The market share of low-cost carriers in Europe reached more then 16%, in May 2006 - a full 2.4% higher than at the same point 12 months prior.Research and Markets has announced the addition of "Primary Research into Easyjet and the UK Low Cost Carrier Market" to their offering.

In October 2006, YGX conducted an online survey to gauge easyJet's prospects for success within the UK low cost carrier (LCC) sector. The results indicate that things are looking good for easyJet. The full report gives detailed analyses of the responses and explains the implications of these findings.

The market share of low-cost carriers in Europe reached 16.3% in May 2006. This is a full 2.4% higher than at the same point 12 months prior. Of all the European countries, the UK has the highest penetration of low-cost carriers – with LCCs taking a 28.4% share from Jan-May 2006. There are now 48 low-cost airlines in Europe, operating out of 22 countries. However just 15 of these operate more than 50 flights a day. The two biggest low fare airlines in Europe are Ryanair and easyJet.

The main objective of this research is to assess easyJet's brand equity and to determine whether seat yields could increase. This requires analysis of the wider UK low cost carrier market. Key issues explored are:

Amongst all UK airline passengers:

• What is the general perception of easyJet. Has it changed? How are they perceived from a leisure vs. business perspective?
• What is the awareness generally of easyJet's service?
• What are the key criteria by which flyers evaluate carriers? How does easyJet score in each of these criteria in comparison to their rivals (with particular focus on British Airways and Ryanair)?
• How attractive are the elements of easyJet's service offering that easyJet is now promoting [such as frequency of flights on major routes]?
• To what extent are people bundling the purchase of broader travel requirements with air travel (such as hotels and car hire), and why?
• What are the reasons for flyers not choosing easyJet? And would they now consider using easyJet in the future?
• How price sensitive are flyers? Are personal flyers more price sensitive than business flyers?

Amongst UK airline passengers that have used easyJet in the last six months:

• What are the satisfaction levels of easyJet passengers – how loyal are easyJet customers and how likely are they to use easyJet again based on their prior experiences with easyJet?
• What additional revenue generating options have easyJet passengers signed up for? What impact does this have on the average yield per seat?
• How are customers purchasing easyJet's services (company website, online agency, traditional agency)?
• Each of these issues is explored in the context of a range of consumer segments (based on the demographic profiles of respondents).

www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c48470