آیا استراتژی قیمت گذاری رینیر در در طول زمان تغییر کرده است؟تجزیه و تحلیل تجربی از پروازهای آن در 2006-2007

This paper analyzes the question of whether Ryanair's pricing strategies have changed over time. We create a panel dataset of fares for all of Ryanair's European flights over a two-year period, from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2007. We calculate the average fare over a 90-day period prior to departure and the intensity of dynamic pricing for each flight in the panel, in particular analysing the changes in these variables observed between pairs of “equivalent” flights. Our results show that overall, both average fares and the intensity of dynamic pricing decreased in 2007. More than one-third of flights saw a price reduction of more than 10%. Now that it has become the dominant low-cost carrier in Europe, Ryanair appears to be softening its dynamic pricing activities on existing routes, typically employed to stimulate additional touristic demand. Thus, booking in advance becomes relatively more expensive.

The pricing strategy of low-cost carriers is regarded as one of the most relevant factors for developing tourism towards short-haul destinations, especially in Europe. The most important European low-cost carrier, Ryanair, continues to grow at an astonishing rate. It handled up to 4.9 million passengers per month during 2007, as shown in Fig. 1. Its total traffic increased by 21.1% over the previous year. Revenues increased by 23% and the average revenue per passenger increased by 1.6%, as shown in Fig. 2. Ancillary revenues, now accounting for 17.8% of the total, far outpaced passenger growth with an increase of 41%. This confirms a trend observed over the last three years. The evolution in scheduled revenues is more controversial. During the last available accounting year (March 2006–February 2007) scheduled revenues increased by 7.1% to an average of 44.1€ per passenger. Over the 2007 calendar year, however, scheduled revenues per passenger appear steady: they register only a slight (1.2%) decrease, to 43.8€ per passenger. Through an in-depth analysis of all 2006 and 2007 fares offered on Ryanair flights, this paper tries to answer several questions. Does the slight decrease in the average scheduled revenues per passenger reflect a uniform change in offered fares? Or is it due to a difference in the proportions of early-buying and last-minute passengers? Which determinants of price are playing an increasingly dominant role? Are Ryanair's fares sensitive to the trend in oil prices? Will tourism benefit from even greater discounts?

The pricing activity of low-cost carriers affects the behaviour of price-sensitive leisure passengers. This paper tries to understand whether Ryanair's dynamic pricing strategy has changed noticeably over the period from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2007. Our results show that on average, both fares and the overall intensity of dynamic pricing significantly decreased. We analyse variations in both average prices over a 90-day period prior to departure (P) and the intensity of dynamic pricing strategies (β) by comparing each flight in 2006 with its equivalent flight in 2007. A pair of flights is considered equivalent if their departure times are comparable and they occur on the same day of the week and week of the year (or on the same bank holiday) in addition to serving the same route. By employing regression analysis on panel data, we correlate P and β with a set of explanatory variables related to the characteristics of routes, competitive conditions, the connected airports, and individual flight times. The resulting empirical model allows us to distinguish endogenous pricing strategy variations from changes due to the underlying explanatory variables. Ryanair's average prices and dynamic pricing activities are positively correlated with the number of fully booked days during both years of the study, but the model coefficients characterising these trends decreased in 2007. The positive relationship between fares and oil prices weakened in 2007, as did that between price and route distance. Flights departing from or arriving at airports dominated by Ryanair benefited from lower prices in 2006, and this trend grew even more pronounced in 2007. Ryanair also increased its discounts for advance booking when travelling from a dominated airport. Interestingly, the models suggest that Ryanair is pursuing a strategy of more dynamic pricing activities in order to exploit the regions with strong economic growth in 2007. This paper sheds some light on the “consolidation and growth” strategy of Ryanair. On one hand, global statistics indicate that Ryanair significantly cut back on the dynamic pricing of existing routes. After stimulating new demand and increasing the frequency of its existing flights, Ryanair has consolidated its dominant position by employing a less aggressive pricing strategy. On the other hand, it has also dramatically expanded its network—more than doubling its number of offered routes in just two years.