Low Fare and Regional Airlines Magazine – LARA
Passenger numbers have plummeted, ticket prices are falling but per-passenger spend on ancillaries is up. So, is this the big opportunity for low-airfare airlines to lift their game and broaden their horizons to capture more of a traveller’s spending? Michael Doran mines the data. The 2020 CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany reported 2019 global ancillary revenues of US$109.5 billion and per-passenger spend at $23.91. Their estimate for 2020 is for revenues around $58.2bn and per-passenger spend of $25.90, although a third-quarter 2020 survey showed spending of $26.91. IdeaWorks President Jay Sorensen says he is currently collecting the 2020 data, and without revealing too much, he took LARA through some initial findings of the 2021 yearbook. He believes Frontier Airlines will be the top carrier globally on a percentage basis and that there is a shift in revenues from fares to ancillaries, particularly in the case of ULCCs.