Originally Posted by
johnirvine
Aegean still do not get it with the pricing of business class fares. Even the dimmest employee in their revenue management section must surely understand that, in the early period after flight lockdown ends, it will be necessary to fly with middle-seat blocking in economy class. Business service will also likely be curtailed, with meals pre-loaded using single packaged trays (similar to kosher meals). As a result, the price differential between economy and business class will clearly need to be reduced to attract customers, at least up to late summer this year. LH Group understand this well but of course Aegean are again behind the curve. Yesterday, I tried to book a return business class fare from LCA to BER for May 29th - June 4th (the earliest dates that I believe flights will operate). Aegean demanded a whopping €946 while Lufthansa wanted only €378! Since at present, I am only willing to sit in seat 1A or 1F of intra-European flights (wearing a mask and gloves), the Lufthansa fare makes it economically viable to do this. I would not give Aegean a cent of taxpayer's bailout money unless they first learn how to take better advantage of market opportunities to earn their own money!
Let's start with pricing. Yes i agree with you that the price is quite expensive but then i usually cannot find any competitive J fares with Aegean to be honest so i do not fly with them in J. In the same time i do not understand why you are expecting from Aegean to lower their price. Their flight loads are pretty good, it is a profitable company and their J class is usually quite busy.
This is a very common thing among airline fares. Lots of prices do not make sense to someone but if you see the wide picture you will see that there are many reasons. I assume Aegean is happy with the prices they offer for J and the percentage of people buying it. I personally do not.
On the other hand i am not expecting for any airline to lower their fares and for sure i do not think that any airline has lost it. Can i give you some more examples?
Avianca fares from Bogota to countries around south america are usually £400 pounds for return. Cheapest one and sometimes we are talking for a 1:30 flight. By the way i am talking for economy class. Competition for these routes is minimal if so.
BA flights to Asia are usually stupidly expensive but they offer a direct service. I flew to Singapore with Qatar from Oslo in J for £1.200 all together including the London to Oslo flight while for the same month BA wanted £1.400 only for premium economy!
I can give you thousands of examples like that. My suggestion is vote with your wallet. You do not like the price. Do not pay it.