Originally Posted by
andymcdonnell
Looking at random dates in May, July & Nov, AC, TP, SK, UA, LX , LH & even TK are offering sub €1800 fares (some sub €1600) to both east & west coast. On the same dates, anything with BA/AA/IB is over €2k, in most cases +€2200.
With EI joining the joint venture, is this some kind of protectionism?
It's more like oligopolistic behaviour, which is the way the markets react (and want to react) if competitors are happy with their market share and there are barriers to entry. But it should be said that a lot of focus on the regulators will be on economy fares rather than business fares, and thanks to Norse, Icelandair and Magic there is real competition there, some fares are close to historic low levels after adjusting for inflation.