Ryanair - 8

[daz211]

I have opened this new Ryanair thread due to Ryanair-7 being closed,
I think due to an error, the last post most if not all of us could see was from
the 28thOct ... so what did we miss ? anything ?

[PPRuNe Pop]

As daz211 says, the other thread was closed - because of a database problem.

So this thread is restored. Please do keep to topic and if you cannot find fact to debate - DON't make it up.

Enjoy.

AA&R Mods

[befree]

Hi all,

found a new song about Ryanair by Fascinating Aida. I think it shows that the 1 euro flight is well past its sell buy date.

YouTube - FASCINATING AIDA - Cheap Flights (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc)

I guess the MOL would use this as an advert!

[frfly]

Barcelona base goes to 8 aircraft as of today. UK bases all dramatically cut excluding Edinburgh and Leeds. Edinburgh has as many flights today as in the summer if not more by looking at the BAA website, however a lot of flights now operated from other bases. The damaging £12 APD is obviously having it's effects felt across most UK airports.

An interesting winter expansion has been at Gothenburg City, lots of new flights for the winter schedule.

The only thing crazy is the lack of Ski flights this year, Grenoble isn't being operated from nearly every UK base as it was in the past 2 years.

Malaga seems to have lost a lot of flights, surprisingly so as I would have thought very low frequencies to Germany/Scandinavia would have worked well this winter.

The base announcements have gone quiet as of late, still expecting TFS/LPA/ACE/PMI/CPH/LIS all to be in the running with maybe TLL aswell. It will be interesting to see what the summer schedule will look like once released in the next few months.

[befree]

£12 APD is only a small rise of £1, the big changes are to long haul. I would expect Easyjet and Ryanair may even gain from the changes as people in the UK fky to spain or italy instead of US or Aus.

[Jamie2k9]

The base announcements have gone quiet as of late, still expecting TFS/LPA/ACE/PMI/CPH/LIS all to be in the running with maybe TLL Oswell. It will be interesting to see what the summer schedule will look like once released in the next few months.


Ryanair summer 2011 to be on sale over the next week or two. Around half of DUB summer 2011 went on sale on Friday.

Lisbon as a base should be announced shortly as the only problem with it is the FR want to use the domestic terminal to achieve the 25min turnaround which can't be done in the International terminal.

CPH were giving FR a €20 discount per passenger and FR are still not happy about it.

As for Gothenburg I think a base will be there sometime during 2011

Malaga seems to have lost a lot of flights,
Malaga will have 2 a/c based for the winter compared to 4 in the summer.

[arriva]

Summer 2011 now on sale for Liverpool John Lennon.:\

[Amelia Earhart]

Is Derry - Alicante being dropped or is it just late being loaded for Summer 2011?

[Jamie2k9]

Most routes that are operating for summer 2011 show as operating but no yet bookable but LDY - ALC shows nothing. With an average load factor of 75% it dosn't look good as Ryanair like the load factors to be over 84%.

[Based]

Might as well post today's half year results highlights!

- 17% increase in half year Profit to €452m
- Revenues rose 23% to €2.2bln
- Traffic grew by 10% to 40.1m passengers
- Average fares rose by 12%
- Unit costs rose by 13% (excluding fuel they rose by 4%)
- Sector length increased by 12%
- Full year Net Profit guidance increased to €380m-€400m range

[frequentflyer2]

What were the BHD load factors to STN, EMA, LPL, PIK and BRS?

[Jamie2k9]

Not sure but 84% on a route between Ireland or UK and Spain is the least you would expect. Anyway FR drop routes which don't make a profit.

Routes between UK & Ireland are different. Not sure about BHO but I think they would of being around 75% - 100%.

[racedo]

Based

They are a cracking set of half year results and MO'L was in good form this morning on Sky with Eamonn Holmes.

[apaul]

O'Leary, Fat Eamonn and Sky TV - a truly appalling combination.

[davidjohnson6]

Reading the presentation, costs appear to be presented - having risen in absolute % terms, but (ignoring fuel) having fallen when one makes an adjustment for increased sector length.

I don't have full details, but it would seem that if one makes a similiar adjustment based on increased sector length for revenue, then FR has probably seen ticket revenue unchanged in 2010 compared to 2009.

It seems to me that if you want to make an adjustment to the accounts because of a significant change in the business model - i.e. increased sector length - then one has to make that adjustment to both revenue and costs at the same time. Adjusting one but not the other to flatter the presented accounts seems like a bit of hocus-pocus to me.

Or am I missing something here ?

[befree]

Anyway FR drop routes which don't make a profit.

But also a plane that does nothing also does not make a profit. FR are cutting so many routes and dropping bases that it will have lots if idle planes with more flying in each year. Also the oil price has just hit a 6 month high and is expect to rise a lot more.

[Based]

Out of interest, what would the affect on these figures have been if they hadn't postponed the arrival of the eight aircraft that are fully completed and currently gathering dust that were originally due for delivery between now and year end...http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/confused.gif

Even if they paid for 8 aircraft up front and in full, they would have posted a half year profit and, based on current guidance, a full year profit. Nice position to be in!

