Following the recent worldwide financial crisis and recession, regional airline services in Europe are set to change as operators move to introduce bigger equipment. Air Nostrum chief executive Carlos Bertomeu, for one, predicts that his carrier’s recent strategy to increase average capacity–and thereby reduce unit costs–will be copied elsewhere in the industry.
“[Within] three years, the majority of European regional airlines will emulate this evolution toward larger aircraft,” he told AIN, as Air Nostrum prepared to welcome European Regions Airline Association delegates to their annual general assembly in Barcelona later this month. Forecasting that in the next few years “nothing will be the same,” Bertomeu and the management of Air Nostrum have developed “an extensive action plan to adapt as soon as possible to the new market.”
Introduced last year, the program takes into account the importance of flexibility as the regional seeks to develop services to new, longer-haul markets. Air Nostrum already has seen the benefits of last year’s decision to drop loss-making routes and consolidate operations. “After doing our homework last year, we are registering a rise in profits per passenger, especially in the international markets like France or Italy,” said Bertomeu.
