22 February, 2012

The new line Angers London will not take off if its prices don't land

A few days ago, Angers Loire Métropole announced the start of a new flight between Angers and London. That's good news if the prices are competitive. But it's not sure it will be the case. And the high cost from Angers could spell death for the Angers iniatiative. According to the Angers Loire Aéroport web site, the first price of an Angers-London is 78 € for a single one-way ticket with British Airways while it's only 27,99 € for the same trip from Tours with Ryanair. The cost of the highway for going to Tours (gas included) is 24,66 €. An in Tours the car park is free. So the cost of a trip for London from Tours is only 52,65 €, that is 33% less!


In times on economic restrictions for companies or households, the Angers new line could become quickly no competitive. And the Angers Marcé development once again reappraised. Another possibility could to get in touch with a low cost company but this one will look the potential market of Angers. The development of the Tours Loire Valley Airport loks much more important than in Angers airport while the population of the two urban areas are not so different : about 400 000 inhabitants for Tours and 345 000 for Angers.  May be Angers should change the name of its airport : Angers Loire Valley Airport? That sounds pretty good.

1 comment:

  1. The price difference is not as much as it might first appear. Flights to Angers land at London City, pretty much in the centre of London with easy access to tube and rail connections. Although flights from Tours are cheaper, unless a traveller is heading north or to the midlands in England, it will cost them approximately £28 (about €34) for a one-way train ticket into London. On that basis, Angers-London City should be able to compete with the Ryanair route, certainly for angevins.

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