Norwegian and Vueling are roughing up the low-cost aviation industry

Hamburg, September 11th, 2014 – The competition for low-cost-airlines has become fiercer: Since 2009, Norwegian Air Shuttle has increased ASK capacities by 296%. At 444%, the growth rate at Vueling Airlines is even more impressive. These findings are the result of a new analysis conducted by the aviation consultancy PROLOGIS, based on data provided by the airline intelligence provider ch-aviation.

Over the past five years, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Vueling Airlines have made great strides in the game of catch-up in the European low-cost-market. While easyJet flew to 130 destinations in June/July 2014, Vueling, member of the British-Airways-led International Airlines Group (IAG), has expanded its route map to a total of 129 cities. Including the long-haul-routes, Norwegian now counts 121 destinations. Ryanair remains the undisputed market leader with a total of 179 destinations. The comprehensive study, conducted by PROLOGIS, compares the destinations, frequencies and capacities of the four airlines as well as the size of their fleet in June/July 2014 with the data from 2009.

„The results of our analysis show that, since 2009, Vueling Airlines und Norwegian Air Shuttle have managed to grow considerably – both within and outside of their home markets“, said Gerd Pontius, CEO of PROLOGIS. „Norwegian now operates in 39 countries, and Vueling in 37 – which makes them more internationally active than easyJet or Ryanair.“

Low-cost giants easyJet and Ryanair are confronting their competitors’ strong expansion with own growth plans. For instance, they have enlarged their fleets: Between 2009 and 2014, Ryanair has acquired 103 new machines (Boeing 737-800), which accounts for an increase of 52%. In the same time, easyJet grew by 26%.

Link for the analysis: http://www.prologis.aero/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Market-Conquest-of-Europe.pdf