Charter carriers will still account for half of all European leisure traffic in 10 years’ time despite the growth of the low-cost airlines, according to Monarch Airlines managing director Danny Bernstein.
In a speech to the Aviation Club in central London, Bernstein said charters have a much higher load factor, 90% compared to 70% for airlines such as Go, Ryanair and EasyJet.
“So 90% of a larger aircraft must make for better seat-mile economics than 70% of a smaller competitor,” he said.
Bernstein cited a Cranfield University report which found that principal UKcharter carriers operated at cost levels some 25% lower than the UK’s principal no-frills carriers.
EasyJet chairman Stelios Haji-Ioannou has often said charters will disappear in the future due to low-cost growth.
But Bernstein pointed out that budget airlines have shied away from competing on traditional charter routes and said they will find it very different from competing with scheduled carriers on business routes.