The big three EU Low Cost Carriers before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: Network overlaps and airfare effects

This study uses a large dataset to consider the network change of the three largest European Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air during the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 pandemic period. Network changes are characterized in terms of airport pairs, city pairs, numbers of flights and network overlaps. The results show that European LCCs increasingly expanded their networks into markets that had already been served by incumbent LCCs, which indicates that LCCs increasingly compete head-to-head among themselves. Difference-in-differences regressions estimate that network overlaps among these LCCs lead to airfare reductions of approximately six Euros, ten percent.

The Impact of Covid-19 on Marketing Mix and Economics of Airlines

The main goal of this paper is to assess the impact of covid-19 on marketing practices and airlines' adaptation to the new business and economic environment. In the first part, we introduce a marketing mix framework and look at the impact of covid-19 on seat capacity and airline operating revenues. In the second part, we determine current marketing strategies using the marketing framework of the 4Ps and its impact on operational changes among full-service network carriers and low-cost carriers. The central theme in advertising and campaigns for full-service network carriers is high hygiene standards and cleanliness of flights, as passengers are concerned with not contracting covid-19 or other viruses during the longer flight routes. Low-cost carriers still focus primarily on the price and convenience to potential customers. Both types of carriers do improve and push out technology changes in terms of mobile apps, improved online check-ins and contactless, touchless kiosks used for airport check-ins. These slight changes increase passengers' comfort, speed up the check-in process and minimize the spread of any viruses. © 2022 IEEE.

Entry and exit strategy of low-cost carriers and global crises

We study the entry and exit strategy of low-cost carriers into the Italian aviation market during the early stage of their expansion. We find that their strategy is mainly driven by population size, GDP per capita, tourism vocation of the area, and degree of competition, although the direction and magnitude of these factors change over time. At the beginning, low-cost carriers mostly focus on tourist routes, scantly served by full-service carriers;after 9/ 11 terrorist attack, they shift to richer destinations;and, when the tourism sector regains momentum, they switch again on leisure routes and also expand their presence on routes operated by full-service carriers. As 9/11 terrorist attack led to a permanent change in the entry and exit strategy of low-cost carriers, our analysis suggests that other global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are bound to provoke significant and long-lasting effects in the low-cost carriers developing strategy.

Airline brand image, passenger perceived value and loyalty towards full-service and low-cost carriers

Purpose: This study aims to examine the mediating and moderating processes that link airline brand image to passenger loyalty through perceived value. Design/methodology/approach: The research participants were Taiwanese passengers with experience travelling abroad by air. Structural equation modelling and multigroup analysis were used to investigate the effect of airline brand image and perceived value on the loyalty of passengers using full-service and low-cost carriers. Findings: For both airline types, airline brand image had a significant and positive effect on passenger perceived value. Perceived value had a significant and positive effect on passenger loyalty, perceived value was a crucial mediator and airline type was not a key moderator in the model. Originality/value: In this study, focusing on the perspective of Taiwanese passengers, a conceptual model of the factors that lead to passenger loyalty, with a focus on brand image, was developed. This paper contributes to the literature and application field by examining the mediating effect of perceived value and the moderating role of airline type in the aviation industry;on the basis of the results, potential recovery strategies for airlines in the post-COVID-19 era are provided. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Were Fleet Planning Problems Responsible for the Collapse of Thai Air Carriers?A Preliminary Case Study of One-Two-Go Airlines

The unprecedented growth of the Thai air transport sector that commenced in the early 2000s attracted at least 30 new air carriers into the country's airline market. However, a substantial number of them went bankrupt even before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world aviation industry. This study hypothesised that flawed fleet planning was behind the collapse of many carriers in Thailand. One-Two-Go Airlines, the "low-fare” carrier owned by Orient Thai Airlines, was used as a case study. The hypothesis was initially tested by evaluating whether the One-Two-Go fleet of aircraft was in line with the low-cost airline business model and aircraft selection principles commonly adopted by many low-cost carriers worldwide. The preliminary findings indicated that the way the airline planned, acquired, and managed its aircraft did not appear to be the key factor behind its collapse. Rather, a negative brand image derived from safety concerns after the crash of Flight 269 was a key factor causing the airline to cease operations. © 2022, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University. All rights reserved.

The big three EU Low Cost Carriers before and During the Covid-19 pandemic: Network overlaps and airfare effects

This study uses a large dataset to consider the network change of the three largest European Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air during the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 pandemic period. Network changes are characterized in terms of airport pairs, city pairs, numbers of flights and network overlaps. The results show that European LCCs increasingly expanded their networks into markets that had already been served by incumbent LCCs, which indicates that LCCs increasingly compete head-to-head among themselves. Difference-in-differences regressions estimate that network overlaps among these LCCs lead to airfare reductions of approximately six Euros, ten percent.

Modelling User Experience, Emotions and Concerns for Predicting Firm Response-the Case of Low-Cost Carriers During Pandemic

The customers use social media platforms to share their grievances and unresolved concerns about a product or service. This behaviour was rampant during the ongoing pandemic, COVID-19. The airline industry could not handle the uncertainties and manage the customer distress. The extant research on how airlines could address social media grievances needs further enrichment. The present paper presents a model of low-cost carriers (LCCs) response to social media customer complaints. It uses content analysis, followed by logistic regression for the model verification. Results highlighted that the type of complainer, emotions, lockdown situation, complain text, and complain concerns can impact the firm’s response. The paper contributes to understanding firms’ responses to social media customer complaints. © 2022, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.

