Situation.
Airline defining its position against low-cost and network competitors on short-haul and long-haul routes.
Strategic review.
European airline
Challenge.
A unit-cost disadvantage of approximately 25–30% against low-cost competitors made several theoretically attractive positions unavailable.
What we did.
Assessed positioning options against cost structure and market conditions, and recommended a direction with explicit preconditions.
The outcome.
Direction was set, with approximately 20% unit-cost reduction named as the precondition rather than left implicit.
Anonymised engagement. Figures are approximate. Targets, assessed potential, approved programmes and realised results are described separately in the outcome. Converted amounts use ECB reference rates dated 18 September 2026, rounded to two significant figures.
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