airazurxtror wrote:
Not so long ago, here on Luchtzak, there were many complaints from the SN-boys that the new LCCs (mainly Ryanair and Vueling) would do much harm to Brussels Airlines. It was even said that they should not be allowed at Zaventem !
One can see that it is quite the reverse : traffic is growing at SN.
In must be added that, in all probability, without Ryanair and Vueling, the new ticket categories would not have been ...it remains to be seen if they will bring more overall profitability.
I would not put too much credibility on what fanboys or bashers from either side say here; by definition they are generally not very well placed to make objective remarks.
What these figures show is the for all the bashing going on here, literally millions of new customers are feeling they do offer a good deal or they wouldn't be opting to fly on them.
With such an quickly growing customer base, it's a guarantee investors will be giving them far more time to fine tune their business plan than when they would be stagnating or even shrinking, so I think we can leave behind all the talk about a quick demise now: It just ain't going to happen with this kind of commercial figures on the table.
In that relation I'd like to share an observation: it's not the first time I have noticed a check&go'er checking in at the counters with luggage, being told there that he isn't entitled to checked luggage any longer, after which his luggage is kindly accepted without charging for it.
I don't know If there is some sort of a transitional policy to be extremely lenient, but it shows that once that will be over, the increased and completely new customer base they are tapping into offers them plenty of new opportunities to make significant ancillary sales to in order to improve their total revenues and thus their financial result further. Combined with the fact that over 2014 this wasn't possible still (for most of the time) as well as the repeated hints from others that there are more add-ons to follow next year for which they are perfectly situated given their premium background stil, my gut feeling is it will not be too difficult to close any remaining financial shortfall there may still be remaining at the end of this financial year.
As they have entered the world where a passenger is not just sitting idle on your plane, but is a potential customer throughout his checked in period, tens of millions in extra revenues are up for grabs at hardly any extra cost almost, especially from the new type of customers used to all of this (often at higher prices too and for less) , so I'd say they are definitely on the good track with all this.