easyJet aims to bolster market share in Berlin, Hamburg

Low-cost airline easyJet will focus on strengthening its existing bases in Germany before considering expansion at other airports such as Frankfurt, the head of its German operations said Tuesday. "We want to be the No. 1 and 2 in Berlin and Hamburg, respectively. That is the priority, not our market share in Germany," Thomas Haagensen said. EasyJet, the biggest airline at Berlin's Schoenefeld airport and the third biggest at Hamburg, currently has a market share of around 3% of air traffic in Germany, while rival Ryanair aims for 10% by the end of the current fiscal year. Haagensen said easyJet did not have a target market share for Germany, saying it only made sense to add share if it was profitable. Asked about whether easyJet could fly from Frankfurt, he also said fees there were still quite high for easyJet compared with other German airports. HSBC analysts said this week that easyJet needed to establish a meaningful presence in Germany to remain a leading pan-European airline and suggested the carrier could do a deal with TUI's TUIfly to buy German market share and compete with Ryanair.<br/>