As one reclines in a business class seat on an Etihad or Emirates jet, fresh from being pampered in the airport lounge, Ryanair is a word that rarely springs to mind.
But for one European airline, the budget Irish carrier serves as an inspiration in reviving the boutique aviation model that several have tried – and failed – to make work.
La Compagnie, based in France, is a budget business class-only airline operating between Paris and New York. It plans to start flying between London and the Big Apple on April 24.
Return fares on the new route are priced at £1,100 (Dh6,027) over summer – a little over half the cost of an equivalent business class seat booked with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
It doesn’t matter if you turn right on boarding a La Compagnie aircraft as there is no economy class cabin. The airline’s Boeing 757-200 aircraft, usually designed for about 235 passengers, have just 74 flatbed seats, each with a Samsung tablet stocked with movies, TV shows and books. Menus are designed by the renowned French chef Christophe Langrée, and passengers also get access to airport lounges.
None of that sounds very Ryanair. But Frantz Yvelin, the chief executive of La Compagnie, said he has been inspired by the Irish airline – along with the likes of easyJet and Southwest – in his attempt to bring a “revolution in the skies” similar to that achieved by low-cost carriers.
“For years, travelling long-haul was only synonymous with pain – either a physical one at travelling coach class, or a financial one at travelling business,” said Mr Yvelin.
“Obviously, we do not pretend to provide the best business class in the skies. But we certainly have one of the best on the North Atlantic [and are by] far the most affordable.”
Examples of how the qualities of the no-frills airlines extend to La Compagnie include the airline’s location in a cheaper Paris suburb, the fact that each flight will have just three cabin crew, and Mr Yvelin’s claim that his salary is lower than that of the pilots he employs.
Even the management style of the outspoken Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary – who once proposed charging passengers for using the toilet – had been an inspiration in structuring the business.
“I am clearly considering Ryanair as a role model when it comes to the one-product-only philosophy – to our cost structure, to our yield-management strategy, or even to our in-house management style,” said Mr Yvelin.
Yet history does not bode well for the carrier. Three such airlines – Silverjet, Eos and Maxjet – launched in the UK during the noughties, and all failed in quick succession in 2008.
On the other hand, L’Avion – a fourth European business class-only carrier, which flew between Paris-Orly and Newark and was also founded by Mr Yvelin – was acquired by British Airways for £54 million in 2008. It later merged with BA’s OpenSkies subsidiary, which now operates aircraft with three-class cabins.
Some analysts believe there is little chance La Compagnie can succeed where the others failed.
Saj Ahmad, the chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said the airline was “on borrowed time” and would not survive if oil prices returned to US$100, something the airline disputes.
“It was the high fuel price environment of 2007 that killed Eos, Silverjet and Maxjet,” he said.
“Ryanair and easyJet are brilliant models. But is La Compagnie? Not a chance. The other two airlines are not exclusively business class operators, so they have a bigger diversified customer base … I struggle to make the connection as to how this is inspiring when you ostracise the very market that Ryanair and easyJet ply their trade in.”
John Strickland, an aviation analyst at UK-based JLS Consulting, said business travellers like to have backup services for when flights are delayed or cancelled. And that is something BA and Virgin, but not La Compagnie, can provide.
“The crème de la crème market segment and customers expect frequent flights with all the trimmings, and all the backup when something goes wrong,” he said. “Operating in isolation at a London airport other than Heathrow [Luton] with an unknown name will be a real uphill struggle.”
Josh Marks, a former executive at the failed airline Maxjet, said La Compagnie would “succeed to a point”, but said that raising capital for expansion could be a challenge.
“Prospective investors will be increasingly sceptical about La Compagnie’s growth potential,” said Mr Marks, who is now the chief executive of the US-based masFlight, which specialises in data analytics for airlines.
“While the airline may become the biggest all-business-class boutique [carrier], it’s still competing in a niche market segment with a cap on the number of viable routes.”
The Maxjet business model was inherently flawed because it wasn’t robust enough to survive the financial crisis, Mr Marks added. “Making a bet on a single demographic … creates problems when the economy tanks,” he said. “Combine a drop in demand with a spike in fuel, as we saw in late 2007 and 2008, and it’s hard for boutique airlines to survive. That’s why so many carriers died during that period.”
Given the difficulty of establishing a specialist business class-only airline on prime transatlantic routes, few paint a rosy picture of the viability of such a carrier taking off in the Arabian Gulf.
Qatar Airways last May launched its Business One service between Doha and London, which flies an Airbus A319 with 40 lie-flat seats and no economy class. But there is no dedicated business class carrier in the region – Silverjet flew between the UK and Dubai for just a matter of months before flights were suspended when the airline failed. And ArabJet, a proposed business class-only airline based in Dubai, does not appear to have got off the ground; its former chief executive, Mohammed El Shanti, did not respond to requests for comment.
Chris Tarry, a consultant at Ctaira, a British aviation consultancy, said it would be “challenging” to launch such an airline in the Gulf compared with on busy point-to-point transatlantic routes.
“It’s a market with volume, but a lot of that volume is driven by connecting traffic,” he said of the Gulf market.
The strength of the big three Gulf airlines – Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways – means that launching a business class-only airline in the region would not be an easy task, said Peter Morris, the chief economist at Ascend Flightglobal Consultancy.
“The three main incumbents in the Middle East have become too strong and know their markets inside and out,” he said. “I am sure someone will try it, but again the path to build up a brand will be long and challenging.”
Even Mr Yvelin said a scheduled all-business class service to a market such as Dubai does not currently make sense. But he did not entirely dismiss the model in the Gulf market. “I never said ‘never’,” the French executive said.
business@thenational.ae
Upcoming games
SUNDAY
Brighton and Hove Albion v Southampton (5.30pm)
Leicester City v Everton (8pm)
MONDAY
Burnley v Newcastle United (midnight)
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
A general guide to how active you are:
Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary
5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active
10,000 - 12,500 steps - active
12,500 - highly active
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Match info
Deccan Gladiators 87-8
Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16
Maratha Arabians 89-2
Chadwick Walton 51 not out
Arabians won the final by eight wickets
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 178hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 280Nm at 1,350-4,200rpm
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh209,000
On sale: now
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
SPAIN SQUAD
Goalkeepers Simon (Athletic Bilbao), De Gea (Manchester United), Sanchez (Brighton)
Defenders Gaya (Valencia), Alba (Barcelona), P Torres (Villarreal), Laporte (Manchester City), Garcia (Manchester City), D Llorente (Leeds), Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders Busquets (Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Pedri (Barcelona), Thiago (Liverpool), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Ruiz (Napoli), M Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards: Olmo (RB Leipzig), Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Morata (Juventus), Moreno (Villarreal), F Torres (Manchester City), Traore (Wolves), Sarabia (PSG)
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20PRO%20(12.9%22%2C%202022)
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ICC Intercontinental Cup
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (captain), Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Saqlain Haider, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Naveed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Boota, Amir Hayat, Ashfaq Ahmed
Fixtures Nov 29-Dec 2
UAE v Afghanistan, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Ireland v Scotland, Dubai International Stadium
Namibia v Netherlands, ICC Academy, Dubai
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
Royal Birkdale Golf Course
Location: Southport, Merseyside, England
Established: 1889
Type: Private
Total holes: 18
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
BIG SPENDERS
Premier League clubs spent £230 million (Dh1.15 billion) on January transfers, the second-highest total for the mid-season window, the Sports Business Group at Deloitte said in a report.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Company%20profile
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