newstodate.aero
Apr 04, 2017 (newstodate): Ryanair is establishing a subsidiary in Poland to offer charter flights for Polish tour operators.
To be named Ryanair Sun, the coming new carrier will have its base at Warsaw and start out with five Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
One carrier rooted in the Polish market is Small Planet Airlines Poland with 10 aircraft on Polish AOC and offering flights out of a number of Polish airports for Polish tour operators.
Only one year ago, Simonas Bartkus, Small Planet Airport CCO told newstodate that he saw the potentials in the Polish market "almost exhausted".
-We may add one or two more aircraft there but there is hardly more demand to be met there, said Mr Bartkus.
Was he wrong, or has the market changed?
-Contrary to our expectations then, we have indeed seen the market growing again in 2017, and probably into 2018 as well. In the European context, Poland is a rather small market, but seen from an East European angle Poland is indeed significant.
-Having been in this market for years, we have established strong relationships with the Polish tour operators, and all our aircraft are on signed contracts this summer as well. Ryanair's coming new subsidiary will add new competition in this market, but it should be noted that tour operators may consider Ryanair not just a provider of new capacity but also a competitor as Ryanair today offers seat-only flights from Poland to a number of destinations that tour operators themselves are marketing.
-Rates and prices may of course become an issue but Small Planet Airlines has worked hard on keeping costs under strict control. We may not be down to Ryanair-levels but let us see how things unfold as plans for the coming Ryanair subsidiary materialize, says Mr Bartkus.
To be named Ryanair Sun, the coming new carrier will have its base at Warsaw and start out with five Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
One carrier rooted in the Polish market is Small Planet Airlines Poland with 10 aircraft on Polish AOC and offering flights out of a number of Polish airports for Polish tour operators.
Only one year ago, Simonas Bartkus, Small Planet Airport CCO told newstodate that he saw the potentials in the Polish market "almost exhausted".
-We may add one or two more aircraft there but there is hardly more demand to be met there, said Mr Bartkus.
Was he wrong, or has the market changed?
-Contrary to our expectations then, we have indeed seen the market growing again in 2017, and probably into 2018 as well. In the European context, Poland is a rather small market, but seen from an East European angle Poland is indeed significant.
-Having been in this market for years, we have established strong relationships with the Polish tour operators, and all our aircraft are on signed contracts this summer as well. Ryanair's coming new subsidiary will add new competition in this market, but it should be noted that tour operators may consider Ryanair not just a provider of new capacity but also a competitor as Ryanair today offers seat-only flights from Poland to a number of destinations that tour operators themselves are marketing.
-Rates and prices may of course become an issue but Small Planet Airlines has worked hard on keeping costs under strict control. We may not be down to Ryanair-levels but let us see how things unfold as plans for the coming Ryanair subsidiary materialize, says Mr Bartkus.