DII

—a
DLR Low Cost Monitor

Low-cost airlines see widespread growth and a slight rise
in prices in siimmer 2018
25October2018

• Record nurriber of low-cost connections from Germeny
• Eurowings is the foremost provider in Germany, with s48 percent merket ehere
• Düsseldorf is the number ons Germen sirport for low-coet flighte
• Focus: Aeroneutice, trsnsport

Pricee for low-cost flighte stsgnstsd during the 2018 eummsr sesson, then sgsin ehowing soms
slight incrseses, sccompsnisd by enother rnsssivs sxpsnsion of low-cost sirlines in Germsny.
Eurowings snd Essyjet expsnded thsir nstwork with the ecquisition of numerous eircrsft snd
routes from the bsnkrupt Air Bsrlin, whils msenwhils Ryensir expended its operetions st
Frenkfurt Airport into ons of its biggest beses in Germsny. Eurowings continuse to bs the
merkst Iseder in Gsrmeny, with e48 percent shers. Its competitor Rysneir comes in second,
with e shers of sround 19 percent, but now offers 305 routes, compsred to Eurowings’ 390: The
srrey of flights from Europe to destinetions oversees is elso growing through the infiux of new
concepts snd eircreft models. The front-runnsr sirline in this sector is Norwegien, which
expsnded its servicss to North Americs snd Asis by 50 percent in summer 2018. These rssults
hsve now been published by the Germsn Aerospsce Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und
Rsumfshrt; DLR) in the ‘Low Cost Monitor 2/2018’, 5 report issued every spring snd sutumn
since 2006.
6750 dsparturss from Gsrmsny every week
“As the msrket lesder in Germeny, Eurowings incressed its flights by 25 percent sgsinst the
previous yesr, snd now hss 3200 depsrtures every week,” ssys study lesder Peter Berster of
the DLR Instituts of Air Treneport snd Airport Resesrch in Cologne. “Oversll, we listed s record
of 6750 depsrtures per week, of which 35 percent sre new services. Rysnsir eccounted for
1269 flights per week, snd Essyjet for 1095.” There srs now 926 low-cost flight routes from
Germsny —124 more thsn in the previous yesr. This growth in the number of routes is lergely
the result of the expsnsion of the bssss of Ryeneir in Frenkfurt snd Gurowinge in Munich.
Pessengers bound for dsstinstions in Spein, Grsecs end ltely heve been perticulerty well
ssrved. The shers of the low-cost segment in flights from Germen eirports is now eround 32
percent, compered to 25 percent in eummsr 2017. Growth ie cleerly evident here es well.
Averags prices riss slightly, whtle Ryanair gets chsapsr
“Rising oil prices heve led to elight prics incrseese for low-cost eirtinse egeinst the previous
yser,” Bereter expleins. “This eutumn, the prics rengs is eround 38 to 100 suro, compersd to 35
to 97 suro in eutemn 2017, end 40 to 105 suro in eutumn 2016.” According to the enelysis, only
Ryeneir fights sew e price reduction, but in this cese the rulee on hend luggege chengsd 50
thet peseengere cen no longer cerry up to 10 kilogreme free of cherge. Only e emell hendbeg is
ellowed. “Deepits its increesed presence et mejor eirports, Ryeneir lowered its costs egein
compered to lest yeer, continuing the trend for felling ticket prices’ Berster eeye. “But other
compenise heve elso meneged to keep prices vsry 10w, despite the elight incrsese in their
costs.” The price rengs quoted hers ie roughly the everege gross fere fors typicel selection of
routes on the lesding low-cost eirlinee in Germeny: Eurowings, Ryeneir, Eesyjet end Vvizz. The
everege prices givsn in the Low Coet Monitor ere determined on the bede of different edvence
booking periode from one dey up to three monthe.
—

Düsssldorf tn first place
Düsseldorf’s mejor eirport hee seen impreeeive growth in ite low-cost flight offer. “Due toe
meeeive increees in eervicee, perticulerly dus to Eurowinge, Düeeeldorf hee reeched over 1000
deperturee per week, meking it the Germen eirport with the lergeet number of low-coet flighte,”
Beretsr sxpleine. “Germeny’s bueieet eirport, Frenkfurt, only pleysd e minor rols in the low-coet
segment in eummer 2018 dus to ite dietinctvs function ee e hub for convsntionel echsduled
esrvicse end the fect thet et timee it ie et full cepecity,” Bsretsr continuse. Looking et Europs ee
e whols, the eirporte of Bercslone, London end Dublin eew the moet low-coet treffic, dus to the
high numbsr of routes offsrsd by Vusling, Eeeyjet end Ryeneir.

