The big three EU Low Cost Carriers before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: Network overlaps and airfare effects

Hanxiang Zhang; Achim I. Czerny; Wolfgang Grimme; Hans Martin Niemeier

doi:10.1016/j.retrec.2022.101235

The big three EU Low Cost Carriers before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: Network overlaps and airfare effects

Hanxiang Zhang, Achim I. Czerny, Wolfgang Grimme, Hans Martin Niemeier

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study uses a large dataset to consider the network change of the three largest European Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air during the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 pandemic period. Network changes are characterized in terms of airport pairs, city pairs, numbers of flights and network overlaps. The results show that European LCCs increasingly expanded their networks into markets that had already been served by incumbent LCCs, which indicates that LCCs increasingly compete head-to-head among themselves. Difference-in-differences regressions estimate that network overlaps among these LCCs lead to airfare reductions of approximately six Euros, ten percent.

Original language	English
Article number	101235
Journal	Research in Transportation Economics
Volume	97
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2022.101235
Publication status	Published - Mar 2023

Keywords

airfares
Covid-19
Europe
Low Cost Carriers
network overlaps

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Transportation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)

More information

10.1016/j.retrec.2022.101235

Cite this

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title = "The big three EU Low Cost Carriers before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: Network overlaps and airfare effects",

abstract = "This study uses a large dataset to consider the network change of the three largest European Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air during the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 pandemic period. Network changes are characterized in terms of airport pairs, city pairs, numbers of flights and network overlaps. The results show that European LCCs increasingly expanded their networks into markets that had already been served by incumbent LCCs, which indicates that LCCs increasingly compete head-to-head among themselves. Difference-in-differences regressions estimate that network overlaps among these LCCs lead to airfare reductions of approximately six Euros, ten percent.",

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The big three EU Low Cost Carriers before and during the Covid-19 pandemic: Network overlaps and airfare effects

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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