British Airways recently received an award for outstanding in-flight service for a European airline. To put this to the test I decided to book myself on to a midweek short haul trip to Paris.
The ground staff in the airport proved to be friendly and helpful. On the plane the seats offered only an average rank of comfort and the leg room was a little cramped for someone of my build. Once the plane took off, however, I was immediately offered a tea or coffee with some complementary biscuits. In fact by the time we started our descent to Charles de Gaulle airport I’d had four cups of coffee and scoffed half a dozen biscuits.
So, all in all I’d have to say British Airways were good value for their recent award. For while my return trip to Paris put me back £168, I could have made the same trip with EasyJet for a mere £70 – with whom I’d have had to provide my own or pay for my coffee and biscuits.
True, EasyJet and fellow low cost carrier Ryan Air have recently come in for criticism over the number of complaints they receive– 719 last year for EasyJet and 673 for Ryan Air, although BA is not far behind with 528 and as EasyJet owner Stelios Haji-Loannou points out, this only accounts for one in every 40,000 passengers for EasyJet.
Much has also been made of all the add on costs that have started to become synonymous with the low cost concept. Advertising ludicrously low prices for air travel and then mentioning in smaller than small print that these prices do not include airport tax is somewhat underhand. Oh and by the way did we mention that you’re only allowed one item of hand luggage including any purchase made in the airport and hold luggage has a cost as does checking in, paying by credit card and just about anything else we can make up as we go along?
Both of these companies have experienced huge growth over the last decade or so, spurred on in part by their rivalry. Now they carry over 45 million passengers a year while Ryan Air boast the even more impressive figure of 60 million. Their network now stretches not just to capital cities such as Rome and Madrid but also to more provincial destinations like Perugia or Bilbao. Could it be that one day they will challenge the major players in the airline industry on Trans-Atlantic flights? What price a flight from London to New York with EasyJet or Ryan Air in a few years time?

Sentence A: Or is that being unfair?
Sentence B: When EasyJet started out in 1996 they only ran flights from London to Edinburg or Glasgow
Sentence C: No sooner had I drained my cup than a flight attendant appeared ready to offer me a refill.
Sentence D: So what is the next step for these arrivistes?
Sentence E: It doesn't help to paint an appealing image.
Sentence F: What else could you want from an airline?
Sentence G: Assuming of course that you consider £50 to be good value for four cups of filter coffee and half a packet of hobnobs.