Who will win the battle of the English channel? 60 years after the Allieds landed on the beaches of Normandy, fortunately, there were no armies ready to fight. The players in this economic struggle were the airlines and railways. Which is the cheapest and fastest among the two? Is the Brussels-London airline doomed to disappear? These are the questions that will be answered in the document.
I chose this topic because it is a subject much discussed, it especially was so in the autumn and winter of 2003 with the commissioning of the new high speed Eurostar. The topic lends itself to analyses and comparisons in price, travel time, comfort, economy and business strategies. This topic touches the firm in a socio-economic and industrial sense and as I am a fervent traveler, I am even more interested in this matter. I also have friends who work at SN Brussels Airlines, a Belgian airline which operates the Brussels-London route.
In this paper, I will analyze the competition between cross-channel rail company Eurostar and the airlines that provide the Brussels-London travel route. I limit to the Brussels-London line which was once the most discussed in the media. Competition between the corporation and Eurostar lies at the level of customer business. Time is money and that's why I did not include other means of transportation such as ferry and the shuttle, the shuttle in the Channel transports vehicles.
My graduation work consists of 6 chapters. In the first chapter "Eurostar", I will present the history, infrastructure and services provided by the company to customers and the controversy in England. In the second chapter "Eurostar to the airlines", I will discuss the economic situation of Eurostar and the various airlines linking Brussels to London. The third chapter "Price War", deals with the competition concerning prices. Here we will discuss the business strategy of Eurostar when compared to that of airlines. In the fourth chapter "Time is money," I shall make a comparison between Eurostar and the airlines in terms of travel time. The fifth chapter "Campaigns", discusses advertising campaigns by Eurostar, by different airlines and airport Zaventem. Finally, there will be a chapter on future prospects.
[...] There is a sharp rise in London, but the capacity is reduced by 30% following the end of the partnership with Sabena Virgin. The majority of customers are business men forming a direct competition between British Airways and Eurostar of course. VLM Airlines VLM offers regular flights from Brussels and Antwerp to the London airport which is located just minutes from the financial center of London and Canary Wharf where large banks like HSBC, Barclays and Merrill Lynch are located. [...]
[...] Eurostar to reach top speeds in UK. The Daily Telegraph 2003 (July 6). SLIT, Vincent A Channel everywhere?La Libre Belgique (October 3). SLIT, Vincent Do not create a Sabena bis. La Libre Belgique (March 17). SLIT, Vincent Our model makes sense. La Libre Belgique (March 25). SLIT, Vincent Virgin Express has eaten his black bread. La Libre Belgique (March 31). Smets, Freek Ryanair in Charleroi blijft. De Financiële Morgen (April 10). Smets, Freek Ryanair Wallonië my zet op de keel. [...]
[...] Others indicated that the price is a one way price, we can not travel during certain months, so hence must reserve up to a certain date since the flight does not operate everyday of the week Time is money In this fourth chapter, I will proceed to a comparison between Eurostar and other airlines when it comes travel. Eurostar and VLM Airlines have calculated the total time required to travel between a starting point and an end point to demonstrate and show that, their means of transportation is most efficient. [...]
[...] Eurostar also saw an increase in ticket sales due to the efficiency and convenience of a trip from one downtown to the next, for e.g., in Paris, Lille, Brussels and London. When this route is taken, one gets more than ten hours on site and makes the most of one's day. Eventually, the frequency of trains was increased this year with by at least 8 or 9 trains per day. There are a total of 40 million passengers in a year between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. [...]
[...] In its advertising campaign, for example, Eurostar transformed the Champs Elysees airstrip and the slogan is Eurostar to the Heart of Paris”. It means that with Ryanair or Easyjet, you arrive at a small airport outside Paris, while with Eurostar, it takes you straight to the heart of the French capital The cartoon character Eurostar has also collaborated with Peattie & Taylor, the designers who invented "Alex" the cartoon character. They created a special series designed to promote travel by Eurostar at the expense of air travel. [...]
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