podcast

Airline Insight Ep 10: Lufthansa Group wins the TAP Air Portugal bid

In this episode, John Strickland and Garth Lund discuss Lufthansa Group’s winning bid for a stake in TAP, the Azores Airlines sale, and John’s interview with Norse Atlantic’s CEO at WAF.

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Airline Insight Ep 9: Volotea downsizes as European airlines adjust to higher fuel costs

In this episode, John Strickland and Garth Lund take a deep dive into Volotea’s restructuring as high fuel prices put pressure on European airlines.

Volotea

Volotea: Flying under the radar

Volotea has typically maintained a lower profile than some of its LCC peers. But in September 2026, the Spanish airline filed for preliminary creditor protection in Barcelona after the Iran conflict added €150 million to its fuel bill. What does that mean for the airline and its network? Consistent growth

Airline Tech

Ep 8: How Movmo is bringing identity-led checkout to airline booking flows - with Garth Lund and Kameron Bertine

Around 89% of airline booking carts are abandoned, according to Movmo, which is building a checkout and identity layer to change that. In this episode, Garth Lund speaks with Kameron Bertine, co-founder of Movmo, about one-click checkout, why identity matters for personalization, and why agentic booking is not

podcast

Airline Insight Ep 8: European airlines prepare for a challenging winter season

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.

Air Baltic

Can Air Baltic shrink to profitability?

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%.  Air Baltic's turnaround plan 1. Refocus the network on the Riga hub 2. Reduce fleet size from 54 aircraft

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Airline Insight Ep 7: Strong Q2 revenue vs higher fuel bill for European network carriers

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.

Europe

How will Europe's three network carrier groups rank post-consolidation?

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. What will happen to the relative size of the three groups after

Europe

European network airlines Q2: Strong revenue performance partially offsets higher fuel prices

Margin performance hit by higher fuel costs 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

podcast

Airline Insight Ep 6: Softer yields and higher fuel prices hit European LCC profitability

Both easyJet and Ryanair reported similar trends for the June quarter with softer yields and higher fuel expenses hitting profitability.

easyJet

easyJet 3Q26 results: Higher expenses and weaker revenue deteriorate margin

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.   Key highlights easyJet’s operating margin fell by seven points year-on-year (YoY) from 10% to 3% as a result of both unit

Ryanair

Ryanair 1Q27 results: Short-term pain but expecting long-term gain

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

Airline Tech

Ep 7: How fare data from Traveldax is helping airlines compete on price across every channel - with Garth Lund and Valentino Portnoy

Traveldax's team has spent over a decade helping airlines and OTAs understand how their fares stack up in the market. In this episode, Garth Lund speaks with Valentino Portnoy, founder and CEO of Traveldax, about how airlines use competitor fare data and how AI could change the way

podcast

Airline Insight 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.

European Union

EU passenger rights overhaul: what it means for airlines

The EU wants to overhaul passenger rights. After over a decade under review, revised legislation has entered its final phase for approval. Following two months of conciliation talks, a joint text published on June 15 will now be voted on by the European Council and Parliament. While some proposed changes

Airline Tech

Ep 6: How flight subscriptions are turning unsold seats into recurring revenue - with Garth Lund and Iñaki Uriz

For almost a decade, Caravelo has been at the forefront of scaling the flight subscription model with airlines worldwide. In this episode, Garth Lund speaks with Iñaki Uriz, CEO and Co-founder of Caravelo, about why flight subscriptions are gaining traction with airlines and how the model generates incremental revenue.

IndiGo

Unpacking IndiGo's FY26 results and outlook

Weaker rupee drives loss but core business remains robust On the surface, IndiGo’s FY26 results saw a substantial deterioration compared to the prior year. The airline swung from a net profit of ₹75,934 million ($799 million) in FY25 to a net loss of ₹23,936 million ($252 million)

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Airline Insight Ep 4: How Europe's three large LCCs are weathering a challenging environment

Ryanair recently published an impressive set of results for the past financial year and announced that it is nearly debt-free. Meanwhile, easyJet saw non-fuel cost inflation increase over the past six months.

Ryanair

Ryanair FY26 results: Nearly debt-free

Ryanair confirmed this week that it will repay its last remaining bond on May 25, funded entirely from cash. Once settled, the €1.2 billion bond repayment will leave Europe's largest low-cost carrier nearly debt-free, with 620 of its 647 aircraft owned outright and unencumbered. Key

easyJet

Cost pressure reduces easyJet's H1 margin

easyJet published its FY2026 H1 (October to March) results on May 21. Despite unit revenue growth, higher non-fuel expenses widened the airline’s H1 operating loss from £369 million last year to £533 million in FY26. Key Figures Longer stage length driving ASK growth Capacity measured in available seat

Airline Tech

Ep 5: How AI is transforming revenue management - with Garth Lund and Charles Pierre

Advanced AI and machine-learning techniques are transforming how airlines optimize revenue. Wiremind has been at the forefront of this shift since 2014. In this episode, Garth Lund speaks with Charles Pierre, CTO and Co-founder of Wiremind, about how AI is changing airline revenue management (RM), from demand forecasting

Copa Airlines

Copa Airlines continues to deliver

Copa Airlines once again posted a strong set of results for Q1 2026 with margin performance among the best in the industry. Operating margin came in at 24.6%, up from 23.8% in the same quarter last year. Revenue per available seat mile (RASM) was up 2.7% year-

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Airline Insight Ep 3: European network airlines deliver a strong Q1

Q1 saw almost across-the-board margin improvement among Europe's network airlines but higher fuel prices have put a damper on expectations for the rest of 2026. In this episode of Airline Insight, John Strickland and Garth Lund look at how the three network airlines groups in Europe

United Airlines

United Airlines returns to Venezuela

United Airlines has announced it will resume nonstop daily service between Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS) in Caracas, subject to government approval. Starting August 11, the route will be operated with Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft. United Airlines becomes the second United States-

Lufthansa Group

Lufthansa Group to increase its stake in ITA Airways to 90%

Lufthansa Group announced on May 12 that it “will exercise its option to acquire a majority stake in ITA Airways in June of this year”. The group will pay €325 million to increase its stake in the Italian airline from 41% to 90%. Lufthansa Group has held a 41% interest