EasyJet foresees Swiss market growth

Swedish businessman Lundgren has been EasyJet's chief executive since December 2017. Keystone

In an interview given to the SonntagsZeitung on Sunday, EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren described the company's strategy for increasing its already-growing share of passengers in the Swiss market.

Lundgren told the German-language paper that in recent years, the low-cost British airline has counted about one million additional passengers in the Swiss market annually, and anticipates continued growth thanks to a combination of targeted advertising and larger planes.

EasyJet flights are mainly active in the Swiss airports at GenevaExternal link and Basel MulhouseExternal link, and Lundgren said he anticipates growth potential, particularly toward the French and German borders.

“In Alsace and in Baden-Württemberg we advertise – unlike many competitors – specifically for passengers. We can skim off these markets and increase capacities relatively easily, for example by using larger [aircraft],” Lundgren said.

Competitive advantage

In response to a question about competition, the CEO said that he was “very relaxed”, adding that he was not concerned about attempts by more expensive carriers, like Swiss International Airlines, to “copy” elements of EasyJet’s low-cost, low-service business model.

“By eliminating the food [for example], these airlines are destroying the competitive advantage that they had and that was their trademark. They want to lower their cost basis in this way, but the cost basis does not stand or fall with the food on board, but with the business model,” Lundgren told the SonntagsZeitung.

“I’ve been in tourism for over 30 years and airlines have been trying to change their business model over and over again. But ours is not easy to copy.”