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Shanwickman
11th Mar 2008, 22:07
eu01, could you translate your last post please?

eu01
12th Mar 2008, 12:21
eu01, could you translate your last post please?
Just go to ryanair.com's booking page. Select an outbound flight in any week and the return flight in a next week. Then try to change the day of your outbound flight in such a way that the departure were just a few days before the date of your return flight (the same week). You will not succeed. Even if the pre-selected day of return is on, say, Saturday, you will not be able to get to the outbound flights' prices any more (even on Monday). Just try to do it, you won't need any "translation".

Btw. My purpose isn't to laugh at Ryanair in any way. I just want to show them some vulnerabilities of their system in order to improve the services. Unfortunately, one of their weaknesses is a persistent unwilingness to co-operate with more or less friendly customers. :hmm:

escortmk2
12th Mar 2008, 13:26
Flew BUD-DUB last night and had done our web check-in over the weekend. I had a bit of difficulty at first getting a print of the boarding passes but managed to get them by using the reprint facility. We got through security and passport control without a problem but when we got to the gate they knew nothing about us. A few frantic phone calls later they apologied saying they weren't expecting us. A glitch in the (new) system apparently. It's not very re-assuring. Travel can be stressful enough without now having to worry about whether your check-in has been processed.

fos06
12th Mar 2008, 17:55
New Routes:

BRE-HAU 2/7
BRE-SZG 3/7

Increase

BRE-PMI from 2/7 to 3/7
BRE-AGP from 3/7 to 4/7

Canceled

BRE-BVA
BRE-BTS

boyzinblue
14th Mar 2008, 07:06
Lübeck - Shannon and Lübeck - Prestwick showing in the Book Now section. I persume still an upgrade problem or are these routes going to be reinstated?

Wellington Bomber
14th Mar 2008, 10:14
Good to see MOL horse get beaten at cheltenham yesterday, he was going to give a million seats away at one pound if it won

WHBM
14th Mar 2008, 10:36
I hear the horse is being sent for some retraining by galloping alongside Ryanair taxying aircraft :)

Cloud Bunny
14th Mar 2008, 11:20
Nah, he shot that Horse and is going to import one from Poland that is cheaper to run! :}

GLENO
14th Mar 2008, 12:22
Wellington Bomber.......Does'nt matter where the Horse came, they are on sale anyway for 2p return including taxes!! to various destinations.......

ESCNI
14th Mar 2008, 14:17
...no great fan of Michael Ryan, but the word chutzpah (http://www.answers.com/chutzpah&r=67) springs to mind.

Coquelet
14th Mar 2008, 16:05
Ryanair announces : Although the Ryanair horse didn't win, we will still give away 1 million free seats, because we probably jinxed him !
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=08&month=mar&story=pro-en-130308-2

JadeGoody
14th Mar 2008, 19:21
Checked ryanair site at 10:25 and look what i found..! but its dissaperad now..! http://www.hahn-infos.com/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif
http://maxupload.com/img/C7562BB2.jpg
http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=namnlspa4.jpg

Jippie
15th Mar 2008, 01:35
The rumour are probably true then..
I prefer NRN-VXO but well, i've nothing to say.

FA10
15th Mar 2008, 15:02
Stansted - Salzburg has disappeared from the booking engine yesterday.
Does anybody know what´s going on?

adam12345
15th Mar 2008, 18:32
Does anybody know where Ryanair might choose to fly to from BHX in the future, my hopes on Valencia..:ok:

ncleflights
15th Mar 2008, 21:03
Is the Ryanair website having tech probs again- does not matter which verison I try to enter I get automatically routed to the German one.

daz211
15th Mar 2008, 21:18
I keep getting Ireland :confused:

Charlie Roy
19th Mar 2008, 09:31
(None of which were rumoured in this thread)

East Midlands to Malaga
Rome to Alghero
Bergamo to Trapani
Stockholm to Rostock
Shannon to Berlin
Shannon to Salzburg

Charlie Roy
19th Mar 2008, 09:48
Hahn - Berlin
Marseille - Beauvais

frelli
19th Mar 2008, 09:54
Ryanair seems to have introduced a bounch of new flights:

http://www.theairdb.com/news/2008-03-19-ryanair.html

vkid
19th Mar 2008, 10:42
Press conference at 11 o'clock in Limerick apparently

840
19th Mar 2008, 12:21
Shannon-Berlin announced

In the small print at the bottom, Shannon-Riga and Shannon-Kaunas got cancelled to free up capacity for the route.

vkid
19th Mar 2008, 12:58
usual ryanair route rejiggles so..although i'd think the Berlin route is a better option than the 2 lost imo

840
19th Mar 2008, 13:03
Except that Riga is the only service to Latvia from Munster and there are quite a lot of Latvians living in Munster. A Berlin service will be up against Aer Lingus' Cork-Berlin service and it's questionable whether there's room for both. It could end up like Madrid with services withdrawn from both airports.

Charlie Roy
19th Mar 2008, 13:10
Indeed, I am shocked that Ryanair are dropping SNN - RIX :ouch:
Gobsmacked in fact.
Surely now ORK - RIX is a no brainer for Aer Lingus or Air Baltic.

vkid
19th Mar 2008, 13:35
I've often wondered though why FR do little or no advertising of some SNN routes in the region though. Very small ads in regional papers (if any) and little else compared to Air France with large 1/2 or full page ads all over the place billboards etc, for the cityjet CDG routes and onward connections...
A lot of people dont even know certain routes exist with FR and Riga and Kaunas are 2 that will result in many people going ...Where? Really..Did they fly there? A lot of the UK/France/German routes are well known but some of the less known destinations could do with a small bit more of a push imo if they are to work. Maybe not the FR way of operating though

Charlie Roy
19th Mar 2008, 14:34
I've often wondered though why FR do little or no advertising of some SNN routes in the region though.

Here, here! A friend of mine has more than 30 Lithuanian/Latvian co-workers where he works in Cork city. At Christmas time when a lot were flying home for the festivities he was surprised that they were flying from Dublin. On asking them if the Shannon flights were too expensive or booked out, it appeared that none of them even knew about the Shannon/Baltic flights!

fivejuliet
19th Mar 2008, 15:20
quite a lot of Latvians living in Munster

Quite a lot aint good enough for Ryanair.........the few thousand who might only make the trip home at Christmas and summer perhaps, dunno really how that could sustain a twice weekly route


Berlin is interesting though. Might use that myself...

Richard Taylor
19th Mar 2008, 15:34
"...might use that myself..." Hmm, not sure RYR could sustain a route on that basis either...:rolleyes:

fivejuliet
19th Mar 2008, 15:40
Ok, fine I will use it :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

kingdee
19th Mar 2008, 18:21
people have one track minds .
E.G ENGLAND = LONDON
FRANCE = PARIS
And yes IRELAND = DUBLIN .

airhumberside
19th Mar 2008, 21:19
Are HHN-SXF and BVA-MRS double daily or not?

boyzinblue
20th Mar 2008, 06:21
Hahn-Berlin is double daily.

Rostock-Stockholm for the summer has also been announced. From June-August on Tuesdays and Saturdays. If the route is successful then they may consider extention/new routes.

EU-FOD
20th Mar 2008, 08:20
Hello! First time to post on PRPrune, so here goes:

FR BVA to MRS is definitely 4 / week. The HHN / Berlin service looks like a double daily based on estimated pax numbers for the coming year, of some
240k.

iwhak
20th Mar 2008, 14:21
The reason Cityjet are marketing so much is that the incentives offered by the combined SNN lobby were to say the least massive, and as they took the risk fair play to them. However, since Ryanair announced the Shannon base routes have not been dedided solely on commercial merit but more on the basis of who we damage most, particularly Galway and to an extent Cork and also anybody else operating from Shannon. Looking at the SNN business case without FR they have lost nearly every other european operator, the EI deal on transatlantic has been watered substantially and when the troops dry up who knows what's for SNN, there is no plan, because there can't be Ryanair run the show. How many routes out of the West of Ireland have been started by FR only to be dropped, when it suited them or when the competition had been quashed by preadtory pricing. These routes will never be operated again by Ryanair or indeed any other carrier. When these routes are dropped are the punitive measures in the new route contract being properly applied by Shannon, indeed new routes that come about by creating capacity through closing another should not receive any discounts. Regrettably for SNN and the West of Ireland the tourist economy will be dictated by MOL in a few years and that base will be a fraction of its current size. It was a bad day for the West of Ireland when SNN agreed that deal, hopefully someone from the EU will start looking at this very very closely! Ryanair and MOL have been great for this country and balancing air travel, however in the case of Shannon they are in my view a disaster.

Gar
20th Mar 2008, 23:04
I flew (as a passenger!) Bournemouth to Prestwick on Tuesday and my flight was delayed for 3 and a half hours due to "operational reasons", and the aircraft that eventually took us home seemed to be of Italian origin. Does anyone have access to information as to what the "operational reasons" were? There was an AN-22 at Prestwick when I landed and I thought I saw an engine being loaded on to it. Likely to be linked?

Knife-Edge
20th Mar 2008, 23:27
Flew back from Dublin to Bournemouth today - about an hour late and also appeared to be an Italian crew. Do the Italian based a/c fly W-patterns to from UK/Ireland?

EGAC_Ramper
21st Mar 2008, 00:14
English crews are based in mainland Europe and Italians/French/Germans etc can be based in UK/Ireland. They are all spread about the bases with contract pilots also being on non fixed based contracts.

Voldermort
21st Mar 2008, 00:42
Gar
The PIK - BOH route is operated by a PIK based a/c however I do remember noticing on Tue that around 10 in the morning they already had a delay on the departure to BOH from 1400ish to around 1730 which seemed a bit odd. The flight was operated by a non based a/c which operates the FR415 from STN and instead of going back to STN at around 1730 as the FR422 it operated the BOH rotation and then (I think) operated the delayed 422 also some 3.5 hours late.
Pretty sure the a/c was EI-CSZ the one with the "Arrivederci Alitalia" titles.
Not sure of the "operational reason" but it was something they new about well in advance and put a plan of sorts into action rather than cancel the flight.
The An22 took some "stuff" out to Gostomel/Kiev in the Ukraine the following day so it was nothing to do with Ryanair.

Gar
21st Mar 2008, 09:20
Thanks a lot for that information - you are correct about the "Arrivederci Alitalia" titles. You are also correct in saying that it was good they put a plan of action in place instead of cancelling the flight as a stay in BOH longer than my already-extended stay would have been a form of torture. There is literally nothing to do!

Where do you get your PIK information? I was looking around for PIK-or -GLA-based forums last night but could not find one

Skipness One Echo
21st Mar 2008, 12:09
www.acarsd.org/acars_search.html is very hekpful for this kind of question

jack_essex
21st Mar 2008, 18:17
Ryanair confirmed this afternoon (21st March 2008) that its flight FR1216 from Brussels Charleroi to Limoges in Western France, which landed on schedule at 16.00 (local), skidded after landing and the aircraft came to a stop approx. 10 metres off the end of the runway in a grass run-off area.
At the time of landing, it was raining, the runway was wet and subject to gusting winds, although the prevailing conditions were within safely limits.

None of the 175 passengers, or the 6 crew suffered injuries as a result of this skid. The Captain initiated an emergency exit and passengers were evacuated using the aircraft slides and were transferred by bus to the terminal building. Their bags were subsequently removed to allow them continue onwards to their destination. All passengers have been offered any assistance necessary in order to complete their journey. One pregnant passenger has been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

Further details available on Ryanair website

MUFC_fan
21st Mar 2008, 19:31
Not very often an airline will give that much information for an aircraft incident of their own!

Well done FR crew - they must be trained properly whatever people say!:ok:

One of the older birds by look of the picture!

take-off
21st Mar 2008, 19:37
At least they weren't late!!!!:E

Not the first thing you think about , the punctuality of your flight as its skidding off the runway....;)

But good job all were sfe and not hurt, end of day thats all the matters:ok::ok::D

adam12345
22nd Mar 2008, 19:47
Anybody know if Ryanair are looking to open any new bases soon and if there are any new routes on the horizon..thanks:ok:

OliWW
22nd Mar 2008, 20:45
Ive heard a rumor that Ryanair are proposing to start

East Mids - Preswick
East Mids - Porto
East Mids - Dusseldorf
East Mids - Malta

and Also

Bremen - Belfast City

Visual Calls
22nd Mar 2008, 20:50
Well done FR crew - they must be trained properly whatever people say!

