Travellers want comfort: just ask the big airlines, which are increasing their premium capacity. Even budget carriers are trying to give the cheap seats a bit more glamour, with easyJet offering its passengers luxury holidays and Southwest Airlines considering opening airport lounges. Ryanair, though, is sticking with its reputation for parsimony, and is one of the few that can.
Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers on Monday reported solid results. Boss Michael O’Leary has parlayed an online spat with SpaceX chief Elon Musk into a sales opportunity — reframing Ryanair’s lack of onboard wifi as a sign of the carrier’s penny-pinching creds.
This is a contrarian move in an industry where most airlines are moving upmarket, reflecting the fact that, since the pandemic, passengers are prepared to pay up for more space and better services. Lufthansa is promoting its new Allegris premium products while British Airways is expecting to roll out a new first class offering this year. Between now and 2028, premium seats on US airlines will increase by 11 per cent a year, Jefferies analysts estimate; economy seats are barely growing at all.