Loganair has hit back at easyJet, following the announcement of the Luton-headquartered budget operator's plans to compete with the Scottish airline on a UK domestic corridor. As of November this year, Loganair's flights between Glasgow and Southampton will face competition from two easyJet rotations per week.

Concerns regarding long-term viability

Just yesterday, Simple Flying reported on easyJet's plans to launch twice-weekly flights between Glasgow Airport (GLA) and Southampton Airport (SOU) this November, as part of a wider winter network expansion drive. This is a route that Loganair currently has a monopoly on, operating as many as four rotations a day.

While airlines relish competition, Loganair CEO Jonathan Hinkles took to LinkedIn last week to share certain concerns about this move. Looking at four other UK domestic routes, he noted that, in recent years, easyJet "has started up competition on each of these routes, and then hastily pulled off again." While this underlines Loganair's established presence on such corridors, it also poses certain challenges.

Check out all the latest European aviation news here!

Hinkles worries that, on the days when both easyJet and Loganair flights are serving the Glasgow-Southampton route (Thursdays and Saturdays, in this case), demand won't be sufficient to sustain both services. This may have the potential to affect the Scottish carrier's long-term viability on the corridor, with Hinkles adding:

"We fly all these routes throughout the whole year, yet we need to make a profit on busy summer Thursdays to ensure the service remains available on quieter wintry Tuesdays."

Lower fares vs more frequent flights

When it comes to this UK domestic corridor, Loganair certainly has the upper hand in terms of frequency. However, easyJet will look to leverage its lower fares to fuel demand for its less frequent flights. For example, the Southern Daily Echo notes that an early-November round trip on the route has a base fare of around £100 ($123.77). Meanwhile, easyJet's base fare is closer to £64 ($79.21).

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today!

Of course, it is worth noting that Loganair passengers get more for their money, such as free checked baggage. Nonetheless, for passengers traveling with minimal luggage, easyJet's lower fares may be hard to resist, even with a far lower service frequency. According to the Southern Daily Echo, the Luton-headquartered low-cost carrier offered the following response to Hinkles' comments:

"We concentrate our efforts on maintaining and developing routes which prove most popular with customers, focusing on offering routes with the greatest demand. (...) We are always reviewing the opportunity to operate new routes where we see there is demand and can offer competitive fares which, along with providing greater choice, we believe is good for consumers."

A recent milestone

Aside from its Glasgow route, Loganair's presence at Southampton Airport also includes flights to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle, and Stornoway. Last week, it celebrated a special milestone regarding its operations out of Southampton, by awarding a free flight to its 350,000th customer at the airport. It will certainly hope that this number continues to grow, even in the face of low-cost competition.

Sources: Loganair, Southern Daily Echo

• 

  easyJet

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  U2/EZY (UK) | EC/EJU (Europe) | DS/EZS (Switzerland)

  Airline Type:

  Low-Cost Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Geneva Airport, London Gatwick Airport, London Luton Airport, Milan Malpensa Airport

  Year Founded:

  1995

  CEO:

  Johan Lundgren