In these competitive times I'm just curious how much more the average fare would have to increase before Ryanair would no longer justifiably be able to call itself this....?

Until their average fare is higher than one of their competitors.

But also a plane that does nothing also does not make a profit. FR are cutting so many routes and dropping bases that it will have lots if idle planes with more flying in each year. Also the oil price has just hit a 6 month high and is expect to rise a lot more.

Any Ryanair aircraft on the ground have helped facilitate current profits which would have been lower if they were flying. As a matter of interest, how many idle aircraft are you projecting befree? Fuel costs are outlined in their half year presentation - 90% of FY11 hedged at $730pmt, 60% of FY12 hedged at $760pmt. Also what's your current thoughts on your predictions made earlier this year?


this year they face an extra 300 million euro fuel cost. their average ticket price is now 35 euros so they need an extra 9 million passengers to just pay the extra fuel cost.

the only way FR made more money was the big fall in the fuel cost last year.

They are likly to see less profit this year and long term will get hit by reduced value of the planes. they have to take a loss on teh reduced value when they sell them. last year they sold 3 and expect to sell 10 this year.

[barrymah]

I assume so....

Here - "Chez Ryanair, pour récupérer sa retraite, il faut aller en Irlande" | La Provence (http://www.laprovence.com/article/region/chez-ryanair-pour-recuperer-sa-retraite-il-faut-aller-en-irlande)

if you read French, is a piece about Ryr staff conditions, poorly researched and/or badly edited, doesn't read logically. However it does indicate a race to the bottom by M. O'L. One might hope that if he ever gets a case heard at EU level they might suggest that other countries raise their game to ensure better protection for workers.

I'll be happy to provide a translation but try Google....

Bye, Barry

[jethro15]

Postponed the arrival of the eight aircraft that are fully completed and currently gathering dust that were originally due for delivery between now and year end...

Are you sure that 'Fully completed and currently gathering dust' is correct?

[racedo]

Possibly a slight half year profit but undoubtedly a reduction in overall profits which combined with the increase in unit costs, fuel, and average fares puts a whole different slant on yesterdays figures, especially with the fact that some of Ryanair's main competitors are also starting to show signs of recovery in some areas.
At 22%, Ancillary Revenue (tea, coffee, baggage charges, credit card and handling charges, petty fines etc) seems to be the key growth area but you can only push those so far.

Really ?

So how does aircraft that supposedly were not to be delivered until last quarter of year impact on results to end of September ?

[Based]

Some of them were due for delivery in October....

Ryanair's half year is from April to September.

[racedo]

When was the decision made to defer delivery.....?

Completely and utterly irrelevant as defering a decision for delivery supposedly in second half of year (if that is what occurred) has no relevance to first half year results.

[MidlandDeltic]

ASFKAP wrote : "Some of them were due for delivery in October...."

And indeed, three were last Friday (and three a couple of weeks earlier IIRC) - and all have entered service this week, with two frames stood down. A recent report on an e-mail list compared Renton to Stansted with a number of FR aircraft undertaking their test flights.

MD

[befree]

In just the half year
Our fuel bill rose by 44% to €660m due to the increased level of activity and higher prices. That is an extra 200 million euros for the summer. They will fly a lot less in the winter but still face a big hike in fuel costs.

They are also returning planes to leaser instead of selling the ones they own. This reduce the price they can get for the ones they own later.

It also is clear they will find it impossble to have +12% fares in the winter.

[Based]

Possibly a slight half year profit but undoubtedly a reduction in overall profits which combined with the increase in unit costs, fuel, and average fares puts a whole different slant on yesterdays figures, especially with the fact that some of Ryanair's main competitors are also starting to show signs of recovery in some areas.


ASFKAP, you miss the point. I assume you're aware that the aircraft wouldn't have been paid for up front even if they had been delivered in H1 - being able to do so and still report a profit is impressive though. In reality, even if they took delivery of 8 aircraft on April 1st the impact on the current half year's profit wouldn't have exceeded €10m (assuming they're not needed and sitting on the ground). So now we have a €442 million profit for H1 - I'd hardly call that a 'whole different slant on yesterday's figures'.

That is an extra 200 million euros for the summer. They will fly a lot less in the winter but still face a big hike in fuel costs.

An extra €200m and still able to report €452m profit. Their per unit winter fuel costs will be broadly the same as H1 (obviously less overall due to less flights overall) given that 90% of Q3 is hedged at $730pmt and 90% of Q4 at $745pmt.

It also is clear they will find it impossble to have +12% fares in the winter.

It's also impossible (or at least highly improbable) that they will have +40% fares this winter. Or that they will carry 300 million passengers. Given that they haven't targeted either of these figures then who cares? Based on the +12% H1 increase and Q3 forward bookings, full year yield increase is expected to be at the upper end of the +5% to +10% range they previously guided.

