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Low-cost carriers to win more short-haul market share

February 23, 2005 |

Low-cost airlines will win substantial market share from leisure carriers in the European short-haul market in future.

Low-cost airlines will win substantial market share from leisure carriers in the European short-haul market in future, forcing the latter to change their business models or concentrate on medium- and long-haul routes.

That was the main forecast from experts gathered at the 8th Hamburg Aviation Conference from February 17-18. The large no-frills carriers were drawing ever more consumers to their websites for direct bookings, opening up new opportunities for accompanying sales of hotel rooms and other services in competition to tour operators and travel agents.

Co-organiser, Professor David Gillen, predicted that traditional charter airlines would have to either transform themselves into low-cost airlines or focus on long-haul traffic in response.

Europe would follow the US trend with mostly individual bookings for short-haul destinations and mostly packages for long-haul destinations, he predicted. Wolfgang John, head of TUI’s Hapag-Lloyd Flug, forecast three or four large low-cost carriers would survive the growing market consolidation but stressed that tour operators would continue to play a major role since they were active in all parts of the leisure travel value chain.

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