Recovery of Chinese low-cost carriers after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

This study conducts a detailed analysis of the response of China's low-cost carriers (LCCs) to the threats posed by the pandemic from a route network perspective, aiming to explore the resilience of LCCs and Chinese airlines. Using geographic visualization and network analysis, we evaluate and compare the network connectivity of each Chinese LCC to see the change patterns, then elaborate on the network connection of Spring Airlines. The major results are: the LCC sector has not recovered, but some of them exceed the pre-pandemic levels in a less deregulated environment; different LCCs show different recovery patterns; Spring Airlines outperforms the other four LCCs in terms of network connectivity. The recovery process is supported by various external factors, such as the reduction of new confirmed COVID-19 local cases and international flights, the re-open of inter-provincial tour groups and tourism demand, the nationwide rebound activities promoted by the central government, and the supporting policies, especially new slot allocation processes issued by CAAC. The case study further indicates the effects of high-speed rail (HSR) and regional subsidy measures on the tactical actions of Springs in route planning. This paper serves as a referential case for the LCCs worldwide and has good application for the recovery of other LCCs in other countries. Moreover, the study conducted in this time window offers a chance to assess the development of Chinese airlines in a not fully deregulated aviation environment. It contributes to the debate on the theory of air network resilience.

Entry and exit strategy of low-cost carriers and global crises

We study the entry and exit strategy of low-cost carriers into the Italian aviation market during the early stage of their expansion. We find that their strategy is mainly driven by population size, GDP per capita, tourism vocation of the area, and degree of competition, although the direction and magnitude of these factors change over time. At the beginning, low-cost carriers mostly focus on tourist routes, scantly served by full-service carriers;after 9/11 terrorist attack, they shift to richer destinations;and, when the tourism sector regains momentum, they switch again on leisure routes and also expand their presence on routes operated by full-service carriers. As 9/11 terrorist attack led to a permanent change in the entry and exit strategy of low-cost carriers, our analysis suggests that other global crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are bound to provoke significant and long-lasting effects in the low-cost carriers developing strategy.

Borrowing Power from Potential Entrants and High-Speed Rail: Entry Pattern of China’s Low-Cost Carrier

This paper investigates the impact of market structure and high-speed rail on China’s low-cost carrier Spring Airlines’ entry patterns during the pre-pandemic period. Dividing the air transport system into discrete distance segments (i.e., short-, medium- and long-haul) helps better reveal critical factors that affect the route entry of Spring. Given the existence of market power in China’s airline industry and the capacity constraints at major airports, Spring strives to enter routes that can accommodate more potential entrants without a strong response from incumbents and are connected with more concentrated or lower-capacity airports. The complementary and competition effects of high-speed rail are well-distinguished in different distance ranges.

Impact of Service Quality of Low-Cost Carriers on Airline Image and Consumers' Satisfaction and Loyalty during the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Low-cost carriers (LCCs) in Saudi Arabia operate in a competitive, highly demanding environment. Customer-related attributes may be influenced by the levels of service quality in a no-frills airline, which might impact satisfaction and loyalty. Given the unique traveler and market characteristics of the aviation sector in the kingdom, we sought to investigate the impact of service quality of LCCs on customer satisfaction and loyalty and the perceived airline image. A total of 299 passengers at two international airports were approached using a modified SERVQUAL scale. Results revealed that service quality was a significant predictor of customer satisfaction (ß = 0.46, p < 0.0001), airline image (ß = 0.55, p < 0.0001), and customer loyalty (ß = 0.16, p = 0.006). The responsiveness dimension was the most important dimension of service quality, since it predicted all other constructs (satisfaction, loyalty, and brand image). Airline tangibles and reliability were independently associated with brand image and loyalty, respectively. Based on these results, LCCs should tailor future strategic plans that rely heavily on improving different service quality measures, particularly the responsiveness domain.

COVID-19 and Africa's aviation and tourism sectors: A new agenda for the future?

Although the impact of COVID-19 is inordinately enormous, there remains a lack of attention to the new governance architecture, the African Union High-Level Task Force (AU-HLTF), in Africa's aviation and tourism sectors in its wake, which this paper primarily examines. We foregrounded governance themes of political economy within the African Union High-Level Task Force (AU-HLTF) through secondary data, observing 90 key industry leaders and 10 purposively sampled semi-structured interviews. We found the insignificant priority in tourism restart via LCCs first, the incongruent holistic relationship between the restart of the aviation and tourism sectors. Secondly, the historical-geographical material relationships within the new governance framework. Thirdly, the AU-HLTF intervention is actor-biased towards the aviation sector and rooted in path dependency. A hierarchical-mixed market governing typology we propose by arguing is a steering mechanism of public sector reform that alternatively reboots a balanced path towards sustainability by prioritizing intra-tourism promoted by low-cost carriers.