severly on revenue.
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COKEMAN. What do you mean that 50% of EI aircraft are manned by Dublin base crew. Whether that's pilots or cabin crew it is way off. There is approx 1250 CC based in DUB, 150 based in ORK, 170 based in SNN, 45/50 based in LGW and 40 based in BFS. Approx 500 pilots based in DUB. 15 based in ORK, zero based in SNN, not sure about BFS and LGW pilot numbers but I can assure you that about 75-80% of aircraft are handled and operating ex DUB. There is one A330 based in SNN, 4 A320's based in ORK, 3 soon to be 2 based in BFS and 3 soon to be 8 based in LGW. the rest of the entire EI fleet is based in DUB (8 soon to be 7 A330's and about 40 A320's) and they are mostly operated by Dublin based pilots and cabin crew.
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But maybe business passengers who usually fly to Zürich with expensive British Airways are now changing over to cheap Aer Lingus to save money.
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All Cabin Crew are LGW based, approx 90 of them.
Majority of flights operated from LGW ( excluding the DUB flights) are crewed with a DUB based Capt, and an FO from LGW and a full LGW based Cabin Crew.
Majority of flights operated from LGW ( excluding the DUB flights) are crewed with a DUB based Capt, and an FO from LGW and a full LGW based Cabin Crew.
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Cork base
Does anyone know why the Cork Pilots continue to be rotated and are put up in local hotels? Surely it would make more sense for a cost concious airline to use pilots who live in the Cork area to fly the Cork based 320's.