Air Berlin Files for Bankruptcy
Aug 16, 2017, 2:50 am
#106
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,254
I think this creates a nice opening for IAG to make TXL a LEVEL base, it's probably also the right kind of market in terms of yields. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see one of these announced as a new LEVEL route soon.
Aug 16, 2017, 4:13 am
#107
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Germany
Programs: *G, OWS
Posts: 214
But if you look again, you will see that the UK leads the list of "International intra-EU-28 transport", with 137.8 million passengers - fully one-third of all international (i.e. cross-border) trips made from one EU member state to another. (Spain is second with 118 million, while Germany is third with 103 million). So, one-third of all international passengers travelling within the EU depart* from the UK. (*the table below is determined by departure declarations only, to eliminate double-counting on the arrival side)
(The only metric on which the UK market lags is on domestic journeys. Here, the UK comes only 5th, behind (respectively) Spain, Italy, France and Germany)
(The only metric on which the UK market lags is on domestic journeys. Here, the UK comes only 5th, behind (respectively) Spain, Italy, France and Germany)
Aug 16, 2017, 4:40 am
#108
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Great Britain
Programs: Air: QR Silver. BA Silver Emirates, Hotels: CC Gold, IHG Spire AMB, Hilton Diamond.
Posts: 1,487
The only One World member to fly to Curacao I think (or am I wrong ?)
Have flights to Curacao booked using TopBonus points in November.......watching this situation closely whilst biting fingernails !!
Have flights to Curacao booked using TopBonus points in November.......watching this situation closely whilst biting fingernails !!
Aug 16, 2017, 4:54 am
#109
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SOF
Programs: A3 Gold, IHG Platinum, Marriott Silver
Posts: 849
IAG only really cares about intra-Europe flights connecting to longhaul ones because that's where most of the money is to be made; the intra-Europe point-to-point market is fiercely competitive and increasing impossible for a full service airline with a high cost base to remain competitive in. It's probably entirely logical for IAG not to focus on this market.
Aug 16, 2017, 5:47 am
#110
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,254
I'm sorry but I have to disagree with that. Where I'm located - SOF in Eastern Europe - LH Group and a bunch of *A carriers provide daily flights, quite often multiple daily frequencies. How is it that all these full service carriers can make it work and the IAG airlines can't? Doesn't seem logical. London is one of the top destinations and served by multiple carriers - yet, BA only offers 1 flight a day. The airport is also served by several low cost carriers - EasyJet, Wizzair and Ryanair. And all - full-service and low-cost seem to co-exist - LH Group offers 4 daily flights to Vienna, 3 to Munich and 2 to Frankfurt. They had a flight to Duesseldorf before they switched it over to Eurowings. It's quite possible for a full service airline to be competitive. Low-costs generally fly to secondary airports and that's why I usually avoid them. The truth is IAG can definitely compete - it just chooses not to. There are 5 airlines flying to London with 7 daily flights that I counted - it's the top market and BA only provides 1 daily flight midday with inconvenient connections. But I'll stop here as I think I've gone quite off topic.
From checking, Lufthansa Group has no direct competition on the MUC route, limited competition to FRA (one Wizzair flight a day, plus the odd Bulgaria Air flight every now and then) and only the odd Bulgaria Air flight as competition to VIE. Give it a few years until Ryanair/Easyjet/Norwegian move in on these routes as they have done from LON-SOF and we'll see if Lufthansa still has the same number of frequencies.
Aug 16, 2017, 5:55 am
#111
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: HEL
Programs: lots of shiny metal cards
Posts: 14,106
Nothing from France, Italy, Benelux, Poland, Scandinavia, Balkans, KundK (Austria-Hungary-Slovakia-Czech-Slovenia-Croatia)
Aug 16, 2017, 6:45 am
#112
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,742
Remember that the orginal statement went "UK is 10 times smaller market than the continental Europe".
Whether or not you want to discount Heathrow (for no good reason!), the statement is clearly and completely inaccurate!
Aug 16, 2017, 6:47 am
#113
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,742
AA flies there from both Charlotte and Miami with year-round service.
Aug 16, 2017, 6:55 am
#114
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,742
Nevertheless, the "shorthaul" traffic from these regions that doesn't want to connect to the oneworld hubs doesn't seem to make a compelling business case for oneworld or any oneworld airline to move to secure such routes. Such traffic wasn't sufficient to keep AB afloat, and probably appeals more to the likes of easyjet who are in discussions with AB, LH and the German government.
Aug 16, 2017, 7:13 am
#115
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Great Britain
Programs: Air: QR Silver. BA Silver Emirates, Hotels: CC Gold, IHG Spire AMB, Hilton Diamond.
Posts: 1,487
Aug 16, 2017, 7:19 am
#116
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Great Britain
Programs: Air: QR Silver. BA Silver Emirates, Hotels: CC Gold, IHG Spire AMB, Hilton Diamond.
Posts: 1,487
Now I'm concerned on two fronts; Will my flight go ahead and if it doesn't what on earth will I be refunded ?!
Aug 16, 2017, 7:31 am
#117
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: Latinpass Million Miler. BA Gold.
Posts: 3,544
Actually LHR has lower connecting percentages than hubs such as AMS or FRA for the very simple reason that it is severely slot constrained, and has a local O&D market which is much stronger and provides a higher yield than the connecting traffic. Why waste seats on connecting low yield passengers when you can carry higher yield local passengers?
Aug 16, 2017, 7:41 am
#118
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,742
Actually LHR has lower connecting percentages than hubs such as AMS or FRA for the very simple reason that it is severely slot constrained, and has a local O&D market which is much stronger and provides a higher yield than the connecting traffic. Why waste seats on connecting low yield passengers when you can carry higher yield local passengers?
Schiphol had 24 million, 37.8% of the total.
Meanwhile, FRAPort says the following about Frankfurt airport:
Originally Posted by FRAPort
With about 55 percent of all passengers using Frankfurt as a connecting hub, FRA also has the highest transfer rate among the major European hubs.
Aug 16, 2017, 8:05 am
#120
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,742
Always a pleasure!
I was fascinated to discover that BA takes more passengers to/from AMS than does AF!!! [That implies that London is a bigger destination than all of France. Yes, AF/France will receive some of KLM's much larger passenger numbers, but so too does KLM carry far more pax to the UK than does BA, given KL's greater geographical spread] But Vueling is the top IAG airline at AMS!!!
I was fascinated to discover that BA takes more passengers to/from AMS than does AF!!! [That implies that London is a bigger destination than all of France. Yes, AF/France will receive some of KLM's much larger passenger numbers, but so too does KLM carry far more pax to the UK than does BA, given KL's greater geographical spread] But Vueling is the top IAG airline at AMS!!!