LONDON – Bavarian Airlines, a new kid on the block, wants to take the fight to Lufthansa in the business passenger market. Let’s take a look at the carrier.
Bavarian Airlines For The E195-E2…
Earlier this week saw Bavarian Airlines announce that they are in talks with Munich Airport to launch operations as it awaits approval of its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).
Destinations of the new airline are expected to be Berlin, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Vienna, Amsterdam, Geneva, and London.
Bavarian Airlines aims to serve these markets using 12 Embraer E195-E2 aircraft, with an ambitious target of year-end for this to happen.
Based on information from their website, Bavarian Airlines will offer a two-class configuration onboard the aircraft, sitting up to 126 passengers.
Can They Bring the Fight to Lufthansa?: Why Yes?
A question that needs to be asked from this news is whether Bavarian Airlines can bring the fight to Lufthansa.
There are reasons for yes and no, so let’s get into the why and how for each option.
Starting off with yes is the fact that Bavarian Airlines knows exactly who it wishes to target. the founder, Adem Karagöz, said that he aims to target business passengers with the aircraft.
The E195-E2 is of significant benefit to the airline because of the operations out of London City Airport, which Embraer needed special certification for.
With London being on the list of destinations for Bavarian Airlines, it remains clear that London City is a viable option for the airline, especially with how close it is to the business sector of the UK capital.
The likes of Lufthansa, SWISS, KLM, and others operate in the airport, with Bavarian Airlines focusing mainly on the Lufthansa-based competition out of Germany.
As for the other destinations they intend on serving, these could very well just be the main international airports and will no doubt go head-to-head with the mainstream legacy carriers.
Depending on the start-up capital that the airline has, it will no doubt acquire the aircraft via a leasing arrangement as it’s cheaper than buying the jets outright.
On top of this, operating a single fleet will keep costs down, which will enable the airline to sell tickets at a competitive rate for businesses.
Why No?
As for no, all start-up airlines at the moment have challenges when starting up as passengers prefer the status quo of the legacy carriers.
Therefore, heavy marketing will need to take place if they aim to bring Bavarian Airlines into the spotlight as the legacy carrier.
On top of this, the legacy carriers such as Lufthansa have extensive route networks internally but also externally through codeshares and alliance memberships.
For example, Lufthansa is in the Star Alliance and codeshares with multiple airlines worldwide, so customers may want that connectivity instead of saving money.
Unless Bavarian Airlines can engage with these sorts of stakeholders, then that may be a difficult thing for them to get over the line as well.
Overall…
There are many pros and cons for Bavarian Airlines wanting to take the fight to Lufthansa. At this stage, it’s a question of whether it will be successful or not.
It does appear to be a solid business plan, with the airline sticking to a single fleet, but can it market itself as well as legacy competitors?
All eyes will be on the airline to see whether they can bring the fight to Lufthansa, as well as whether they can thrive in this business-based segment or not.
