Has Ryanair’s new airline got a sting in its tail? The Dublin-based low-cost carrier has decided to rebrand its wholly-owned Polish subsidiary as ‘Buzz’ featuring a honey bee design. The airline was previously known as Ryanair Sun and it offers charter services for Polish travel operators as well as some scheduled Ryanair flights.
The rebranding will come into effect in Autumn 2019 and the airline will operate on a recently acquired Polish Air Operator’s Certificate. The fleet currently comprises of 17 Boeing 737 aircraft but there are plans to grow that number to 25 by the Summer.
“Ryanair has grown to become Poland’s biggest airline, thanks to the unbeatable combination of the lowest fares, best customer service and largest route network,” explained Juliusz Komorek, who’s chairman Buzz Supervisory Board.
Which makes you wonder, if Ryanair’s brand recognition and penetration is already so big in Poland, why would it decide to create a new brand which isn’t recognised and let’s be honest, is just a little childish?
Ryanair did, however, recently said it would create a new business structure which it likened to the IAG Group which owns British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus. Under the new structure, which is being led by Michael O’Leary, there are four airline brands – the main Ryanair, as well as a British Ryanair (for Brexit), alongside Laudamotion and now Buzz.
The airline came in for considerable criticism last year following allegations it threatened to sack Ryanair Sun cabin crew who attempted to form a union. The airline forced crew to sign self-employment contracts that prevented them from becoming union members despite the fact that they worked full-time for Ryanair.
During a period of industrial unrest in 2018, Ryanair was considering moving six aircraft from its Dublin base to Ryanair Sun because Irish pilots had gone on strike. Thankfully, both sides eventually came to a negotiated settlement and the aircraft remained in Dublin.
