LOW COST CARRIERS CAN MAKE SUSTAINABLE PROFITS

Some of the world’s most successful carriers, including SouthWest in the US and Ryanair in Europe are LCCs

Kuwait’s Jazeera Airlines recently announced second-quarter results seemed in line with the great trends in recent airline history — the low cost carriers (LCC) can make sustainable profits. This is having a profound effect on the air transport business.

Some of the world’s most successful carriers, including SouthWest in the US and Ryanair in Europe are LCCs. At a time when many legacy carriers are struggling to operate profitably, the LCC is here to stay.

That is not to say that LCCs, too, if not properly managed and focused, will not struggle. We have seen LCCs come and go in the last few years — just as we have seen full service carriers come and go. In the case of Ireland’s Aer Lingus, we saw a legacy carrier come as a full service carrier and go as an LCC.

For a time, LCCs were considered as a flash-in-the-pan; likely to come and go without comment. Those days are gone. LCCs are a fact of life; part of the airline eco-system. It is the legacy carriers that need to take note.

11/09/2012  :  Andrew Charlton / Gulf News.

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