Thoughts on a Ryanair like airline for Australia?

Read our AFF credit card guides and start earning more points now.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Tiger was probably Australia's most barebones LCC.. eventually absorbed into Virgin Australia.
Jetstar and the original Virgin Blue I push a little higher talon the scale.
 
Conceptually, I'd be happy if a Ryanair Australia appeared. In reality, due current landscape makes this a very hard thing to make happen from a business point of view.
Post automatically merged:

Hard no to Ryan AIrand its ilk, Bonza tried and failed.
I'm not sure why you don't want them to exist. Them existing is good for you even if you never fly them. Competitive pricing forcing reactionary moves across the whole market. Could even mean dropping a QF price a bit here or there.
 
No one should have to endure that experience.
I'm not sure what experience you're referring to. If you adhere to their rules (not too onerous) and select decent seats on flights at reasonable times of the day I'm not sure what the problem is if the price is right.

For example, I need to get from Ljubljana to Malta in June, and FR has a flight from Zagreb (a shortish bus ride away) for a basic fare of $79. Using a major airline would cost 3-4 times as much and require a connection somewhere. This is where the LCC's in Europe have an advantage, flying diect between cities not otherwise directly connected by the majors. Last year I flew BOH-MLA on FR. No other airline flies this route.

But I agree that this model likely won't work in Australia because of insufficient demand (remember Bonza).
 
I'm not sure what experience you're referring to. If you adhere to their rules (not too onerous) and select decent seats on flights at reasonable times of the day I'm not sure what the problem is if the price is right.

For example, I need to get from Ljubljana to Malta in June, and FR has a flight from Zagreb (a shortish bus ride away) for a basic fare of $79. Using a major airline would cost 3-4 times as much and require a connection somewhere. This is where the LCC's in Europe have an advantage, flying diect between cities not otherwise directly connected by the majors. Last year I flew BOH-MLA on FR. No other airline flies this route.

But I agree that this model likely won't work in Australia because of insufficient demand (remember Bonza).

For one of my trips to Europe I needed to get from FCO to AMS.

All the majors wanted to take me back to their base and charge me in excess of $1,000.

I took a LCC for $69 and less than half the time lost in transit.
 
Ryan? No. Strict but different luggage allowance, flying to airports in a farm then the bus fare costs as much as the plane ticket. No to these. Too many traps.

On the otherhand, yes to easyjet and Norwegian
 
I'm not sure why you don't want them to exist. Them existing is good for you even if you never fly them. Competitive pricing forcing reactionary moves across the whole market. Could even mean dropping a QF price a bit here or there.
Because we have plenty of evidence that Australia can't sustain 5 major airlines, and when they fail us tax payers will yet again have to pick up part of the tab.

Plus we already have 3 LCCs (Virgin, Jetstar and Rex), if anything we need a second full service airline not an even lower LCC.

We also dont have enough lesser used useful airports near where people want to travel per their model. The Ultra LLCs only work where there are large populations and lots of tertiary airports not too far from where people want to be.
 
Last edited:
Because we have plenty of evidence that Australia can't sustain 5 major airlines, and when they fail us tax payers will yet again have to pick up part of the tab.

Plus we already have 3 LLCs (Virgin, Jetstar and Rex), if anything we need a second full service airline not an even lower LCC.
How did we jump from 3 to 4 airlines or have you missed the memo on Rex. Also why do tax payers pick up any tab? What tab are they picking up when a private company fails?

Sure there's a few taxes owed here or there outstanding but thats usually quite small.
 
What tab are they picking up when a private company fails?

There have been multiple bail outs for Rex in the past; and they are still asking for subsidies to keep flying their smaller regional routes; its only their 737 fleet that aren't operating right now.

When companies like Bonza fail not only do we miss tax revenue but there is an indirect cost in supporting former employees who lost their job and entitlements. That may be unemployment benefits or other assistance now, and more pension later because they have insufficient super at retirement.

So no I don't want to see a Ryan here because their wafer thin margins cant be supported by our small population and lack of secondary/tertiary airport options in holiday regions which is what they target.
 

Become an AFF member!

Join Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) for free and unlock insider tips, exclusive deals, and global meetups with 65,000+ frequent flyers.

AFF members can also access our Frequent Flyer Training courses, and upgrade to Fast-track your way to expert traveller status and unlock even more exclusive discounts!

AFF forum abbreviations

Wondering about Y, J or any of the other abbreviations used on our forum?

Check out our guide to common AFF acronyms & abbreviations.
Back
Top