While regional airlines in the U.S. enjoy something of a renaissance as a result of post-9/11 capacity restructuring, Europe’s regionals continue to register unspectacular traffic growth and progressively deteriorating yield performances. The reasons vary, but delegates at last month’s ERA spring conference in Barcelona more often than not pinned the blame on the rise of the discount fare segment.
Although low-fare airlines have devoured a big chunk of the market on both sides of the Atlantic, the trend in Europe has accelerated even faster than in the U.S. Forced to function in an environment where discount carriers now control 28.7 percent of the continent’s air traffic capacity and an ever-growing piece of the short-haul business, Europe’s regional airlines even more so than their U.S. counterparts face direct competition from the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet. Although the situation has created more flying opportunities for affiliates pressed into service on low-fare routes by their mainline parents, it has also suppressed yields to levels not seen in four years.
