Continuing with the ancillary revenues special this March, I’d like to explore the issue whether ancillary revenues are good for the airline brand, or detrimental. We all know they’re good for the balance sheet, but what about the brand? To answer this question, let me segment ancillary revenues in two bands – charging for value addition, and un-bundling current product and services.
Charging the passenger for value-addition
A comment on the hotly debated article I wrote on RyanAir’s competition for charging passengers got me thinking. Here’s what Shyrose had to say:
“RyanAir should link up with the local taxi companies of the detination airports and agree a deal with them, whereby flyers can book their taxi on the plane so it’s ready and waiting for them the other side. Taxi companies give Ryannair a referral fee, and Ryanair will be positioned as offering greater value service for customers.”
And I think Shyrose is bang-on-target. Customers don’t mind paying for additional services they value. And this is especially true when the offer is in-sync with the brand expectation. There are ample examples of such value addition. Travel insurance and car rental are popular ones. The intelligent …

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It seems like RyanAir folks read SimpliFlying! Just when we’re having an ancillary revenues special this month, they’re giving us all the fodder to write about!

The airline has launched a competition where anyone in Europe can suggest ideas by email to competition@ryanair.com on how RyanAir can make more money off their customers! The best idea wins €1,000.

Some of the wackiest ideas are already stated on RyanAir’s website:

Charging for toilet paper – with O’Leary’s face on it,
Charging €2.50 to read the safety cards,
Charging €1 to use oxygen masks,
Charging €25 to use the emergency exit,
Charging €50 for bikini clad Cabin Crew.

An airline which laughs at itself
These days, companies, especially large, international ones that dare to laugh at themselves are a rarity. And an airline that can do that earns my respect. Others in those ranks? I’d say Southwest, JetBlue, Virgin America, Kulula.com, Indigo and AirAsia. Ironically, no legacy carriers made to this list. Do you know of any more?
A “cheap”, but authentic brand
Alright, many of you woul classify this RyanAir move as “cheap”. But isn’t RyanAir a cheap airline for the …

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For the last couple of days, I’ve been at the Aviation Outlook Middle East, as a keynote speaker (check out my presentation here). You’d expect that the hottest topic might be the recession, or the threat/opportunity for Low Cost Carriers in the Middle East (see my interview on that here). But ironically, during the panel discussions, during the networking breaks and even during cocktails, the hottest topic for discussion was Ryanair charging for the use of toilets in-flight!
Will charging for the loo work for the brand?
From the amount of buzz just one statement from Michael O’Leary has generated, it looks like the move has already worked for Ryanair. Afterall, no PR is bad PR! And the Ryanair CEO is probably one of the best when it comes to getting free PR anyway, just like Richard Branson. The two of them are icons for their respecive brands, like Steve Jobs is for Apple, and it adds an X-Factor to the brand (read more in …

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Dear Readers,

I hope you enjoyed the India Special in February on SimpliFlying, where I featured case-studies and interviews on airline branding in India, including that of the COO of SpiceJet and COO of Indigo Airlines. I received an overwhelming response to these articles too. Hence, I’ve decided to make the first fortnight in March, the Ancillary Revenues Special.
Ancillary revenues + airline branding = Even greater profits!
Why, ancillary revenues, you may think. That’s because it becomes an extremely powerful concept when in sync with the brand strategy. For example, when you fly Singapore Airlines, you don’t imagine paying for food on-board, due to their brand positioning as a premium airline. And that’s why their decision to charge for emergency row seats came as a shock to many. This is because the ancillary revenue strategy did not resonate with the brand strategy. Hence, the aim of this special feature will be to feature case studies, …