Hmmm, they landed on a wet runway at the exact time the METAR was giving an on-limits steady tailwind, with out of limit tailwind gusts. I'd hold the praise for the moment and just be glad that the expected smoking hole was once more narrowly avoided.
Of more concern would be the corporate culture that pushed 2 pilots into landing in the conditions they did, where the prudent course would appear to have been to hold off or divert. Ultimately safety starts at the top and in an organisation where the top has no interest in safety (it costs money), therein lies a problem.

MUFC_fan
22nd Mar 2008, 22:48
Could we see any major LCC launch a base in the Canary Islands?

If so I would guess it would be FR from TFS.

Opening destinations from TFS to Europe would make a killing on inflight products and pretty much every airport they serve would be able to suit atleast 3x weekly flights. Take LPL fo example - TFS and FUE must be two of the highest load factors of any route on the FR network.

Will it happen in the near future?

daz211
22nd Mar 2008, 22:59
I cant understand why Ryanair have not started flights to TFS from STN ,the route would make a killing, even on a twice daily :ugh:

LPA would be nice :ok:.

MUFC_fan
22nd Mar 2008, 23:28
daz211

Agree with you on both comment there.

Would have thought TFS would be a LTN destination which seems to get the longer flights (Marrakesh and Malta etc.) but STN would definately be able to take atleast 10x weekly. But isn't STN in MOL's bad books at the mo?;)

I think LPA is definately a future destination but is it not alot more expensive to serve? LPA seems to be more upmarket and the airport is known for it's high charges.

Would ACE not be first?

Just imagine - TFS-LPA domestic!:ok:

FlyZB
22nd Mar 2008, 23:53
Don't FR operate to TFN not TFS? TFN is a fantastic airport if you are visiting the capital Santa Cruz or some of the lessor known north coast towns and resorts. Not so great if you are trying to get to the more popular south coast resorts. A good 90 minute to 2 hour bus journey or around 100 euros in a taxi. Perhaps not quite so appealling even if the fares are dirt cheap.

MUFC_fan
22nd Mar 2008, 23:58
They did serve TFN until 'passenger demand' meant they moved their services down south to the more popualar TFS.

FlyZB
23rd Mar 2008, 00:10
Cheers for that! Obviously a bit behind the times. Makes more sense. The majority of visitors to Tenerife will be going to the south coast and the journey from north to south, even though it is mostly motorway, can be a long one!

With regards to Inter-Canary flights, Binter pretty much covers the demand for this. I would have thought that FR aircraft would be too large for flights of such a short sector. Binter does extremely well purely because it can offer frequent services on a daily basis because of the size of their aircraft. I think Binter also offer a frequent flier scheme which is popular with travellers who regularly visit neighbouring islands. I think the most obvious Inter-Canary route for FR if they were to consider such flights would be TFN-LPA purely because of the important links between the 2 largest cities in the Canaries. I doubt there would be huge demand for TFS-LPA, purely because TFS serves mainly holiday traffic and the south coast is purely made up of resorts rather than large towns or cities.

cesare.caldi
23rd Mar 2008, 10:48
Don't FR operate to TFN not TFS? TFN is a fantastic airport if you are visiting the capital Santa Cruz or some of the lessor known north coast towns and resorts.

Iberia, Clickair and Vueling operate all domestic flights from continental spain to Tenerife North.

HH6702
23rd Mar 2008, 12:02
anybody know if NCL will be getting new routes soon from FR?

northumberlandairway
23rd Mar 2008, 13:02
Good question. It would be nice if at the very least we got Bergamo back. For some reason Ryanair don't even know where Newcastle is. With Jet 2 seemingly curtailing routes Ryanair could make a fortune on Tyneside.

HH6702
23rd Mar 2008, 13:10
yep great if bgy came back.

Do you think that shannon and even malta could work for FR say on a 3x weekly from ncl?

Stewart28
23rd Mar 2008, 13:15
Any new routes from Derry, would love to see some European routes

TartinTon
23rd Mar 2008, 19:10
IT always amazes me that when a carrier pulls off a route someone immediately posts that another airline could make a fortune by operating the same route. Don't you think the previous airline would still be flying if it was a good idea in the first place? :ugh::ugh::ugh:

MUFC_fan
23rd Mar 2008, 20:16
There is a difference between LS and FR. FR will squeeze every penny out of the airports and also has a lagre base in BGY which saves on costs. It also has a more famous name and operates cheaper a/c.

This is just a comparison on this one route but there are alot where one airline can make money where another can't.

honest man
23rd Mar 2008, 21:56
As i arrived at TFS today for my flight home an FR departed thats the first one ive seen there

TartinTon
23rd Mar 2008, 22:35
Makes little difference if the punters won't pay. FR also have many more seats to fill than J2. The problem with the marginal regional airports is that you can't get the required yields simply because the catchments aren't big enough. Eastern seem to have the right solution for the "marginals". 15-40 seater aircraft with high fares serving a niche market where the market appears to be relatively price inelastic. Any of the sun routes have enough choice already with very few exceptions. City routes from marginal regionals just don't have the mass appeal or the required yield to generate a profit.

northumberlandairway
24th Mar 2008, 13:17
City routes from marginal regionals just don't have the mass appeal or the required yield to generate a profit.

Surely that is exactly what Ryanair has done so successfully!

Airports do not exist just to serve the bucket and spade routes and not everyone wants to or should have to traipse through London if they want to fly to the major cities in Europe.

My point with NCL-BGY was that it was reasonably profitable and as far as I understand it, was discontinued because they wanted the plane to fly to Manchester. Ryanair was raining on Easyjets parade when they acquired GB Airways.

JadeGoody
24th Mar 2008, 13:43
Has anyone heard anything about VXO-STN? NRN-VXO seems to have awful loads!

From a swedish newspaper 2007-06-14 10:52
" Det blir ytterligare en eller två rutter från Växjö inom de närmaste 12 månaderna, och vi går nog från fem upp till åtta flygplatser i Sverige under samma tidsperiod, säger Michael O´Leary."

Translated in to English!
Ryanair will start one or two routes from Växjö(VXO) within 12 months! And ryanair will serve 8(FR are serving 5 swedish airport, rigth now) airports in Sweden within 12 months!

Jippie
24th Mar 2008, 14:48
Loads were 46% last year. But now the frequency is down from 4/7 to 2/7 the loads may improve.

JadeGoody
24th Mar 2008, 14:59
46% is really bad! I think the route will die soon!Weeze is unknown for us:sad:

eu01
24th Mar 2008, 15:14
@JadeGoody (citing the text dated 2007-06-14).

According to this, until July 2008 there should exist next 3 destinations in Sweden (and similarly... new route announcements from CRL/ TMP/ BTS/ whatever, new bases created in Latvia/ Poland/ Italy/ somewhere else). As you can see, it will not happen, not so fast. Either the demand has softened too much or the FR marketing based on low prices only is not enough or they put too much emphasis on the UK development or there has been some amount of pure rhetorics in these statements of MOL, I don't know. The route network should be revised anyway (do you remember my triangle-pattern theory?) to win more passengers - and it's perhaps wiser not to expand too eagerly before something is made to help the old network obtain a better shape (in terms of LF's and yields).

JadeGoody
24th Mar 2008, 15:18
Yeah, i am remember it! Thanxx! for the explanation:D :cool:

CorkEICK
24th Mar 2008, 16:16
Michael O'Leary's horse just won Irish Grand national! Maybe he will give away some free seats......:D:D

schoolkid
24th Mar 2008, 22:39
The problem with the marginal regional airports is that you can't get the required yields simply because the catchments aren't big enough

This reminds me of a discussion on this topic I heard before.
Basically it was that it is relatively easy to generate a profit flying from somewhere(DUB,STN) to nowhere,as was the case in the early days of MOL's Ryanair,
Its when you start flying from nowhere to nowhere, that profitabilty gets trickier...Probably safer not to give an example for this one!:E

MUFC_fan
24th Mar 2008, 22:49
There are alot of routes that have failed from 'nowhere to nowhere' such as LPL-ABZ/INV.

There have also been alot of routes that have failed that go from 'nowhere to somewhere' such as BLK-STN. These are just a couple of examples from the North West of England and I am sure there are many more around Europe.

FR just need to keep using trial and error as they have been doing for quite some time until they find routes that work and make good money.

schoolkid
24th Mar 2008, 22:54
In the case of BLK-STN, was it more the case that it was the early morning STN departure, (was it 0640??) dragged down the load factors.The completion of works on the West Coast rail line probably did it no favours either.

boyzinblue
25th Mar 2008, 12:00
Shannon to Salzburg is still showing in the book now section. Does anyone know if this is a system glitch or is this route going to be announced?

JadeGoody
25th Mar 2008, 13:10
NEW ROUTES IN RYANAIRS BOOKING SYSTEM!
CRL-SZG
SNN-SZG ( as boyzinblue said)

True Blue
25th Mar 2008, 13:13
I booked a flight on the 23rd march for a friend. The last letters of his surname should end TOCK. We have just noticed the confirmation that has come back spells the last of the surname TOCADT. There is no way that I typed that in.

I have been trying to contact Ryanair reservations on 08712460000 as per the web site, but I just keep getting a message saying that the person on the other end has hung up. I cannot find an email address. Can anyone get me another telephone number or email address to sort this please? And how might they treat this?

Thanks

True Blue

JadeGoody
25th Mar 2008, 13:18
Sorry, i don't think that ryanair has a official mail address! but here are the fax number and the address to the ryanairs head office


Ryanair head office
Dublin airport
CO. Dublin
IRELAND

Fax number:
00353 1818 1230


JG

boyzinblue
25th Mar 2008, 13:22
@ True Blue - Nothing to worry about. The ADT is a system problem and Ryanair advised 2 weeks ago of the problem. No need to worry.

Capot
25th Mar 2008, 14:12
I have an urgent need to get to Dublin this week from BRS...

FR website totally screwed up, won't show any flights to "Select"; friend on another computer gets same result.

I guess that no-one's told them because why would you at £1 per minute!

If you do try to contact them on the UK number (I cracked in the end using a cheap access route), there's a "Number Unobtainable" tone.

If you try the Irish number (cheap route again) there's no reply.

Still, no problem, there always EXT or BHX.

Anyone know what's going on?

Bankruptcy? Closed down by Irish CAA? UK CAA? Taken the money and run?
Strike? IT staff getting revenge? St Patricks day a bit late?

lexoncd
25th Mar 2008, 14:24
a colleague of mine is experienceing similar difficulties. Taken her an hour to try and book a flight for her husband......won't be using them again as in the end she's booked with Aer Lingus....

These new systems will have cost MOL a fortune. Guarantee there will be a note of it in the interim reports.....has to be for investor requirments. Too many issues that this can't be hidden.

True Blue
25th Mar 2008, 14:32
Boyzinblue

So do I just leave this as it is? Will check in at Stn and Bhd be aware of this issue and accept our explanation at check-in?

Just thought, we will be checking in on-line.

True Blue

Scottie Dog
25th Mar 2008, 14:51
Dystem is taking 1st 3 letters of passenger surname and then appending teh code for an Adult passenger (ADT). So you should be fine.

I work in the travel industry and see numerous of these concatanations (spelling??).

Scottie Dog

ayroplain
25th Mar 2008, 15:17
Can't check in online with FR today either. Have been trying all day but, each time, after 15 minutes to sloowwwwwwwwwlyyyyyyyy get close to the final screen I keep getting a red error message.

pee
25th Mar 2008, 15:38
Let's hope MOL will sloowwwwwwwwwlyyyyyyyy get sick of the software provider they have and get ready for a change.

al446
25th Mar 2008, 17:10
Think it's concatenations Scottie Dog

JadeGoody
25th Mar 2008, 18:12
NEW ROUTES



Bremen - Beauvais (Paris) ? weekly
Bremen - Bratislava (Wien) ? weekly
Bremen - Palma Mallorca 4 weekly
Bremen - Malaga / 4 weekly



Source: Hahn-infos forum

anna_list
25th Mar 2008, 20:39
Jade, I think you may have got the wrong end of the stick.

If the rumours are to be believed, BRE-BVA and BRE-BTS are for the chop. BRE-BGY will be reduced to 4x wkly, BRE-AGP, BRE-PMI and BRE-EDI will all be increased to 4x wkly and there will be new routes from BRE to Salzburg and Haugesund.

