Bill Gleeson: People wrong to doubt the aims of EasyJet

Oct 24 2007 by Bill Gleeson, Liverpool Daily Post

EASYJET celebrated a big landmark in its history this week. The no-frills airline has now been operating flights from Liverpool John Lennon Airport for 10 years.

I remember first hearing about EasyJet’s plans for Liverpool and how the airport could see 3m passengers a year passing through its terminal on the back of cheap flights.

It seemed an ambitious plan at the time. The idea that people would turn away from the traditional flag-carrying airlines to one nobody had heard of was at best a long shot. Why would people put their lives in the hands of an airline that had no safety record and was trying to sell cost- cutting as a virtue? The hope that the local market could generate sufficient demand for air travel and that the local population would tolerate all of the extra noise pollution also seemed unlikely. Prior to EasyJet’s arrival, Liverpool was an airport that struggled to avoid a ghost town impression.

The doubters, however, have been proved wrong. Customers from all over the north of England have flocked to the airline. Passenger numbers have exceeded published predictions. JLA looks busy all year round and rival airlines, notably Ryanair, have followed EasyJet into Liverpool to bring real synergies to the airport business model.

But what of the next 10 years? Will EasyJet and others like it find it more difficult to grow in the future?

The biggest problem faced by the no-frills industry is the hardening of public attitudes to environmental issues. Points of view that would have looked extreme 10 years ago are now becoming acceptable to the wider population. The no-frills airlines are seen as being as bad for the planet as Chelsea tractors. A combination of changes to consumer spending habits and government policies could mean the market weakens in the years ahead.

From the perspective of the local economy, it would be a pity if that were to happen. It would mean that the period of prosperity and growth enjoyed by the airport would be shortlived, and, as everybody knows, growth industries are in short supply in this part of the world.

I WOULDN’T like to be thought of as a statto type of nerd, but I have opted to be a recipient of all press releases from the Office for National Statistics. Most of these I ignore, but one or two catch my eye.

One such yesterday was a press release that highlighted the ONS’s prediction that the UK population will grow to 65m people by 2016, up from its current level of 60.6m. Ten years further down the line, and the figure will pass the 70m mark.

Increased longevity and immigration are the principal causes of this rise.

One oddity is that the sharp rise is taking place at a time when emigration is running at record levels. Britons are choosing to move abroad to places like Spain and Australia for a variety of motivations, though here in late October it is easy to see why climate would feature towards the top of the list of reasons to go.

There is every sign these trends are set to continue. If that happens, it is safe to say that Britain will be a very different place to that which it is today.

But this is not necessarily a bad thing. Far from it, the changes could be very exciting indeed. A large number of the emigrants are moving overseas to retire, while the immigrants are coming here to work. The chances are that the Britain of the future will be a highly productive place that successfully rises to the economic challenges posed by the rise of China and India.