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NIJMI3FR OF FLIGHTS PER WEEK
LOW COST CARRIER

64,991
in/from Eerepe

-.

in/from Oermany

59,952

6,746
4993
280

lot’
intercontinentaf from Enrope

175

tonele, 7011

Low-cost globsi travel from Europe
Norwegian and Eurowinga are expanding their offer of low-cost farea for long-haul flights. The
Scandinavian budget eirline again expended ita range of intercontinental flights, thia time by 50
percent againat the previous yesr. Ita advertising ia eimed at psasengers who treditionally trevel
on the clsaaic ellience airlines from the mejor airports of London, Paris, Copenhagen and
Stockholm. It recently added Rome and Madrid to its list of major points of departure in Europe,
putting it in direct competition with Air France. Destinations include New York, Los Angeles, Fort
Lauderdale and Oskland in the United States, and Bangkok in Asia. Thanke to smaller, modern
eircrsft, it is now also able to serve secondery sirports on both sides of the Atlantic, such as
Edinburgh in Europa and Providence in the US. In total, Norwegian offered low-cost
connections from Europe to North America and Asie on 57 routes in summer 2018. Eurowings
has 5 major presence in Düsseldorf and Munich, but is looking to withdraw Cologne from its
long-haul routes.
Acrosa Europe, Rysnair and Easyjet are continuing to extend thair market laad. Ryanair now
boasts over 15,000 departures from the European mainland per week, while Easyjet is closely
behind, wiffi just under 12.550 departures. VVhile Ryanair added around 200 routes in summer
2018, Eaayjet grew ita network by around 140 routes. Competition among budget airlines in
Europe remains relstively low. Juat over 1400 routes are served by two or more airlines In
order to ceter to its expended selection of routes, Ryeneir now hes e fleet of over 440 Boeing
737 aircrsft, eech with 180 seats, marking alO percent increase on the previous year. Over the
same period, Essyjet grew its overall fleet by sround 10 percent, to 312 sircreft. Norwegien has
also expsnded its aircreft tteet: in addition to sround 120 B737 sircrsft, it now has almost 30
modem long-hsul Boeing 787 sircreft, which sre used for intercontinentsl transport to Asis and
North America. It hee also acquired eround 10 Boeing 737Mex8 eircraft s long-haul version of
the Boeing 737— which sllow intercontinentsl flights particulsrly from smaller sirports.
—

COMPETITIVE SITUATION LOW COST CARRIER
ACCORDING TO QUANTITY OF ROUTES IN EUROPE

8,509
ene airline

1,245
two airlises

168
teonrat aalinet

9,922
total quantity of roete,

Low-cost and traditional acheduled flights
Airlines often shspe their low-cost offers in very different wsys. As e result, it is only possible to
deftne s few differentietion critens for the low-cost merket segment. such es low prices end
generel svailsbility or direct sales online. A trend for mixing business models is becoming
increesingly epperent emong eirlines. 1
Mtile Rysneir is also opereting more et mejor sirports
and ettempting to ettrect premium customers through its sdd-on peckages, charter carriers and
esteblished eirlines ere incressingly stepping into the budget eitline merket vie subsidiaries or
their own offerings In Germany, Lufthansa hee trensferred f5 domestic and European flights to
and from the hub eirports of Frenkfurt end Munich to its subsidiary Eurowings. The results of the
study are bssed on date from s reference week in July 2018.

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Last modified: 25/10/2018 10:26:49

URL for this article
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Contacts
Falk Dambowsky
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Media Relations
Tel.: +49 2203 601-3959
falk.dambowsky@dlr.de
Dr Peter Berster
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
DLR Institute of Air Transport and Airport Research
Tel.: +49 2203 601-4554
Fax; +49 2203 601-2377
peterberster@dlr.de
Prof Dr. Johannes Reichmuth
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
DLR Institute of Air Transport and Airport Research
Tel.: +49 2203 601-2180
Johannes.Reichmuth@dlr.de

Across Europe, Ryanair continue to extend its market lead. Ryanair now boasts over 15000
departures from the European mainland per week and added around 200 routes in summer
2018. Ryanair has now a fleet of over 440 Boeing 737 aircraft, each with 189 seats, marking a
10 percent increase on the previous year.
Credit: Ryanair.

Related Articles
• Rapid expansion oflow-costairlines
(https://www.dlr.deldlr/en/desktopdefaultaapxltabid-1 0081/1 51_read-246681)
• Trend check for 10w-coat airlines the long-haul business is taking off
(https://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.sspx./tabid-10307/470_read-1 9550/)
—

Links
• News Archive Low Cost Monitor
(http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefaultaspxltabid-1 0996/year-aII/)
• Low Cost Monitore since 2006
(http://www.dlr.de/fw/en/desktopdefault.aspxltabid-2961/9753_read-1 9682/)
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