That's if you believe the rumours...

boyzinblue
25th Mar 2008, 21:09
@ True Blue - here's the official take on the ADT glitch.....
Important Information regarding Email Travel Itineraries

Since moving to our new system last week, we have experienced some minor problems with the presentation of passenger names in the email itinerary sent to customers after a flight is purchased. Some passengers' surnames appear in the email with the letters ADT added to the end of the surname. We would like reassure all customers that the full surname (as booked) is correctly stored in our booking system and will not impact the booking process.

GoEDI
25th Mar 2008, 21:32
BRE-EDI will all be increased to 4x wkly

Promising news considering it's not even started yet! They've certainly got off to a good start with ALC anyway.

CabinCrewe
25th Mar 2008, 21:39
They've certainly got off to a good start with ALC anyway.
In what way...are loads good ? Surely this will impact on existing carriers...do GSM and EZY not operate to ALC from EDI ?

GoEDI
25th Mar 2008, 22:18
In what way...are loads good ? Surely this will impact on existing carriers...do GSM and EZY not operate to ALC from EDI ?

Yep, 170+ over Easter weekend (suppose demand might be stronger than normal, but it's still a good sign to see it that busy, Easter or not). 183 booked on EDI-ALC tomorrow, ALC-EDI loads have been hovering around the 130 mark.
EZY only operate 2x weekly summer only, and there's plenty of demand for them to fill their flights in the summer, plus FR are only operating 4x weekly.
GSM will be operating 6x weekly but once again I expect there will be enough pax to go round (especially when there's only 1 charter flight a week) in the summer. I can see FR hurting GSM in the winter though assuming they keep ALC operating, especially if GSM stick with their EDI-GLA combos.

Coquelet
26th Mar 2008, 10:58
Of late, to book an FR flight, you have to really want it. But this morning, in spite of really wanting, I just can not make it ...

frelli
26th Mar 2008, 11:13
Ryanair
New:Bremen (BRE) to Haugesund (HAU)
New:Bremen (BRE) to Salzburg, W.A. Mozart (SZG)

http://www.theairdb.com/news/2008-03-26-ryanair.html

pee
26th Mar 2008, 11:21
I think the booking system works a litte better right now (until the next stumble). But it's rather hopeless, anyway.

Hmm, I remember such a sketch from the newspaper. It's late in the morning, two boys are lying in their beds. One of them says to another: "If mummy will not come and wake us up right now, we'll be late for school". That's my feeling, I guess. I already know that the departure time of my flight from BGY to TMP is changed (moved forward; formerly 16:25 new dep. at 10:15), the day of travel is approaching and... not a single e-mail message came about that. I'm not sure if everybody will be smart enough to check the timetable...

By the way, this route (Milan-Tampere) runs very well indeed. LF's are great, the price level unusually high across the board. A hint for route planning, isn't it? Doesn't it pay better to sell somewhat longer flights [like FI-Italy, FI-Spain] for 100 euros (and more) than to try to fill planes on some other routes for desperate 1 cent total?

Roll to the end
26th Mar 2008, 11:46
Looks like Ryanair are going twice daily on STN-NOC.

John Giles
26th Mar 2008, 13:32
Just saw on the news that Ryanair is to review all its major costs, as it
seeks savings of 400million Euro.

You know where this is going...

Get ready to pay for your flight plans guys..

silverhawk
26th Mar 2008, 15:10
Just up the price of tickets

dh dragon
26th Mar 2008, 15:34
I agree, raise the fares.Having said that I booked 2 seats on Ryanair seat sale last week at 1 penny each way from Manchester to Bremen next month.NO TAXES.NO CHARGES (Except the debit card fee of £4)
Now while I like this !!!! It seems crazy.:hmm:

potkettleblack
26th Mar 2008, 17:59
The pilots will no doubt bear the brunt and MOL will come out saying that they are still the highest paid in Europe.

slip and turn
26th Mar 2008, 18:00
Yes and even more interesting it's got an open-ended slant put on it on Ryanair's own website: http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=08&month=mar&story=gen-en-260308

including the words:

Ryanair confirmed that it is reviewing all of its major costs including airports, staffing, fuel and currency exposures and this cost reduction programme will continue over the coming weeks. Since Ryanair is the only airline in Europe to guarantee the lowest fares and no fuel surcharges, Ryanair must pay for higher oil by reducing costs elsewhere.

is anything immune or sacred, one wonders?

kingston_toon
26th Mar 2008, 18:19
I've just checked in online for my trip to Belfast (out tomorrow and return Saturday) and in the passenger details section on the 3rd screen, it said "details already provided" - fair enough, I thought this was for the API for Spain only. There was no option to enter passport number or anything. However, once the boarding passes were displayed, sure enough, there was my passport number! As I didn't enter it this time, has the system remembered it from my last trip 2 weeks ago? Worryingly though, it hasn't remembered the expiry date (01/01/2008 shown) and my nationality is now Irish, instead of British!

Will this cause a problem at Stansted tomorrow, or will the fact the number is there be ok? And is this normal, or another glitch?

Cheers

Steve M

CorkEICK
26th Mar 2008, 18:39
Go in to online checkin again and insert correct passport details this time and it should say "Reprint boarding card?" That was way old system worked so if u made a mistake in passport number or nationality you could reprint.

Tooloose
26th Mar 2008, 18:50
Bohica!!!!

kingston_toon
26th Mar 2008, 18:56
The header is there for you to enter your passport details but the actual space to write / change it is not - it's just coming up as a blank non-clickable space.

Hmmm... now it's just going a blank screen when I try and enter the online checkin system! Not good!

John Giles
26th Mar 2008, 19:18
There must be something left he can get the pilots to pay for

saccade
26th Mar 2008, 19:18
Bohica!!!!

Agree!

And it's Ryanair management's own mistake that they are in this position, and now they expect others to pay the price. Fuel hedging is not a poker game!

John Giles
26th Mar 2008, 19:25
How long will it take to tear up the last pay deal I wonder !!

Visual Calls
26th Mar 2008, 19:37
Will the Ryanair pilots have the cojones and/or the brains to stand-up to the next onslaught? History suggests not, but, as ever, they are leading the way down to let's hope they finally shoulder their responsibilities.

er340790
26th Mar 2008, 19:42
T'be sure, t'be sure, t'be sure!;)

frfly
26th Mar 2008, 19:51
if you have no luck go to the ryanair cutomer services desk or see swissport in STN. The boarding pass should be denied by the gate staff if they are on the ball and doing their job properly. You can only travel web check and go by providing your passport no, even on domestic flights.

Usually the staff will charge you the £3 fee, and you'll have to take it up with Ryanair in writing. This is usually the case. I know its a system error but the staff at the airport can't just take your word for it, so they may hav to follow the rules and charge - thats normal ryanair (handling agent) practice.

Hope it all gets resolved - the new skies system is just a joke!!

mason
26th Mar 2008, 20:01
I dont know why people attack Ryanair all the time .There is much more jobs for us pilots because of low cost airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet .They seem innovative and versitile to the coming hard times.
thumbs up to michael o Leary

Mercenary Pilot
26th Mar 2008, 20:35
Don't feed the troll's :rolleyes:

Skydrol Leak
26th Mar 2008, 20:35
Fuel prices didn't came suddenly from space and put the spell on the whole world did they?The fuel is a part of our life and as long as we are in this industry and it will affect us for sure. Who is to blame for the prices to go up? Demand; probably,the oil kartel;most definately.
OPEC directs the prices of oil these days and It doesn't matter either you are a rich country or a bottomfeeder one you still pay the price for it! So Ryanair should've figured out with their mangement team awhile ago how to get adjusted to the market today and I am sure they did. Getting less from their profit instead of stealing from their employees would be ideal wouldn't it?
To cut the long story short; who was the company that won the most profit this year in UK?
a) Shell
b) Esso
c) Ryanair

:ooh:Must be the first two or...wait...:yuk:

stansdead
26th Mar 2008, 20:47
Look guys, we are all in the same boat in this industry (at least unless you are Emirates/Etihad) in that you have to pay for the increase in oil prices.

Ryanair (read O'Leary) refused to hedge much fuel in recent years. Despite:

1) A sliding US Dollar that traditionally leads investors to get tucked into alternative investments (such as Oil and Gold)

2) A Gulf War (rising oil surely?)

3) A massively booming China/Brazil/Russia and China. All of whom are entering the first world rapidly and demand the use of Oil to produce things that we all buy (more oil needed = more oil used = higher oil prices)

4) A definite, complete, total and utter move towards a "green" lobby, which was sure as hell gonna raise the oil price.

Now, faced with the above obvious signs, Ryanair refused to hedge their fuel. They thought Oil would get cheaper.

This is a Gambler's mentality and they have been hit. Hard.

This is an airline with a broken business model ( Deutsche Bank's words, not mine).

As O'Leary said, it's a perfect storm ahead. Higher Oil, Consumers with less money to spend and a potential recession.

Paying Pilots/Staff less than they are now will not save an airline.
Onl a total change of business model AND hopefully management will do that.

However, "Ducksy" has his cash and will be off to Mullingar to breed Horses at everyone's cost. No matter what.

TheSwede
26th Mar 2008, 20:52
Fuel price from $68 to over $100.... What are they going to do? Ask for more money and comissions from airports where they fly? Half there paycheckes?

This is something M.O.L must have known about for at least a year. Why do they only chose to act a few days before?

Have the managers traded any of there own stock?

eu01
26th Mar 2008, 22:13
I agree, raise the fares. (...) NO TAXES. NO CHARGES (...) It seems crazy.
Let's face it. At the moment, Ryanair is in a kind of deadlock. Michael O'Leary, the great pioneer of low-cost airlines (yes, he deserves this title) who has proved to be a master in driving the costs of flying down, has come to the point where it's virtually impossible to lower his airline's lowest prices any more (unless he actually wanted to pay the passengers for flying). The hard-working staff is pretty efficient and brave, the potential is there, most of the flights arriving on time, very few cancellations, a reliable carrier, you could say. And in fact, they are. Yet their load factors are slowly but steadily falling, so are the yields. What is the MOL's answer to that situation?
O'Leary said Ryanair's 2008 fuel bill would rise by about 400 mln eur, and confirmed the airline needs to cut costs by the same amount. He added that significant cost cuts were also needed in many areas, and did not rule out withdrawing Ryanair flights from certain airports.

He said airports which were not able to reduce costs could find themselves losing Ryanair flights, while those who did make significant reductions could well be rewarded with more flights.

"We are working intensively on other cost reductions, including focusing on airport costs and handling costs, staff costs and other operating expenses, as we expand Ryanair while lowering fares but absorbing much higher oil costs," O'Leary said.
No, no, no. I know, they are very good at that, lowering costs, true. But lowering these costs and lowering prices is just one side of the business. It will not do the trick, it won't be enough. My thesis is: you need to revise your policy in a broader sense.

A point-to-point flight system is a mainstay of a present LCC model and it probably should stay so, in most cases. But let's consider not only a dweller of London or Dublin. Let's try so see it from the perspective of someone living in, say, Friedrichshafen, Germany or Trieste, Italy. You want them as customers? So what can you offer them? London, Liverpool or Dublin for someone living in Baden-Württemberg or just London and Birmingham for people from Trieste. Okay. People will visit London once, maybe twice and... that's it. They could be interested in flying with Ryanair to Madrid or Stockholm or to hundreds of other destinations, but they can't. Similarly, Lake Constance could be a fascinating destination not only for Londoners or Dublinians, but for Danish or Portuguese as well. Italians from Trieste might wish to visit Paris and vice versa. So in a longer run the point2point system does not generate as much traffic as it could because of the LACK of DIVERSIFICATION.

What I'm trying to say is that simply bored by flying to just a few destinations, people start searching the alternatives (and alternative carriers), is it strange? To keep these customers, they do not need to chop and change all the present system. It's good. It works. But if Ryanair want to fill their planes better with better PAYING passengers (not the free-flight amateurs only) they really should consider just some means of diversification. Attracting the passengers not only by cheaper and cheaper fares (it's good only to some degree), but also by providing them with more interesting travelling options throughout the network, by making flying with Ryanair simply more attractive.

