Network-legacy airline business model developments in the post-COVID European market
Network-legacy airline business model developments in the post-COVID European market

Summary/Abstract: The deregulation of passenger air transport was the first major trigger of changes in airline busi-ness models. For more than two decades now the hybridization of the two major business modelsin aviation (network legacy airlines and low-cost carriers) has been observed but the COVID-19pandemic seems to have a strong catalytic effect in the ongoing process.The paper focuses on the developments of airline business models in the wake of the turbulenceinduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus is on identifying market shifts that happened since2020 that led to airlines seeking new opportunities to gain competitive advantage. Moreover, theauthors aim at identifying how network-legacy carriers adjust their business models to catch upwith their low-cost counterparts in terms of traffic recovery and growth.Following the COVID-19 pandemic, network-legacy carriers (NLCs) were disadvantaged comparedto low-cost carriers (LCCs). In response, NLCs further hybridized their business models, includingtargeting leisure and VFR markets to a larger extent. However, this strategy is not fully aligned withoperational aspects of NLCs’ business model. As a result, this shift may be temporary

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