As part of our mission to bring you all the latest industry news and gossip, that’s fit to print, we have been telling you about developments in the Low-Cost or Budget airline market.
This week we publicised the launch of International Airlines Group’s (I.A.G.) new Low-Cost Carrier, which has been branded ‘LEVEL’. (I.A.G. is composed of British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling)
Barcelona is the hub for the new airline, but now further information is coming to light, which leads us to believe that a fresh set of announcements are to be made regarding some further routes.
It appears that Paris Orly and Rome Fiumicino are now in the frame to be bases for LEVEL, principally because they are hubs for LEVEL’s sister airline, Vueling.
Already LEVEL flies to San Francisco (Oakland) and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic fro Barcelona and it would make commercial sense to fly the same routes from Paris and Rome.(The other two routes Buenos Aires and Los Angeles, are already well covered by existing I.A.G. partners)
The efficiency of this comes in that the underlying strategy of the new airline which is to ‘join the dots’ with Vueling existing services. In simple terms, the Budget airline delivers the transatlantic flights and passengers are then checked in to short/medium haul flights by Vueling or one of the other I.A.G. members (such as Iberia).
The strategy is obviously a well thought out one.A centerpiece of which is to see off aggressive Low-Cost Carrier Norwegian, hence competing directly against Norwegian’s services to Los Angeles and San Francisco (Oakland). That is the reason LEVEL has started both services just before Norwegians launch dates.
Interesting times ahead, but as we always say more competition means lower fares and lower fares can only be good news.