How to achieve that? Well, it's possible in many ways. By introducing new flight patterns (like the "triangles" mentioned in one of my earlier posts), by "joining the dots" in the network in a more flexible way (they have enough bases to make much more combinations as in the present), by faciliating the group bookings (I think the goup tour organizers prefer anybody else than FR due to the necessity of submitting the complete passenger list at the moment of booking). By being faster in grabbing some opportunities (as one of our members said: why don't you notice Finns wanting to pay for the sunshine during the winter)? By being more friendly to the customers in the vast realm of the customer relations. And finally, by trying some limited connecting flights.

I do agree, it's impossible to start offering connecting flights all over the network, by doing so the system might be brought down in a matter of days, no doubt about it. However, why don't they try to designate JUST ONE centrally located airport (e.g. HHN) as a hub to concentrate on precisely that: linking selected flights. With some extra capacity if something went wrong. And FR could win thousands of new passengers due to them being lured by new interesting destinations.

Well, it's up to MOL and his planning team. I just disagree that the (too) low fares are the only way to fill the planes, the issue is much more complicated than that. Why not try something else?

interpreter
26th Mar 2008, 22:32
If the cost of a barrel of oil to Ryanair will rise from the current $68 per barrel to the market price of $100 on 1st April and can be offset by avoiding pay increases to the senior management what the devil are they being paid now?

Ah well - lets speak to the leprecauns and get them to do the sums. They might just let their airline run on fresh air. That would be green.

Le Bob
26th Mar 2008, 23:23
I agree entirely with the post. Well thought out and I think very viable.

speedrestriction
26th Mar 2008, 23:36
Who is the target audience for this particular announcement?

Investors? I would have thought "business as usual" wouldn't require an announcement.

Passengers? Not unless they are hoping to get a few column inches (free advertising) from it.

Employees? Why would they bother?


Is this just to break bad news gently to investors, softening them up for something more negative to follow in a few weeks?
sr

mason
26th Mar 2008, 23:46
Ah well - lets speak to the leprecauns and get them to do the sums.

well the leprecauns seem to have done well with there sums so far !
I cant remember such a succesful limey low cost carrier:rolleyes:

kingdee
27th Mar 2008, 00:01
How much cash in Bank , Billions i do beleive !Keep up the excellent work:D

Wizofoz
27th Mar 2008, 04:17
How much cash in Bank , Billions i do beleive !

Yes, but businesses who have to use their cash reserves to pay ongoing operating costs are involved in what is known as MAKING A LOSS!

Once the cash runs out....

allanmack
27th Mar 2008, 06:21
I hear that 37 of FR's top managers / directors including MOL are to take a pay freeze in order to support the airline through the 'oil price challenge'.

pee
27th Mar 2008, 06:44
That's for the public, isn't it?

lgw_warrior
27th Mar 2008, 08:39
This could be bad news for the pilots anyway,didnt the recently voted in pay deal include a catch,something like if the company makes a loss,the new 'allownace' can be taken away?my mate tells me this is about £450 per month.bet the FR pilots didnt see this coming when they voted yes.

do you think FR management put that catch in the deal knowing what was going to happen a couple of months after the deal went through?bet your bottom dollar they did.

You FR lads really need to stick together this time if this happens.not the usual half assed unity stuff posted on here.either that or start looking for new jobs.

good luck.

autobrake3
27th Mar 2008, 09:55
Ryanair share price has dropped from 12 Euros to under 3 in one year. No wonder they are getting desperate. Finally perhaps, investors are questioning the the business model and ethics of this company.

Tooloose
27th Mar 2008, 10:45
MOL has already taken steps to make up the shortfall in his income. He is freelancing with The Irish Independent where his articles are published under the nom-de-plume "Laura Noonan".

boyzinblue
27th Mar 2008, 10:52
Bremen website confirming Salzburg and Haugesund as new destinations. No news of cutting Beauvais and Bratislava.

TolTol
27th Mar 2008, 11:03
Cant see them making a loss anytime soon, just a reduction in profit...I may be wrong though.:oh:

rubik101
27th Mar 2008, 11:08
Could this have something to do with the Share Buy Back announced back in Feb?
On Sky news a few days ago MOL was heard to say that RYR has hedged their fuel through to the middle of 2009.
Just as a matter of little or no interest, all the airlines that have ever tried to compete with LH on the FRA-TXL route have been blown away by the monopoly carrier. Think of German Wings, Aero Lloyd, Berlin Spezilflug, DBA, Templehof Airways and others left in the dust.
German Wings offered a premium service on MD83s but got bad slots, bad parking and long delays from FRA airport.
LH fly an A330 on the hour, every hour to and from Berlin and Frankfurt. When German Wings came along they simply reduced the price to such an extent that neither of them made any money. LH could carry the loss, German Wings couldn't.
Even with RYRs huge cash mountain, they can only keep that route going for a limited time, IMO.

JadeGoody
27th Mar 2008, 11:08
SZG-CRL
SZG-SNN are still in the system! i think they are starting these two routes :cool:

Because NYO and GSE are winterroutes, and maybe SNN and CRL are replacing GSE and NYO

Facelookbovvered
27th Mar 2008, 11:47
Ryanair costs have been slowly creeping up, whilst many others have been slowly coming down towards a level playing field in addition Ryanair have had (to continue pax growth) move to `normal' airports such as BHX to get growth, but here they face competion and normal airport costs.

I suspect that Ryan air is at or near it zenith, i am told that they now charge CC £1400.00 for course, but at many airports only pay them when they work and many soon get fed up and move on. There are only so many CC wanabes out there that are daft enough to cough up and sooner or later the word gets round.

Ryan have a lot of aircraft coming and if the market for second hand aircraft dips (many analysts think up to 25% of boeing and airbus back order are vunerable) then much of Ryanair business model could unravel, it was only last fall that MOL was shouting that Ryanair would still be profitable at 100 USD a barrel, but remember that assumes volumes remain high and the indications are that the slow down is hitting Ryan harder than Easyjet.

My forcast is that MOL will be gone in a year and a new more customer friendly team will be in,Southwest in the USA do not treat their customer with the sort of contempt that Ryanair pride them selfs on, Remember Gerald Ratner?

If Ryanair has to increase price to maintain profitablity, it will loose its one (and for many) only USP "we are cheap" they have no chance of taking £400m out of the cost base and this last weeks farce over the new booking system will have cost them dear and damage investor confidence that the business can manage major projects, pay peanuts you get monkey's

boyzinblue
27th Mar 2008, 12:03
SNN-LBC and PIK-LBC are showing too. There routes were previously cancelled, as was SZG-CRL. I don't believe they will go back on these routes again, whatever about SNN-SZG!!

bia botal
27th Mar 2008, 12:25
Of course we are forgetting some fundamental elements here folks, 1. whilst the price of oil is rocketing up-wards the dollar is plummeting thus a near perfect trade off, i wonder if the numbers where done how much more the price of oil in comparison to the euro would actually be. 2. yes there are many new aircraft arriving. last i saw was DYF thats like 6 in two weeks, but again with the dropping dollar the price is only coming down. 3. MOL is a lairing bastard and i would have no doubts that the fuel is well hedge into the future but in his on going attempt to slash cost in an attempt to raise his profits, use the line that ryr is un hedge just to give him yet another reason to hack away at the work force..... April 1 is only days away and i heard not a dicky bird about wage negotiation. however,i would be surprised considering the events of the last 4 years and the efforts that where made to get the pilots to sign up to there deals that they would so quickly go back on them,,, MOL is well aware that the powder is not dry on the pilot dispute situation yet and i would be very surprised if he were to try and make a move at pilots salary's

qwertyuiop
27th Mar 2008, 12:42
I think RYR may be in for a rocky ride in the near future. Its true that the fall in the dollar has masked the rise in fuel prices to some degree but the fall/rise has not been equal.
The only reason people fly with RYR is the low fares and if they can't sustain these the pax will leave. Many airlines have a loyal customer base, I don't believe RYR do. As all the profits come from in flight sales and "extras" the fall in load factors will be very painfull.
The RYR experience is SO bad we may all look back in 10 years and ask how they survived so long.

lexoncd
27th Mar 2008, 13:01
The announcement today is part of a PR stunt for what will happen. There are 30 managers having a pay freeze. So what do we consider to be their averag salary(no bonus!) say £180,000 and lets say they would ideally have received 4%? So that's a saving of......£216,000.

You see where I'm coming from...what is that in the scale of things when their fuel bill in 2007 was some Euro 585,031,000. Now that represented approx 32% of their costs and was at a rate of $65 a barrel. Fuel now is up at $107 and their unhedged so that's an increase in costs of around 60% for fuel leading to a fuel bill excluding increaded aircraft numbers and additional flying to around Euro 936,050,000 which is some £278 million or nearly 75% of their profits for 2007.

Anyone had a look at the Euro rate recently? Ok so they gain as the Euro Dollar rate means the increases aren't as bad for aircraft costs and the dollar bills but sadly as they have so many aircraft based in the UK and earnings in sterling where the rate has dropped from 1.48 a year ago to 1.27 today meaning their income has also dropped off considerably....

Challenging times ahead and not just for Ryanair.....

frfly
27th Mar 2008, 14:35
Let's remember your all talking about a very clever businessman here - I'm sure Ryanair will use this to their best advantage, killing out competition and therefore emerging stronger. FR used 9/11 and other aviaition downturns to grow, as others reduced in size.

Seriously, everyones banging on about Ryanair is frustrating. I have had nothing but ontime, efficient flights, getting me to where I want to be. I don't fly with them because I like their service, I do it because they've made travel accessible to me more frequently at amazingly low fares.

Ryanair will emerge on top, they will have had plans for this for about 12 months, its not as if MOL woke up last week and went oh sh*t, I forgot the fuel isn't hedged from April 1st.

CamelhAir
27th Mar 2008, 15:07
It's very simple. Ryanair has reached saturation point at the cheap end of the market (witness aeroplanes being now put into previously untouched "rip-off" airports). Now costs will rise while simultaneously competitors are reducing costs (and fares) all the time (they have the scope to do so, ryanairs costs can only increase).
Thus the differential is closed. Combine this with the end of 1p fare gimmicks and suddenly ryr doesn't look too cheap vis-a-vis the competition.
And if ryr can't compete on price they have nothing else.
The bottom end of the market is hoovered up, now ryr need the more discerning customer, which they won't get. Hence growth will slow down, it has already with aeroplanes parked up and sold. The load factor is much lower than claimed (unlike everyone else ryr count bookings not actual pax on seats when calculating the LF. No show's on gimmick tickets are very high so the actual LF is around 5-10% lower than reported). This winter I've seen several sectors with less than 20 pax.
Now fuel cost is way up and the ryr model looks less well equipped to deal with it than many others.
Next is that the cheap aeroplane deal will run out, ending the aircraft trading business (far and away the most profitable part of ryr).
What's left will be an airline operation which only returned 7% margin when fuel was $50 a barrel and the opposition was fatter. Throw in $100 oil and leaner opposition and the model will be in meltdown.
It's for good reason mad mick has sold most of his shares. He sees the writing on the wall in time. Pity the rest that don't.
You can talk all you like about money in the bank, but it disregards a fundamental fact of investing: a business either has to produce a superior return on equity than available elsewhere or else it has to pay dividends. A loss (or poor profits) is a return on equity that the investors won't tolerate so all that money will be demanded in dividends. It certainly is not available for cushioning an extended period of loss making.

frfly, you hypothesis doesn't hold water if the ryr model is fundamentally unable to cope with high oil prices and competition that has a competitive cost base. The model is showing all the signs of being unable to do so (not only my opinion, but that of investment banks such as Deutsche Bank). Micko may not have forgotten to hedge but he did wake up and go "$hit I made utterly the wrong call on hedging and built a model that can't fu*k1n deal with high oil prices." Obviously this was said in private as he doesn't admit mistakes - a trait every investor should run from, you lie in public and you eventually lie in private. The history of business is littered with so-called "very clever businessmen" who were exposed as charlatans when the going got tough.

Tooloose, ain't that the truth about Laura Noonan

schoolkid
27th Mar 2008, 15:54
Ryanair share price has dropped from 12 Euros to under 3 in one year

In February 2007, RYR carried out a '2 for 1' share split. Basically for every 1 12euro share, you got 2 6euro shares. So the share price has fallen from 6 to 3euro since then.
While this is not great, its a little less dramatic than a 12 to 3euro fall.
This was carried out to improve the liquidity of the stock.

CamelhAir
27th Mar 2008, 16:22
This was carried out to improve the liquidity of the stock.

