EasyJet trials hailed a success as the airline moves to rollout allocated seating across its network. Passengers will be automatically be allocated seats but will continue to be able to pay for a specific seat, such as near the exits. EasyJet said nearly three quarters of passengers who took part in the trial preferred allocated seating to the current free-for-all on the airline’s other flights.
We have written about this before and most likely will again. But the real news here is the fact that EasyJet is evolving, as are other successful low cost carriers. All the while Ryanair remains stagnant and continues to be the most customer-unfriendly business success story ever. Ryanair is at risk of becoming a dinosaur and maybe long-term investors should start to feel worried about the lack of direction Ryanair has with regard to business evolution.
Easyjet meanwhile will continue to attract passengers from full service flag carriers and low costs alike as people strive to reduce travel costs while reducing stress. Easyjet now needs to expand quickly it seems. As mentioned in Airline Economics issue eight, if Ryanair and Easyjet meet on a route and compete it is highly likely that Ryanair will come off badly. Easyjet indicated today that it hoped the new allocation system would attract more passengers from other budget airlines, having also found that 60% of those in trial were more likely to fly with EasyJet again as a result.
But look out for Airline Economics issue ten which is currently in production, this carries a great feature on AirAsia and Tony Fernandez and his march westward. It is likely that AirAsia will get a European foothold soon and when it does if that hold is inside the EU then it is chocks away for renewed services and competition. It might not be long before Etihad’s Air Berlin has AirAsia in its wing mirrors.