The Engine Cowl

Airline Insight E8 In this episode, John Strickland and Garth Lund look at some of the actions taken by European airlines in light of a persistently challenging operating environment. What we cover: Ryanair's winter capacity reduction Strategic reset for Air Baltic How Norse Atlantic is adapting to challenging conditions Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Air Baltic has announced a reversal of its post-covid growth strategy, aiming to shrink its fleet, grow revenue, and ultimately deliver an EBITDAR margin in excess of 25%.

Airline Insight E7 In this episode, John Strickland and Garth Lund look at June quarter results for the European network airlines where strong premium and long-haul revenue helped to offset the impact of higher fuel prices. What we cover: June quarter results from Air France-KLM, IAG and Lufthansa Group Wizz Air June quarter results Apollo acquisition of easyJet Leadership changes in India Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Europe’s three network carrier groups are in flux. Subject to regulatory approval, Lufthansa Group and Air France-KLM will take majority stakes in ITA Airways and SAS, respectively, while both have submitted bids for TAP Air Portugal. Among the three groups, Lufthansa Group is currently the largest in terms of both passenger numbers and revenue (although IAG is larger in terms of available seat kilometers).

All three major European network airline groups saw operating margin fall year-on-year (YoY) as fuel costs rose but strong premium and long-haul revenue were able to offset much of the damage. Unsurprisingly, IAG delivered the highest margin and the smallest YoY deterioration. Lufthansa Group came in with the weakest margin and the most pronounced YoY deterioration. In contrast to the European LCCs, unit revenue was a strong point for all three network airline groups.

Airline Insight E6 Both easyJet and Ryanair reported similar trends for the June quarter with softer yields and higher fuel expenses hitting profitability. In this episode, John Strickland and Garth Lund discuss industry highlights from the first set of June quarter results and what renewed conflict in the Gulf means for airlines.

easyJet reported similar themes to Ryanair for its June quarter results with margin performance coming under pressure from both higher costs and a weaker revenue environment. easyJet’s operating margin fell by seven points year-on-year (YoY) from 10% to 3% as a result of both unit cost and unit revenue moving adversely compared to 2025. Revenue per Available Seat Kilometer (RASK) fell by 3% on the back of 1.3ppt lower load factor and weaker fares.

Ryanair’s June quarter results saw operating profit fall by 37% as operating margin declined from 21% to 13%. While a double-digit operating margin would be a solid outcome for most airlines, this was not Ryanair’s best performance. Nevertheless, the higher fuel expenses and weaker fares which eroded profitability in Q1 are also likely to reinforce Ryanair’s long-term competitive advantage as its rivals come under pressure through the rest of the year.

Traveldax has spent over a decade helping airlines and OTAs understand how their fares stack up in the market. In this episode, Valentino Portnoy, founder and CEO of Traveldax, joins Garth Lund to break down how competitive fare intelligence works. This deep dive covers Traveldax's AI visibility testing, why airlines are still checking cross-channel pricing manually, and the case for multi-channel pricing over full content parity.

Ep 5: How European airline consolidation is progressing easyJet has recently been the subject of several bids by Castlelake to acquire the airline. The move comes amid a broader trend of M&A activity in the sector. In this episode, John Strickland and Garth Lund look at ongoing consolidation among key European airlines.