No it wasn't, the stock was already very liquid. Stock splits are carried out to give investors a "feel-good" factor as people subconsciously think they're better off with double the number of shares. Often after a split, the price artificially and irrationally rises before falling back. It's a typical smoke and mirror technique most often used when management want to distract investors. I reckon ryr management will want to do a lot of ditracting over the next while.

As an investor, micko has presided over the wholesale destruction of my wealth and built a model that looks incapable of recovering my (now lack of) wealth in the future.
As an employee, he has built an operational model conducive to far more safety-related incidents than average while creating an awful place to work.
From either point of view, he has to go.

schoolkid
27th Mar 2008, 16:46
Camel,
Sorry to here about your loss.Its a risk in any stock.

Share splits are common after a large increase in a share price, as was the case in RYR in late 06/early 07.
All in all,they are just a feature of large listed companies

eu01
27th Mar 2008, 20:33
Expect FR to weather the storm as they have the lowest costs out there.
Yes, they have, nobody is questioning that. The problem is that their low prices cannot be the only means to stimulate the demand, not any more. It's time for some changes, activate your brains, gentlemen!

frfly
27th Mar 2008, 20:53
I still believe Ryanair's model can sustain this without the need to be drastically changed. Ryanair have and still are moving towards becoming a medium that sells add ons - this is where their future business lies.

One example, the more people ITV can get tunned into Corination Street the more the advertising space is worth. The people onboard ryanair flights are the equivilent of this. The more passengers they carry, the more the product on board is worth. The advertising they have on their seat backs, lockers, in their magazine. The more check-in fees, bag fees, excess fees, on board sales through buy as you fly and the trolley services. They are a flying shop - which begins from the moment you click on their website right through to the moment you arrive in the final city (dont forget the cut they get from bus transfers from remote airports). They are strengthening this brand, diversifying quickly into new markets in order to add value to "RYANAIR" - the company.

I understand, some thin routes will have to go - but this is not a life or death matter for Ryanair. Fuel is a major issue for them, but it wont cause the business too much damage - just expect an increase in charges else where on the extras - this is where the revenue will be generated mainly from in years to come. MOL has already stated he wants all flights to be free (thats OTT we all know).

Now this isn't a Ryanair rant, I'm not a Ryanair fanatic - but I believe in their business model, it has and will continue to prove successful. I do appreciate everyones comments, and it would be stupid to say that this isn't a major headache for MOL and the management of FR. But I'm sure somewhere along the line Ryanair will use this to their advantage - why, they've already started, with their mass publicity stunt on freezing wages - now isn't everyone becoming more aware of the Ryanair brand, just through these types of stunts.

qwertyuiop
27th Mar 2008, 21:01
frfly,
You are wide of the mark!
When the story line at Coronation Street is naff (your anology) the viewers leave, as do the advertisers. This IS RYR's problem, they are naff. The only thing they have is their percieved low cost. As soon as this myth is blown they are stuffed.

CamelhAir
28th Mar 2008, 09:13
I understand, some thin routes will have to go

This is symptomatic of ryr's problem. The good routes are served, all that's left are thin routes. With new aircraft constantly arriving, they have to go somewhere. So they service thin routes or get parked up. Either way the growth of ryr is grinding to a halt. The share price reflects this. The former massive P/E ratio, based as it was on over optimistic growth projections, has fallen to reflect the new reality that ryr is not going to massively grow in the future.

The other option to thin routes is putting the aircraft at more established, and thus more expensive, airports. This further erodes the perceived competitive advantage. They tried this tactic at DUB, putting lots of aircraft in to run EI out of town and it failed miserably as EI ran up record profits and a higher load factor on shorthaul than ryr. Expect it to fail elsewhere also, the public can't be fooled forever.

There's no time for sentiment in business and mad mick is merely an employee. When employees don't produce, they have to go. New management required at the white house.

schoolkid
28th Mar 2008, 10:33
the public can't be fooled forever

Camel, I agree with you that in some ways perhaps RYR are their own worst enemy.
Having regularly flown them, their customer service is from time to time outreagous. Aand i would take a guess that it is from the top down
While I havent expieriencd any cancellations for a time, I have lost track the number of times I've been standing in the DUB portakabin pier while departure time ticks by,without any indication of how long the delay will be.Or another recent occasion, while been the first pax to board at LGW, a CC member shouts at me in pigeon English,that I can only board from the rear...never figured out why..much to the amusement of the LGW ground staff:mad:. I could go on......

Eventually people get fed up of these sort of shenanigans and are willing to pay a little premium to be treated as a person. Especially in the irish market we have so much choice, unless your flying to Bydgoszcz etc, there will be EIN or REA waiting in the wings!

pee
28th Mar 2008, 13:33
MOL is a very purposeful guy, but a straightforward type of man. His role has been extraordinary in developping the company, in negotiating the deals, in rising the profitability and keeping an eye on efficiency. But he seems kind of locked in that style of activity and so is Ryanair lacking some kind of subtlety.

The style of MOL's thinking is: "We know better what you need, you need just very cheap flights, we do not have to offer you anything else." That, however, is not always true, it's delusory indeed.

Firstly, many people demand to be treated in a "special" way, they want to be cared for and, while they aren't obviously any good target for lcc's, they tend to be naive in some way and one might try to offer them something "special" to "soften" this attitude and to convince them to travel in a different way. Ryanair however does not bother to care for anybody beyond the absolute minimum, so no chance to be accepted by this kind of people.

Next, there is a group of modest, unpretentious people who do appreciate the effectiveness, good economy and do not need excessive luxury. These principles could facilitate getting the confidence and promoting low-cost travel. But I doubt if the "one-penny-flights" are the best kind of marketing towards them. Rather poor one.

Beside, some people (like many here in Finland) are convinced that "nothing very cheap can be of a good quality". They could consider flying with Ryanair for a reasonable price, but not for "free". Again, a one-penny marketing acts as a deterrent rather.

Now, who are the customers waiting for those cheap flights? Maybe me sometimes, maybe you. But that kind of marketing can have its side-effects either. Some could say: "Well, 20£ flights? Why bother. Let's wait for one-penny flights. It's too expensive right now".

Time for changes, I agree. A bit more conveniently, with multiformity, listening to passengers' needs.

ryan2000
28th Mar 2008, 13:34
They should also review their policy of not flying into major airports as people would be willing to pay more if it meant flying to the likes of CDG instead of the likes of Beauvais.

adam12345
28th Mar 2008, 14:08
Just found this intresting article, Ryanair, Europe’s leading low-cost airline, has even promised a new venture linking the likes of Birmingham (England) and Baltimore. http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10911290

Charlie Roy
28th Mar 2008, 14:18
I think (as do most others), that if they were to offer assigned seating they could make a bomb in dosh off it.
20 euro for an emergency exit seat.
10 euro for pre-assigned seating.
All remaining seats assigned at checkin.

It would make boarding faster for sure too, and make the Ryanair experience a lot more pleasurable for their customers.

VanBosh
28th Mar 2008, 14:23
"The other option to thin routes is putting the aircraft at more established, and thus more expensive, airports. This further erodes the perceived competitive advantage. They tried this tactic at DUB, putting lots of aircraft in to run EI out of town and it failed miserably as EI ran up record profits and a higher load factor on shorthaul than ryr. Expect it to fail elsewhere also, the public can't be fooled forever. "

Aer Lingus did not have higher LF's that RYR at DUB. Neither Airline releases LF's for a base. RYR's figure would include all bases I believe. EI's would mainly be Dublin, so I dont think you can compare.

Also EI's record profits were only compared to their own standards. If their best ever profit was 5 EUR and then they made 8 EUR, they would be record profits. Does not necessarily mean its a decent performance.

en2r
28th Mar 2008, 15:27
Also EI's record profits were only compared to their own standards. If their best ever profit was 5 EUR and then they made 8 EUR, they would be record profits. Does not necessarily mean its a decent performance.
If I remember rightly, EI's profit per passenger in 2007 was higher than that of FR.

I think its clear that Ryanair seems to have reached market saturation for their product, especially in Ireland and the UK. This is evident by their moving into bigger and more central airports like Birmingham, Edinburgh etc. which they previously said they'd never base at. I think Ryanair really need to open a base in Eastern Europe. Its hard to believe they still don't have any base east of Frankfurt-Hahn! With Centralwings on the brink of collapse and Sky Europe looking to be going the same way, there is surely an opportunity there. They need to become less reliant on the Irish and UK markets which have become saturated with LCCs and concentrate more on the developing markets in Eastern Europe where there is far more potential for growth. Russia also is a huge opportunity, however without an open skies agreement it is unlikely they would fly there, at least not with Irish registered planes!

eu01
28th Mar 2008, 19:26
listening to passengers' needs.
In principle, I do not need any call centers, but it scares me that MOL's panaceum (remedia for everything) is to go further into cost savings only.
Ryanair said it would close its Dublin telesales operation, affecting up to 40 jobs, because phone bookings have been eclipsed by Internet reservations, and to help offset high fuel costs.

Ryanair , Europe’s largest low-cost airline, said on Friday phone bookings now accounted for less than 1 percent of sales as almost everyone booked online, but it would still maintain its cheaper call centres in Romania and Germany.

"These kind of cost savings must be made if Ryanair is to remain Europe’s lowest cost airline in these difficult recessionary markets," Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said in a statement.

CamelhAir
28th Mar 2008, 20:48
Van Bosh

Ryr lie about their load factors, as they measure them (in public) as pax booked as a % of seats available. The industry standard is pax travelled as a % of seats available. The real Ryr LF is between 5-10% lower than admitted.

schoolkid
28th Mar 2008, 21:11
Ryr lie about their load factors

Camel ,
Ryr are not lieing. I know for a fact that in their shareholder literature , it is stated that the LF figures include unflown sectors, as RYR operate a no-refunds policy. If anything its a little bonus as of course they keep any airport taxes etc for themselves!:E

Charlie Roy
28th Mar 2008, 21:52
If anything its a little bonus

Indeed, passengers not turning up also results in the aircraft weighing less, meaning less fuel burnt :8

EI-BUD
28th Mar 2008, 22:54
I was reading all the comments about whats happening at Ryanair, MOL is a smart guy in so many ways and he is cutting costs to protect profits over the next few years, but despite his business senses, he has no clue about brand.

Airlines like Easyjet are doing alot to promote their brand, and in the long run this will be more valuable than price.

Selling the price mantra is good, but unless you can wipe out your competition on the route to exclusivity its not a good strategy.

en2r
29th Mar 2008, 01:07
I wonder will DUB-CRK be shut down as this route is burning cash for a fact.
Not while Aer Arann are still on the route. It'd be too much for MOL's ego to give in first. Imagine the bragging rights RE would have! MOL would rather lose money on the route than be seen to give in to RE. However I don't think its burning cash. Its a very short sector, and loads have improved of late so while it may be lossmaking since yields are poor, I don't think its heavily lossmaking!

Charlie Roy
29th Mar 2008, 02:01
I don't think its heavily lossmaking!I disagree. Looking at the prices of tickets this route is hemorrhaging reserve dosh from Ryanair's coffers.
I think when Ryanair concretely see how using their Cork based aircraft this summer to do a couple of Carcassonne rotations has been hugely profitable, and then compare it to the gigantic losses being made on the Dublin route, they'll finally realise that the aircraft can earn them millions (on routes such as Bergamo, Hahn, Budapest, Madrid, Palma, Charleroi, Riga, Krakow, Warsaw, Treviso, Beauvais) instead of losing them millions on Dublin.

eu01
29th Mar 2008, 07:03
Looking at the prices of tickets this route is hemorrhaging reserve dosh from Ryanair's coffers.
I think when Ryanair concretely see how using their Cork based aircraft this summer to do a couple of Carcassonne rotations has been hugely profitable, and then compare it to the gigantic losses being made on the Dublin route, they'll finally realise that the aircraft can earn them millions (on routes such as Bergamo, Hahn, Budapest, Madrid, Palma, Charleroi, Riga, Krakow, Warsaw, Treviso, Beauvais) instead of losing them millions on Dublin.
I guess the profitability of (some) routes does not have any priority for MOL. He cannot resist fighting some local wars first (to eliminate the competition) and the profitability doesn't matter as long as his competitors are present there. Like a boy playing Monopoly (not like a millionaire investing real millions of cash belonging to his firm). Perhaps the fight with the competition is a kind of exciting stimulus that matters. He still keeps adding bases and/or routes to the countries where the competition is fierce (UK, Ireland) and still didn't create a single base in CE-Europe (e.g. Poland) where the competitors are weaker and the labour costs lower. He will even compete with trains on some domestic routes where the fares are very low and keep selling tickets for nothing on some other unprofitable destinations but has done nothing to develop the network from/to the countries where he has no contestants at all (like Finland; excellent profits, yet no route development for years - just because no competitors there?).

