For quite some time, my Airline interest has particularly
stopped at Warsaw International airport, mainly because the state-owned airline
Lot which my mind has picked as the target, has its biggest and the only hub in
Poland. I heard a lot about this carrier, whether it was positive news such as –
and I quote” First European Airline to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner” or the
negative. Sadly, the latter was more common to hear! Actually,
this Airline has been struggling for many years showing negative annual results
– although, occasionally we noticed a small plus on financial reports. But that
was mainly due to selling its asset rather than income from a well prospering
business. Thus, no one needs to be a medium to figure out that the Polish
Government played an increasingly important role in supporting or by re-framing
the word, helping this carrier to survive by almost bombarding Lot’s bank account
with hundreds of thousands sacks of money! I truly believe this trend would
have easily carried on if the EU commission didn’t decide to provide significant
aid for the struggling company for the price of immediate reforms and wise
restructuring its firm. Or to simplify, to make its operating cost more
efficient and reduce the unit-cost! Oh, and of course, no more concession for
international flights from any other Polish airports, except Warsaw as well as
all other hubs outside the capital must be closed! In my humble opinion, this
was a big favour for Lufthansa especially in Krakow where Lot since the deal
was reached, can’t provide direct flights to/from Germany where as we know,
there is a big Polish community. However, I don’t want to concentrate on that –
arguably I feel there is a way more important field of interest.
The Polish aviation
market has been almost a gold mine for budget airlines since the country joined
the European Union and allowed Poles to travel freely and more importantly,
work abroad – which essentially means, earn money and afford to pay for an
airline ticket. EasyJet, Ryanair or Wizzair are the strongest LCC players
in Polish market offering a high number of inbound and outbound connections to
other EU states – the UK is firmly the top destination in the number of total
flights.
I have been watching how the aforementioned players have
been successfully expanding their services across major and regional airports
and from time to time ask myself, why can they, while Lot can’t?
Why is it so easy for them to open new routes, attract more
passengers? I think there are too many whys in this part, so I am kind of
willing to skip it.
My first theory about their success was – price! Second
theory – flexibility to fly to random Polish airports (as I mentioned above,
Lot due to EU restrictions, can’t provide international flights outside Warsaw
Chopin airport)
Whilst the second option seems to be pretty right, I’m not
so sure about the first one. Here is the explanation!
I decided to do my own quick market research for both Warsaw
airports and compare ticket prices to the UK for Ryanair, Wizzair – both
airlines offer direct connections. And for a contrast I checked Lufthansa
flights – with one stop. The main reason why I chose the British destination is
a high number of Polish immigrants already living in the UK.
Ryanair – all flights
from Warsaw Modlin (regional airport – none Lot’s services to/from the airport)
Warsaw Modlin --> Manchester (02.08.14) ca. £152
Manchester --> Warsaw Modlin (09.08.14) ca. £174
Warsaw Modlin -->Liverpool (09.08.14) ca. £118
Liverpool -->Warsaw Modlin (09.08.14) ca. £174
Warsaw Modlin --> Glasgow Prestwick (02.08.14) ca.£180
Glasgow Prestwick <-- Warsaw Modlin (09.08.14) ca.£142
Wizzair – all flights
from Warsaw Chopin airport ( Lot main Hub)
Warsaw Chopin --> Liverpool (03.08.14) ca.£123
Liverpool <--
Warsaw Chopin ( 10.08.14) ca.£100
Warsaw Chopin --> Glasgow International (01.08.14)
ca.£179
Glasgow International <-- Warsaw Chopin ( 08.08.14)
ca.£100
Luftansa, part of
Star Alliance – all flights via Munich or Frankfurt
Warsaw Chopin --> Munich--> Manchester (02.08.14)
Manchester--> Munich --> Warsaw (09.08.14) Total price
ca.£223
All of the above examples are showing that the price between
Warsaw and the UK market isn’t as low as someone could think when they hear the
name of one of the LCC. But what is more, even by going for a premium Airline
which in my opinion is Lufthansa, it would be cheaper than for Wizzair or
Ryanair including the return flight)
So here is the question – Why can’t Lot open new routes to,
for example; Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool and bring on board many
Polish, British customers who would definitely pay £150 or £180 for a flight
with checked-in baggage, extra leg room, free snacks and Polish/English
speaking crew? Maybe I’m too blind and I don’t see certain obstacles that for
the Polish national carrier are too difficult to avoid or tackle? But, if for
others those routes are prospering well, so what is stopping Lot adding new
destinations to its list?
The only thought suggesting a hypothetical answer is: apparently nobody wears the trousers in Lot’s
office, thus it’s only a matter of time before the airline will die!
Bottom line – Don’t wait too long with decisions making as
without brave changes, you gonna look like Death Valley waiting for a
drop of rain
No comments:
Post a Comment