Are easyJet more worthy of being the UK's flag carrier airline than British Airways?
Posted by ChineseHappyPeople@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 23 comments
They fly to/from more UK airports than BA and don't send everybody to London like BA do. Even though they only do short haul, if I'm flying to Europe for instance it's generally easier to fly with easyJet than it is with BA. Even if I do have to go through London, they have a lot of routes from Gatwick.
dbxp@reddit
By fleet size Bristow might actually be the biggest UK airline
Level_Confection_926@reddit
A fair point, but a flag carrier would be expected to be a full service airline that does long haul as well. It is a bit like the difference between SAS and Norwegian.
I think EasyJet has a great business model but it is limited in the sense that there is a single tier quality of service (besides EasyJet +) and they fly to profitable short haul locations. And they will charge you if your hold bag is 1kg over the limit, as they did last week. That said, their prices were great and they landed almost on time and at a convenient airport for me in Scotland.
If anything they could be a flag carrier for Scotland as BA is, as you say, London-centric whereas EasyJet have multiple overseas options directly from Scottish airports.
iffyClyro@reddit
BA, Qatar, Turkish Airlines and so on will also charge you for your luggage being overweight as well. Weigh your case at home.
Portsmouth_Sweep@reddit
British Airways fly from numerous airports outside of London, and fly around the world unlike easyJet, hence its between BA & Virgin.
iffyClyro@reddit
Think OP is raising the point that you can’t go anywhere abroad on a BA unless you transfer in London.
Portsmouth_Sweep@reddit
Well my closest airport is Southampton & you can absolutely fly BA from there direct to multiple countries. France, Spain, Portugal & Ireland, plus some seasonal flights too.
iffyClyro@reddit
Can’t find any direct BA flights to from Southampton online. When I looked it up it says those flights were suspended last year.
Portsmouth_Sweep@reddit
These are the current routes from Southampton routes according to their website.
iffyClyro@reddit
Yeah their website is obviously out of date.
iffyClyro@reddit
Yeah their website is obviously out of date.
EtwasSonderbar@reddit
BA don't even serve Southampton though??
Portsmouth_Sweep@reddit
They obviously do, just google it 🤷🏼♂️
EtwasSonderbar@reddit
Have you tried looking up the flights? I can get direct flights to Dublin (operated by Emerald Air) and Edinburgh (operated by Loganair), no results for Bergerac, didn't bother trying all the others.
I bet BA's famously shit website hasn't been updated.
Comfortable-Fall1419@reddit
It’s no different from any other European flag carrier nearly all of them have 1 global hub. AF = Paris, Iberia = Madrid KLM = Schipol.
So no.
RealRhialto@reddit
I’ve taken one return trip with easyJet. One leg out, one back.
I’ve had one delayed (> 4 hours) and 3 cancelled fights with easyJet, turning a 2 day trip into a 5 day one.
If easyJet is the only way to get somewhere, I don’t want to go.
l0stlabyrinth@reddit
Different business models. easyJet keep costs down by not operating from a hub but rather having regional bases whereas BA use the hub and spoke model, with the hub being Heathrow/Gatwick while other UK airports are the spoke that require transferring via the hub. That is the reason why passengers from certain regions get frustrated with BA and why they've earned the nickname London Airways.
In fact, I've heard some people in certain regions find it easier to fly KLM to Amsterdam (due to having a large UK regional footprint) then transferring.
BA's biggest problem is that they're so behind the times and are trading on former glory. Their app is terrible and is largely just a wrapper for their also terrible website. They don't let you check in more than 24 hours prior to flying even for short haul. They don't natively support loading boarding passes to Google Wallet, you have to take a screenshot to do so (admittedly this does work but it's still an extra step for the customer) and their IT often breaks down catastrophically. These are areas where even Ryanair have them beat in efficiency.
That said, it's not like easyJet are the greatest airline on Earth either. Out of the last three flights I've had with them, two have been massively delayed. Communication is non-existent and ground staff are nowhere to be found in these instances. Aftercare is also atrocious. When things go wrong with easyJet, they go horribly wrong.
whatmichaelsays@reddit
KLM is more of a British carrier than British Airways.
Dangerous-Regret-358@reddit
Koninklijkeluchtvaartmaatshappij
Wise_Store8857@reddit
By your rationale therefore, Easyjet, Ryanair and Wizzair would be the flag carriers for most European carriers given that they generally fly from more airports in various countries than the respective flag carriers.
They however they only provide short haul options. The traditional carriers for the most part offer both short and long haul, Virgin being an exception.
Psychological-Bag272@reddit
I haven’t flown with easyJet in many years; I usually go with Ryanair or BA. It’s nothing against easyJet, but their flight times never quite work for me, and they’re rarely the cheapest option for European travel. It doesn't do long haul so I don't think it can be compared to BA.
Psychological-Bag272@reddit
I haven’t flown with easyJet in many years; I usually go with Ryanair or BA. It’s nothing against easyJet, but their flight times never quite work for me, and they’re rarely the cheapest option for European travel. It doesn't do long haul so I don't think it can be compared to BA. Virgin VS BA makes more sense.
Reasonable_Blood6959@reddit
Depends exactly on how you want to define “flag carrier”
Number of UK airports served? Well KLM also serve more UK airports than BA
Is it easier to get to Europe on easyJet from a lot of places? Sure. But it’s completely impossible to get to North America, South America, Asia, Oceania, and anywhere in sub Saharan Africa.
Virgin won’t get you anywhere in Europe, at all.
BA are the only airline imo entitled to claim being the flag carrier
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