So, in my opinion, the route development Ryanair style is: let's see first who could be hurt by the opening of a new link, let's connect as much "friendly" airports as possible, no research needed (are the routes viable, will they find enough passengers), who cares about the analysis (overlooking opportunities).

Facelookbovvered
29th Mar 2008, 07:35
Presently all carriers are involved in this racket of non refunds on APD which is a goverment tax, but only applies to pax flown, not pax that book (and pay the APD) but for what ever reason do not fly.

Airlines can not lawfully refuse to refund this the APD, however they can (and do) lawfully apply an admin fee for dealing with this refund, the policy varies company to company, but in general with the like of Flybe, Ryan, and most of the LoCo carriers if you are a family of 4 paying around £100 in APD you will be charged around £20.00 per person admin fee to get back £25.00 each, ok you say you still get back £5.00, sorry not so beacuse the " credit card fee" applies whether you are being debited or credited!!! so expect another £3.50 per person on top, do the maths and from the APD of £100 you will be lucky end up with more than £6.00.

In some case the admin fee plus credit card fee is more than the APD paid so you are out of pocket, if this was a high street bank there would be an out cry!!

BUT NOT FOR LONG

From 2009 the APD will be abolished and airlines will be charged based on a new formula based on aircraft emissions, NOTE AIRLINES WILL BE CHARGED not passengers, of course the goverment in the run up to the election will put positive spin on this for customers, but airlines will pay more and will have to decide how and if to pass this on, either way HMG will get the dosh whether the aircraft goes full or empty and MOL and other bandits will no longer be able to pocket the cash that rightly belongs to the passenger.

BTW its not just airlines that do this sort of thing, Trainline apply similar fee's that mean if you apply for a refund it will cost you more than (you wont) get back

I suspect that the scam goes far deeper and that some airlines spread the APD amongst their pax figures, but most heavily on pax that don't fly, remember the APD only applies to flights within or leaving the UK, not the return leg so you pay it twice to fly from London to Scotland , but once to fly from BRS to AGP (Malaga) and back, it get even m ore interesting when you get into two class cabins because in theory ADP doubles, some carriers have got round this by removing the cabin divders or curtains which makes the aircraft single class but still charge the extra APD, this is one of the many reasons why the goverment is moving to an aircraft based charge, the current regime is all but impossible to police and is wide open to fraud (just like family tax credits,disabilty allowances to name a few) a good idea, but not thought through.

JobsaGoodun
29th Mar 2008, 08:29
From 2009 the APD will be abolished and airlines will be charged based on a new formula based on aircraft emissions, NOTE AIRLINES WILL BE CHARGED not passengers, of course the goverment in the run up to the election will put positive spin on this for customers, but airlines will pay more and will have to decide how and if to pass this on, either way HMG will get the dosh whether the aircraft goes full or empty and MOL and other bandits will no longer be able to pocket the cash that rightly belongs to the passenger.


This is not really that big a deal.

The airlines that choose to slap fees on any refund of taxes are those who generally operate with higher load factors and therefore are less susceptable to the new tax given that it will be spread over a greater level of ticket yield. Effectively this is now a tax on seats with every seat, be it full or not attracting a form of taxation.

You say that airlines will be charged and not passengers however this is currently the case with the airlines acting as the tax collector on behalf of the government. Make no mistake about it, the airlines will not be 'paying' the tax on your behalf. You will be charged through the cost of your flight ticket, of that there is no doubt, although this new method is likely to be far less transparent resulting in you potentially being charged more than is actually being levied by the government for your particular seat on the aircraft. Essentially this charge will just be re-grouped into what most airlines class as 'taxes, fees and charges'.

ryan2000
29th Mar 2008, 10:44
This route isn't the loss leader that people think it is. They pulled Dublin Shannon after a few weeks but they're now on the ORK route since NOV 2005 and have no intention of walking away.

chrism20
29th Mar 2008, 10:55
There is also the small matter of Aer Arran 5 times a day on the ORK/DUB route.

RE's refusal to lie down and die on this route will be bugging MOL big time. If RE were to withdraw tomorrow FR would either do the same, slash frequency or fares would rocket.

We only need to look at the EZY/FR debacle that happened not too long ago

Facelookbovvered
29th Mar 2008, 11:24
I think you miss my point at present the airline collect the tax from all passengers, but only pay to the goverment the tax paid to the airline by the passenger that actually fly. I understand that in Ryanair case this is an average of 7% of their booked load. This will of course only apply to uk departures and that might? be on 15-20m out of their 52m+ pax a year, but 7% of 15m is 1.05m at £10 a time is £10.5m which in my terms is still a fair chunk of cash for free. In simple terms the new way of charging the airline will mean this free money (its billed as tax) is lost.

Put it another way on baby or Jet2 pax numbers (and most of theirs are UK) it could be worth over a £1m a year and that might make a loss into a profit or vice versa

Charlie Roy
29th Mar 2008, 11:54
Dear Ryanair,

Your booking engine is down. Again!

JadeGoody
29th Mar 2008, 12:41
I think TRF(sandefjorden, oslo) will be a new ryanairhub

eu01
29th Mar 2008, 13:13
:* Indeed, if the route policies were unable to destroy Ryanair, the new booking system will do the trick...

Please review everything carefully then click the CONFIRM FLIGHTS button at the bottom of the page.
[nothing to review]
Pricing
Total Cost of Flight 0.00

and later on...

An Error Has Occurred

An error condition exists which is preventing you from continuing. You may wish to start over and try again.
If you continue to get this error message, please contact the airline.

Additional details about the error:
An error has occurred. Please try again.
And... da capo al fine.

PS (edit). Shouldn't they already stop informing about some "minor" problems with the booking system? That will be shown to the court when they'll finally decide to sue Navitaire (the software provider) for all that chaos.

airbourne
29th Mar 2008, 14:12
€16 to use an Irish Credit Card. €6 to use an english card. Please tell me how they work that out?

JobsaGoodun
29th Mar 2008, 14:18
Facelookbovvered - I've not missed you point. The fact remains that if this form of revenue stream is cut off then it will simply be re-couped another way.

We all demand lower and lower fares when infact the reality of the situation is that the operating costs for airlines have increased significantly on what they were even 3yrs ago, mainly due to the cost of oil.

At the moment, you know how much you pay to the government...its is the £10APD. With the new scheme, you probably won't. An airline may indicate that it might work out for them at £10 per seat however they will probaby charge £15 to account for seats that are not filled. This will simply resulting in higher fares for everyone with the only sufferer being the passenger!

daz211
29th Mar 2008, 16:51
I for one have flown over 50 times with Ryanair and always pointed friends and family in the direction of the Ryanair website.
As you can see by my posts on this site over months and years I sang from the Ryanair hym book.

WELL no more I am sick to the back teath with Ryanairs website
and have not, nor will I, book on the user UN-friendly website again.

I hate to think how many bookings they have lost due to the :mad: website.

I never thought the day would come when I would walk away from Ryanair, there was a time when my blood was BLUE and I would stand and defend Ryanair to the death.

Today is a sad day for me! GOODBYE RYANAIR :ugh:.

jack_essex
30th Mar 2008, 08:38
I am TRYING my best to check in online for a flight I have to Spain in a few days time. All I keep getting is a blank page. Luckily I have already done it but you cannot even enter your 'advanced passenger information' as you keep getting sent to a dead link. I still have time to do the online check in but for passengers flying today they will be really annoyed.

daninLTN
30th Mar 2008, 09:14
Please excuse my ignorance but how can RE stay on Dublin-Cork when they are the ones with the smaller planes aka less seats....
I thought that was how it worked - surely FR are making more than RE with their 189 seater 738s vs the 70 seater AT7s of RE?

ryan2000
30th Mar 2008, 10:04
Aer Arann's fares were very high before Ryanair came on the route. If Ryanair were to leave the route, Aer Arann will simply reverse to catering for business traffic leaving the shoppers, concert goers, sports fans etc to go back to the buses and trains.

At least if Ryanair win this battle they will continue to provide some low fares on the route. Incidentally Ryanair's load factors held up throughout Jan and Feb while Aer Arann's fell back slightly.

The_Bean_Counter
30th Mar 2008, 15:11
Daz, have to agree, the website performance is shocking

pee
31st Mar 2008, 09:28
Not a shareholder myself, but is the Ryanair's good fortune ending?
Airlines were a key focus among broker recommendations. Goldman Sachs removed Ryanair from the 'Conviction Buy List'.

And Credit Suisse initiated coverage of easyJet with an 'outperform' rating and 445 pence price target and Ryanair with a 'neutral' rating and 2.8 euros target. Ryanair shares fell 1.07 percent, while easyjet shares were up 1.45 percent.

JadeGoody
31st Mar 2008, 16:26
vxo-nrn is officially reduced to 2 times weekly

Jippie
1st Apr 2008, 17:13
Ryanair seems desperate for more revenue:rolleyes:
Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, today (April 1st) launched a brand new website to tap into the X rated market, the internet’s fastest growth area. Following the success of the ‘Girls of Ryanair’ charity calendar, Ryanair’s new website, www.ryanbare.com (http://www.ryanbare.com/) promises the hottest in-flight entertainment, including X-rated Ryanair calendars, screensavers and a range of saucy pics.

Speaking today, Head of Ryanbare.com Pussy Galore said:

“Ryanair gambling has already boosted our ancillary revenue by tapping into the internet’s second favourite activity, so our next natural step is to tap into the most popular internet activity of all. The launch of Ryanbare.com offers the ultimate in-flight service, with a range of products to satisfy even the most hardcore aerosexual.

“To celebrate the launch of Ryanbare, prices have been stripped for one day only, so fasten your seatbelt and log onto Europe’s number one no frills, cheap thrills website www.ryanbare.com (http://www.ryanbare.com/).”

en2r
1st Apr 2008, 17:30
Ryanair seems desperate for more revenue:rolleyes:

Quote:
Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, today (April 1st) launched a brand new website to tap into the X rated market, the internet’s fastest growth area. Following the success of the ‘Girls of Ryanair’ charity calendar, Ryanair’s new website, www.ryanbare.com (http://www.ryanbare.com/) promises the hottest in-flight entertainment, including X-rated Ryanair calendars, screensavers and a range of saucy pics.

Speaking today, Head of Ryanbare.com Pussy Galore said:

“Ryanair gambling has already boosted our ancillary revenue by tapping into the internet’s second favourite activity, so our next natural step is to tap into the most popular internet activity of all. The launch of Ryanbare.com offers the ultimate in-flight service, with a range of products to satisfy even the most hardcore aerosexual.

“To celebrate the launch of Ryanbare, prices have been stripped for one day only, so fasten your seatbelt and log onto Europe’s number one no frills, cheap thrills website www.ryanbare.com (http://www.ryanbare.com/).”
It's an April Fools Day joke. Just click on the hyperlink and you'll see that.

JulietNovemberPapa
1st Apr 2008, 17:39
It's hilarious. :ok:

Jippie
1st Apr 2008, 17:48
It's an April Fools Day joke. Just click on the hyperlink and you'll see that.
I know, just wanted to share it without giving away the fact that it was a joke immediately:)

sitigeltfel
2nd Apr 2008, 08:50
They should also review their policy of not flying into major airports as people would be willing to pay more if it meant flying to the likes of CDG instead of the likes of Beauvais.

I fly PIK - BVA about once per month and it is wrong to assume that everyone flying wants to end up in the major city hubs. I and many of my fellow pax on these flights are not heading into Paris and the thought of having to battle our way through CDG fills me with dread. If you add up the time taken to clear through Beauvais (fast) and transfer on the shuttle bus to Porte Maillot (cheap and efficient), you will find that you had reached the centre of Paris far more quickly than had you flown into CDG.

kingston_toon
2nd Apr 2008, 13:39
Just to follow up my online checkin problem from before...

