Ryanair's screwed-up multi-brand strategy
A lot announced and little to nothing implemented, these words probably best describe Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary's "multi-brand strategy". The acquisition of Lauda was actually intended to bring a second brand into the group that would appeal to passengers who would never book with Ryanair. In part, this has even succeeded, as even some media occasionally write about "Lauda Air", although it has long since ceased to exist and there is no formal connection. A "second secondary brand" was then announced very quickly with Malta Air, and shortly thereafter the Polish Ryanair Sun was to appear with its own identity as a "third secondary brand" from autumn 2019. What Michael O'Leary wanted to achieve with three sub-brands alongside Ryanair was a mystery to the industry from the start. Lauda and Ryanair's products were actually different in the first few months. For example, the mainline had already started charging extra for hand luggage trolleys much earlier and had a completely different range of food and drinks on board. But that has stopped since the start of the 2019/2020 summer flight plan period, so that the products were identical. Only Lauda flew with A320 and Ryanair with Boeing 737-800 and the planes have different seats. But that's about it with the differences. What about Buzz and Malta Air? The cabins are completely identical to those of Ryanair and only differ in the logo on the safety cards. So far, Buzz has refrained from using the logo on the safety cards, because it is still Ryanair's logo.
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