I turned up at Stansted an hour before the flight and went straight to the empty check-in desk for the flight. The man could not have been more helpful, and while he said my online boarding pass (with wrong expiry date and nationality) would probably have been fine, he gave me a "reissue" boarding pass anyway. On the way back at Belfast, I just used the online boarding pass and it was accepted without comment.

I wonder if things will be sorted out in time for my next online check-in next month!

james170969
2nd Apr 2008, 16:49
Sitigeltfel, I have to say that I agree with you 100%! Everyone is entitled to their opinion which I respect, but for me, I would rather fly into Beauvais than Charles DeGaulle. Beauvais is small and not the prettiest airport in the world but anytime I have flown into it I am out of there in around ten minutes. I have only flown into CDG twice and hated it. It is not the easiest of airports to get around, it wass rather dirty and I spent ages waiting for my luggage. Beauvais is also next to the motorway which is rather convenient. Ryanair often gets slagged off about their choice of airports but I would rather fly into the likes of Beauvais, Ostend or Charleroi than CDG or Heathrow (try waiting there one hour for your luggage)

idlejack
2nd Apr 2008, 16:57
RYANAIR ANNOUNCES MAJOR EXPANSION AT BARCELONA GIRONA


14 AIRCRAFT, 75 ROUTES, 8M PASSENGERS AND 8,000 JOBS BY 2012

Ryanair today (2nd April) announced that it will add 5 new aircraft at its Barcelona Girona base as part of a major expansion that will increase Ryanair’s Girona routes to 75 and passenger numbers to 8m p.a. by 2012.

These 8 million passengers will save €800m compared to Iberia’s high fares and fuel surcharges at Barcelona El Prat and will generate a visitor spend of €1.2bn p.a. in the Catalan region.

Announcing today’s Girona expansion, Ryanair’s Deputy CEO Michael Cawley said;

“Ryanair started flying from Barcelona Girona, our first Spanish airport, in 2002 and the partnership has been a phenomenal success, bringing Europe’s guaranteed lowest fares to millions of Catalans and providing the region with millions of visitors from all over Europe.

“This expansion will see Ryanair’s investment at the airport rise to 14 aircraft worth $1bn. This will support 8,000 jobs in the region, including 500 highly paid Ryanair pilot, cabin crew and engineering positions.

“We congratulate the Catalan region’s success in securing this low cost agreement against robust competition from other low cost, efficient European airports which will now place business and tourism throughout Catalonia on a fast track for growth”.

Charlie Roy
2nd Apr 2008, 17:05
Such announcements about plans for Girona or wherever else really pee me off when they are not accompanied by new routes in the booking engine :*

pee
2nd Apr 2008, 18:00
Such announcements about plans for Girona or wherever else really pee me off when they are not accompanied by new routes in the booking engine
Oops! My Finnish-born nick really doesn't sound good in English :ouch: - should have invented a different one for a foreign forum perhaps.

But yes, it's true. Less talking, more reforms and inventiveness - that's what Ryanair needs. Or maybe they just cannot afford to announce any new routes to prevent the website from a total agony? :8 The weeks in their booking system calendar are shorter again, did you notice? Seven days a week is too much to cope with!

Charlie Roy
2nd Apr 2008, 20:52
Oops! My Finnish-born nick really doesn't sound good in English :ouch:

LOL! Well maybe you'll finally get the Girona - Tampere route that you've been dreaming of ;)

pee
3rd Apr 2008, 10:12
maybe you'll finally get the Girona - Tampere route that you've been dreaming of
Well, I'm an old hand in travelling and have been in Catalonia many times with different airlines, so it's not necessarily my own dream. But as a visioneer (meaning I can envision what the cheap travel with some improvements could become) I can say... let me see (;))... yes, I would be a good route. In spite of the harshness this carrier demonstrates, I sympathetize with Ryanair being a forerunner in the field of the budget travel and from my point of view me as a, say, "fan-in-principle", it's sometimes pity to see many missed opportunities of them. The unexistance of at least a few Southern routes out of Finland is certainly one of those issues.

Charlie Roy
3rd Apr 2008, 10:43
March 2008 load factor up 1% to 79% from March 2007.
Poor-ish considering that Easter was in March this year and April last year.

Flitefone
3rd Apr 2008, 12:14
Easter loads this year are abnormal, so comparison with the past year is unwise. The Easter increases in (leisure) traffic are driven by the school holidays, while everyone in the UK had the public holidays over the long weekend at Easter, many school regions elected to defer the two week holiday until the week beginning the 7th April.... ie. it has'nt happened yet!

FF

Charlie Roy
3rd Apr 2008, 12:26
Interesting point about some regions of the UK deferring the Easter holidays.
But so far this is the only example in Europe that I've heard about.
Anybody else know of other regions in Europe where the Easter school holidays have been deferred to April?

Flitefone
3rd Apr 2008, 13:03
This is getting a bit peripheral for Prune, so I will make this my last remark on the topic.

School and Public Holiday regimes vary widely accross Europe and even within the UK. Ryanair to their credit is the master of exploiting these and other external factors (like sports events) in their yield management system.

To answer your question, the English system (Scotland is I believe different here) has a school year made basically of three 12 week semesters (terms). Each semester is broken at six weeks with a week off (half term) and finishes with a 2-3 week break at Easter and year end, with a longer break for summer.

The problem this year is that Easter fell too close to the February half term meaning that the semester is for some schools too short.

Many English schools therefore postponed the 'Easter holidays' by two weeks. Example Dorset is just finishing their Easter break, Hampshire has yet to start theirs.

The impact on travel stats is that many family holiday trips taken at the 'easter school break' bulge have yet to happen... so March traffic stats will be hard to measure against past performance.

FF

Charlie Roy
3rd Apr 2008, 13:24
And my point is that Ryanair aren't just a UK airline, but a pan-European airline, and maybe most of Europe had school holidays in the end of March.

But ok, for the best comparison we'll take March 07 + April 07 against March 08 + April 08.

CamelhAir
3rd Apr 2008, 13:37
March 2008 load factor up 1% to 79% from March 2007.

Now that you have the claimed load factor, now convert it to the real load factor. Remember the ryr lie LF includes no-shows, while the industry standard does not.
Subtract between 5 and 10% for the real load factor, which you must do to compare apples with apples.
So somewhere in the low 70's% is the reality, i.e. not very good and including easter. Is it any wonder airline analysts (as opposed to spotters) believe the model is in deep $hit?

schoolkid
3rd Apr 2008, 16:07
Remember the ryr lie LF includes no-shows, while the industry standard does not.

Camel, the industry semi-norm is not to have virtually a blanket ban on refunds on unused sectors or transferring reservations once a flight has departed...instead you usually buy a new ticket.
Semi flexible tickets etc can't be bought so I don't see why unflown sectors should not be used in their statistics

As I pointed out before,Ryr are not fibbing. In their shareholder literature , it is stated that the LF figures include unflown sectors, as RYR operate a no-refunds policy. It does however act as a nice revenue stream for the operation.:ok:

CamelhAir
3rd Apr 2008, 17:40
The point is that it is not possible to say ryr are doing better in terms of LF than anyone else if you don't compare like for like, regardless of refund policy. Besides, large numbers of no-shows are no doubt those who booked 1p tax included tickets on a whim. Not much revenue there... The whole point of cheap gimmick seats is that they then spend money on board. If they're not there, they aren't spending money, are not producing revenue and are skewing the load factor statistics.
Try to remember that micko lies to you, me, the staff, the shareholders, the stock market, the pax and the judiciary. Start with sceptical mindset and understanding becomes easier.

runway03
3rd Apr 2008, 20:11
Lots of German travellers are experiencing huge difficulties with the booking engine when trying to book flights from HHN to SXF! Every fourth user in the Hahn-Forum receives error messages in the last booking step.
FR should react very quickly in this case!!!

SWBKCB
4th Apr 2008, 17:22
Silly question time - how do you cancel a Ryanair flight? I've got a cheapie to DUB but now can't go and it goes against the grain to just 'no-show' (and they've problably got a charge for that too...)

Patuta
4th Apr 2008, 20:10
They don't charge you for not flying. :ok: But alike they don't refund. :=

cesare.caldi
4th Apr 2008, 22:02
Ryanair start to search new cabin crew and pilot based in AGP... so Malaga will be the next spanish base?

escortmk2
5th Apr 2008, 10:18
FYI,on a recent DUB-LGW sector the previous night the RYR website was indicating a load of 184. The eventual TOB was 157. On another DUB-ORK sector it was 187 vs 152

Schoolkid

Where on the site do you get this info?

saccade
8th Apr 2008, 10:49
Apparently, ryr saved 50 m by renegotiating airport contracts, so that is only 350 m to go.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ryanair-saves-over-euro50m-by-renegotiating-its-contracts-with-airports-1341262.html

"If profits were to fall by something like 50pc in the next 12 months, it won't be a pay freeze next year it'll be a pay cut."

"We moved seven planes out of Stansted last winter, I think that number will rise and the process will start at Dublin,"

Hollymead
8th Apr 2008, 10:50
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ryanair-saves-over-euro50m-by-renegotiating-its-contracts-with-airports-1341262.html

saccade
8th Apr 2008, 10:53
Thanks Holly

MUFC_fan
8th Apr 2008, 11:05
So they are moving aircraft out of two of their biggest baes, and probably most profitable. Where are they planning to put them?

I know there will be new bases but they have tens of new planes arriving every year!:confused:

Hollymead
8th Apr 2008, 11:31
Sorry saccade , you beat me by a minute . :O

LGS6753
8th Apr 2008, 14:20
I note that the plan is to move aircraft out of Dublin and Stansted during 'winter' - but I would guess those aircraft return for the summer peaks.

Do I detect spin?

The declaration that they have renegotiated down their handling and landing costs at 140 airports in a few weeks beggars belief. I suspect this is a means of putting pressure on recalcitrant airport authorities who don't want to play ball.

More spin?

BALLSOUT
8th Apr 2008, 16:05
I hear word on the grapevine is that the contract pilots are going to be given a pay cut.

Patuta
8th Apr 2008, 20:55
Times of recession fears are good times for wage cuttings.

PAXboy
9th Apr 2008, 01:46
Ryanair faces probe over adverts
Ryanair faces a probe by the [UK] Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after a string of complaints about its adverts.

ASA: "It is very disappointing, but absolutely necessary, that we have had to take this course of action"

RYR: The low-cost carrier said that the authority's rulings against it had been "unfair, biased and untrue". The ASA had "demonstrated a repeated lack of independence, impartiality and fairness", Ryanair added.

You make up your own mind. BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7337165.stm

lexoncd
9th Apr 2008, 12:44
The plain fact that Ryanair alone managed to get away without changing its reservation system to show inclusive prices until earlier this years says much for so called bias.

It's another....boring...publicity stunt from Ryanair. the central legal fact will what % of seats were available Fri - Sun. Yes we know on a Tuesday in November you can get a £10 flight.... but Ryanair have to show that there was reasonable capacity. In most travel circles this is considered to be around 10% of capacity.

So called ancillary charges will end up being included if the OFT have their way but its a tricky issue. On shorter routes you may well argue for a charge for hold luggage however on longer more leisure orientated routes there's an argument for a luggage allowance.

it will be an interesting bun fight but in the end I think the consumer will force the change by increasingly seeing through these so called fares and making a mental calculation.....

Reading the rone of the letter from Ryanair they do need a lesson in manners...the sheer arrogance to anyone questioning their ways is amazing....

pee
9th Apr 2008, 13:58
From today's news:
Mounting expectations of a rate cut from the Bank of England this week saw the pound fall to a record low against the euro today.

The cost of a euro rose above 80p - hitting UK holidaymakers planning trips to Europe - reaching its highest level since the single currency was introduced in 1999.
An other setback for FR apparently, as they keep focusing on the UK market. The drop in outgoing holidaymakers will hit regional bases, the taxes&fees increase lessens the profitability at STN and over a third of FR's bases is located in the UK. Tough times ahead.

MUFC_fan
9th Apr 2008, 14:17
This will effect FR alot more than U2.

U2 are catering for the business passengers and holiday makers who are heading to the main resorts (PMI, ALC, AGP, FAO) etc. where as FR have alot of flights to places such as Seville and Granada where the demand is not so high - and they have to fill more seats!

U2 is getting a big base at LGW which has more of an appeal to business passengers compared to FR's biggest base north of the city.

Expecting FR to be hit more with the current problems than U2, who seem to be doing quite well during this so called 'crisis.'

nickmo
9th Apr 2008, 14:26
Bun fighting indeed, in every sense! - now that FR are reporting the ASA to the OFT.

I get confused (I think) - reading who said what to whom about what and why it was said to them and when it was said to anyone who was listening.........

Lots of gripes on this and other topics related on the Stansted Airport news pages if interested : http://www.uk-airport-news.info/stansted-airport-news-040408.htm

840
9th Apr 2008, 14:28
Remember that the currency depreciation makes the UK a lot cheaper for people travelling to it. Added to that, as the Euro has strengthened against the dollar, it's shielded Ryanair from some of the problems associated with the rise in oil prices. UK-based airlines will have benefitted to an extent as sterling has also risen against the dollar, but not to the same degree as Ryanair.

kingdee
9th Apr 2008, 23:49
in The New Web site all i get is


An Error Has Occurred

An error condition exists which is preventing you from continuing. You may wish to start over and try again.
If you continue to get this error message, please contact the airline.
(http://www.bookryanair.com/SkySales/FRSearchRedirect.aspx?culture=EN-GB)

Seat62K
10th Apr 2008, 08:59
"Schoolkid", in post 1461, seems to be saying that 1p passengers are exempt from UK APD. Why is it, then, that when I redeem miles collected as a member of "frequent flyer" programmes I am charged APD (when I'm paying, before taxes/fees/charges less than 1p)?
I had always assumed that APD was levied on all passengers departing from a UK airport.

lexoncd
10th Apr 2008, 09:20
All bookings are subject to APB even ID100 tickets

lexoncd
10th Apr 2008, 09:42
Remember that the currency depreciation makes the UK a lot cheaper for people travelling to it. Added to that, as the Euro has strengthened against the dollar, it's shielded Ryanair from some of the problems associated with the rise in oil prices. UK-based airlines will have benefitted to an extent as sterling has also risen against the dollar, but not to the same degree as Ryanair.

The outlook isn't as rosy as it seems I'm afraid. Ryanair have 68 aircraft as of 31 Dec 07 based at UK airports and 60 in the EU zone with 22 of those in Dublin. (Dublin - UK routes with bias towards uk traffic)

Assuming for a fact that the travel patterns by Ryanair are the same as other carriers then the bias towards Uk originating traffic is considerably more than a straight 50/50 split on international routes allowing for some of the Dublin based aircraft above. This therefeore means that considerably more than half their income is in sterling for over half their fleet. I would go so far as to suggest that approximately 40 - 45% of their total revenue is in sterling which will have dropped in real terms by 17% in a year as we're now looking at 1.25 euros compared to 1.49 a year ago.

Add in the additioanl fuel costs due to not being hedged and you have an interesting scenario ahead. this is why you're seeing the start of the PR spin campaign to head off what will ultimetly have to be announced that their profits will fall by a significant amount as in fairness will most if not all of their competitiors.

I believe the discerning customer will prevail. Looking at other markets and taking the retail sector as an example when a downturn comes it is the low cost/bottom end segment that looses out first. I see no reason for that being any different as the price rises all airlines will face will see any so called price differential being erroded.

I alos see sustained growth from smaller regional airports becomming increasingly difficult. Linking many smaller European destinations to a larger hub. i.e Haugesund to London and Poitiers to London is fine but you won't see Haugesund to Poitiers (or maybe you will). Take Easyjet and their network and you can see the link to larger destinations makes more sense as they expand the network.

Ryanair won't go, there will be many more before that scenario but they are now lwarning to deal with a new set of economic rules I theink few in the airline industry or for that matter any other industry could have forseen.

jonjon
11th Apr 2008, 16:48
Hi,

Just read this on Flight Global...

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/04/11/222934/ryanair-to-ground-around-20-aircraft-this-winter.html

bad bear
11th Apr 2008, 18:21
If I was on one of those new "contracts" with Ryan air I would seriously think about jumping ship for any "year round" job ASAP before I ended up parked along with the aeroplanes
That is around 200 first officers forced to go skiing all winter, even the bit when there is no snow!

potkettleblack
11th Apr 2008, 18:26
And he is in between a rock and a hard place if he tries to sell them since they are minimum spec and Boeing will sell you the all singing all dancing version to match any price that Mick will flick them off at.

er340790
11th Apr 2008, 18:27
"We will put 20 aircraft on the ground for the winter because it’s more profitable."

I think MOL means LESS COSTLY.:ugh:

763 jock
11th Apr 2008, 18:38
And how many on order? Have they bitten off more than they can chew?

Musket90
11th Apr 2008, 18:48
Don't know what all the fuss is about. Winter months are always a lean time for airlines. Makes sense not to fly unprofitable routes during winter when there is no demand.

RingwaySam
11th Apr 2008, 18:49
And how many on order? Have they bitten off more than they can chew?Jethros shows 139 on order, but was last updated on the 27th March - 24 aircraft to be withdrawn this year, and 28 due for delievery this year. Like I said, updated in March so may have changed slightly.

saccade
11th Apr 2008, 19:08
Don't know what all the fuss is about. Winter months are always a lean time for airlines. Makes sense not to fly unprofitable routes during winter when there is no demand.If they are able to fill up only 150 ish planes during the winter period, will they be grounding 170 planes during the winter of 2012?

puma230
11th Apr 2008, 19:15
Ezy to lose 5 ac this winter too. Not great if you're in the hold pool!

jazzcat2000
11th Apr 2008, 19:16
Last month we were told that 42 were being delivered in the next twelve months.

411A
11th Apr 2008, 19:17
Steady on, folks, don't get in a snit.
Winter...the slow time in Europe.
However, it is the busy time in many African destinations, so a dry lease of the aeroplanes is possible...wet lease even better, as the crews come with the machine, no muss, no fuss.

Gin and/or vodka tonic, anyone? Tonic is the key, as we all know...or, should know.
Vodka preferred by yours truly, James Bond style.

For the younger folks, drink plenty of these, dodge malaria...a Havana cigar works well, also.

windytoo
11th Apr 2008, 19:27
I wondered why MOL sold £150 million share options and put the money in his own bank account.I wonder what he knows? He is not running scared is he?

c-mack
11th Apr 2008, 20:37
So why doesn't O'Leary expand a wee bit into north africa etc and considering ive never been on a ryanair flight with many extra seats this suprises me. Do other airlines do this?

jimworcs
11th Apr 2008, 21:55
MOL's model relies on opening up travel to those who previously wouldn't have travelled and not having competition on their routes. They are rapidly running out of "out of the way" places to go to, and are starting to face competition. Meanwhile, those who travel regularly would rather pay extra than be treated with contempt by MOL.

He has massively over-ordered planes and doesn't have enough people to fill them. It is the beginning of the end of Ryanair's ridiculous model of trying to build an airline whilst treating their customers like sh#t.

If MOL has found a new model which makes grounded airplanes profitable, he is about to become a billionaire.

F4F
11th Apr 2008, 22:18
411A matter is most airlines this side of the pond are kinda afraid for this option. My previous told us that wet leasing was just too complicated...
Pity pity as it really makes sense (though not a Ryan slave, I'd love to spend the winter in the tropics :cool:)

live 2 fly 2 live

alexgouk
11th Apr 2008, 22:31
As mere SLF I have to agree with Jimworcs, I only flew Ryanair once, but I swear I will never, ever go through that degrading experience again.

BarbiesBoyfriend
11th Apr 2008, 22:46
My experience with FR mirrors alexgouks. I'll never fly with them again.

There must be millions of folk who feel the same way.

The transition from 'valued passenger' to 'persona non grata', was instantaneous in my own case.

As far as I'm concerned they can get it right up them!

TSR2
11th Apr 2008, 22:52
Don't forget many of the new aircraft to be delivered this year are to replace the early 800's.

jimworcs
11th Apr 2008, 22:55
which might not be so easy

TSR2
11th Apr 2008, 23:00
Was reading an article about it last month, quite a few have already been placed (with some unsuspecting airlines)

sky9
12th Apr 2008, 07:00
I have always believed that a major part of the profitability of FR depended on the sale and leaseback of aircraft (have a look at the accounts), if that stops the profits dry up. Interesting times when leasing companies are having difficulty raising cash.
"Sub prime" is about to infect the airline industry and like house prices the profits of so many could actually be an illusion.

Remember the 1990's and a company called Guinness Peat.

757_Driver
12th Apr 2008, 07:07
have heard from a few sources that it is very much a 'buyers market' for leasing aircraft at the moment. i.e lots and lots of aircraft chasing not very many buyers. I'm sure MOL could lease those aircraft out, but not for very much.

I agree that Ryanair could be in trouble. The mother of all economic downturns is coming and costs are rocketing. Ryanair, for all their faults, are a very low fares airline, but if you take away the low fares (rising fuel costs etc) then what do they have left as a unique selling point? nix, nada, niente.

Fly380
12th Apr 2008, 07:11
Guinness Peat = the late Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair.

Chippie Chappie
12th Apr 2008, 08:20
So when does FR run out of it's hedged (cheaper) fuel?

Chips

mary_hinge
12th Apr 2008, 08:22
"Don't forget many of the new aircraft to be delivered this year are to replace the early 800's"

And

"which might not be so easy "

Which is not Ryanairs problem. Why not start a thread "Leasing Companies have a problem in moveing ex-Ryanair aircraft"! At the moment it's not a problem, it might well be in a month or so but the aircraft are moving on and still need crew, maintenance etc. All part of the deal that MoL signed upto in 2000

"So when does FR run out of it's hedged (cheaper) fuel?"
2 weeks ago.

Chippie Chappie
12th Apr 2008, 09:25
thanks m hinge,

Going to make things interesting. Leo HC will no doubt be around soon to tell us how this will work towards FR's advantage :}

Chips

jack_essex
12th Apr 2008, 09:59
Could this be anything? Looking in the online check in destinations it is listing STN - Tenerife North, Clemont Ferrand (once flown) and Paris Beauvais. There are also the previously flown Malmo and Vitoria so could this just be a lack of updating, error or possibly some new routes?

Heffer
12th Apr 2008, 10:28
FR was fully hedged at 63$/barrel average until end of March-08.

FR have stated they are unhedged for Q2 & Q3, and have 10% hedged for Q4 this year.

IATA March-08 Financial forecast for the industry as a whole makes grim reading (pdf) http://www.iata.org/NR/rdonlyres/DA8ACB38-676F-4DB1-A2AC-F5BCEF74CB2C/0/Industry_Outlook_Briefing_March08.pdf

eu01
12th Apr 2008, 11:19
In such circumstancies Ryanair's low fare level becomes disadvantagious if it still is to remain the main asset (some say the only one). The carrier has to compete on many different levels - other than price - to win. People love Ryanair just for those "free" flights, certainly not for passenger-friendliness. FR should have make friends for other reasons as well, why didn't they try to create a more positive general image of themselves? I mean everybody value your money at most, but many still try to suggest you are "precious" for other reasons as well. FR also should try to impress you with something other than just the price.

Leo Hairy-Camel
12th Apr 2008, 11:45
Leo HC will no doubt be around soon to tell us how this will work towards FR's advantage
Very well then, if you insist.
It's worth a closer look at the IATA analysis.
With fuel costs rising, the US market in recession and competition intensifying, the only way to limit the damage to profitability will be to take out capacity or squeeze out further efficiency gains. Non-fuel unit costs have been slashed in recent years with gains in labour, aircraft and distribution efficiencies. Airlines already run lean operations so further efficiency improvements will be challenging, but nonetheless critical.
When the industry frees itself from the gathering recessive effects, Ryanair will be fitter, stronger and with fewer competitors than ever before. Here it is from the horses mouth (http://wcc.webeventservices.com/view/wl/r.htm?e=101214&s=1&k=0C8845C76D95CC717103B845DC77E567&cb=genesys), if you prefer.
With 2 billion €uro in the bank, EPS up a quarter at 30 cent/share and a net margin of 21%, do you seriously think we have much to worry about? I don't. BA, though, well that's another matter.

CCR
12th Apr 2008, 12:14
Don't know why there are so many knockers out there on Ryanair.
Flew with them on Thursday from Cork to Dublin..it was cheaper than a train ticket, the Cork based crew were really friendly and they told me the return flight to Cork was full. There may be a few european airlines going to the wall in the forthcoming downturn but I'm sure Ryanair will only benefit from that.