[Based]

Are you suggesting that Ryanair can make more money by 'not' flying their aircraft than they can by flying them.....? http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/confused.gif

Now you have it ASFKAP! Aviation is a seasonal business, there's a significant possibility that flying any more aircraft than they have currently scheduled for the winter would result in a lower full year profit. Therefore not flying some aircraft, rather than flying them, will in fact help improve profits!

[racedo]

That is an extra 200 million euros for the summer. They will fly a lot less in the winter but still face a big hike in fuel costs.

So if they fly less in the winter how will they face a big hike in fuel prices ?

I could be wrong BUT when an aircraft is on the ground with no engines running the fuel burn rate is exceedingly low but you no doubt will say something differently.


They are also returning planes to leaser instead of selling the ones they own. This reduce the price they can get for the ones they own later.
RBS arm backing Ryanair's aircraft deal - Irish, Business - Independent.ie (http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/rbs-arm-backing-ryanairs-aircraft-deal-192132.html)

Why would it be as all they are doing is keeping to the terms of agreements signed in 2003 with RBS Aviation Capitol.

[commit aviation]

Agreed - an aircraft that isn't flying won't generate any revenue. Indeed it will cost money sitting around. However if the revenue you generate from flying it is less than the extra direct operating costs incurred through flying then it may be more finacially prudent to leave it on the ground.

A glass half full person might say this makes better profits over the year.
A glass half empty person might prefer to say you are just making less of a loss.
Both arguably are correct!

[Hull City AFC]

Summer 2011 now out for most destinations for Leeds Bradford and it looks as though there will be a 3rd based aircraft at Leeds Bradford for Summer 2011.

Mondays for example:

Aircraft 1:

06:30 - Leeds - Dublin - Leeds - 08:40
09:05 - Leeds - Palma - Leeds - 15:00
15:45 - Leeds - Murcia - Leeds - 22:15

Aircraft 2

06:50 - Leeds - Fuerteventura - Leeds - 16:15
17:20 - Leeds - Malaga - Leeds - 23:55

Aircraft 3

07:05 - Leeds - Nantes - Leeds - 11:10
11:35 - Leeds - Montpellier - Leeds - 16:30
16:55 - Leeds - Dublin - Leeds - 18:55

Some increases:- Fuerteventura carries through from winter. New Palma Saturday flight, new Sunday Malaga flight.

[Based]

As indeed is the revenue it generates.

And therefore not contributing towards a reduction in this year's profits.

[Jamie2k9]

Summer 2011 now out for most destinations for Leeds Bradford and it looks as though there will be a 3rd based aircraft at Leeds Bradford for Summer 2011.

Mondays for example:

Aircraft 1:

06:30 - Leeds - Dublin - Leeds - 08:40
09:05 - Leeds - Palma - Leeds - 15:00
15:45 - Leeds - Murcia - Leeds - 22:15

Aircraft 2

06:50 - Leeds - Fuerteventura - Leeds - 16:15
17:20 - Leeds - Malaga - Leeds - 23:55

Aircraft 3

07:05 - Leeds - Nantes - Leeds - 11:10
11:35 - Leeds - Montpellier - Leeds - 16:30
16:55 - Leeds - Dublin - Leeds - 18:55

Some increases:- Fuerteventura carries through from winter. New Palma Saturday flight, new Sunday Malaga flight.


There will only be 2 based a/c. The days and times that the routes operate will be changer over the next few weeks.

16:55 - Leeds - Dublin - Leeds - 18:55


It will be DUB - LBA - DUB with DUB based a/c

[Stewart28]

Has Ryanair cancelled Alicante to Derry for 2011 no flights are appearing in the timetable but others are

[befree]

Ryanair had for many years been able to fly at very low cost over the winter and make small profits on many routes all year.

higher costs means that filling planes at very low seat prices makes a loss in winter. Ryanair is losing a lot of the off peak traffic that made the buisness model work so well 5 years ago. He has also lost the ablity to buy planes for so much less than he could sell them for after a few years. The owned planes could suffer a big write down in value on sale. The alternative is for him to fly an aging fleet. Others like Easyjet could then get the next generation of planes and overtake MOL.

[racedo]

Ryanair had for many years been able to fly at very low cost over the winter and make small profits on many routes all year.

Nope there were many routes loss making during winter but thats why you have reduced services


higher costs means that filling planes at very low seat prices makes a loss in winter. Ryanair is losing a lot of the off peak traffic that made the buisness model work so well 5 years ago. He has also lost the ablity to buy planes for so much less than he could sell them for after a few years. The owned planes could suffer a big write down in value on sale. The alternative is for him to fly an aging fleet. Others like Easyjet could then get the next generation of planes and overtake MOL.

Which low seat prices is this ? The ones where they have increased since last year ?

As for U2 overtaking FR ..............with what exactly ?

FR is still buying planes cheaply with 64 due in 11 and 12 and options up to 2014 for up to 173 more.

You keep coming on here with idle speculation with not a single bit of fact and then make something up for the next time when asked for detail.

[Amelia Earhart]

I have been checking flights from Alicante to various destinations and when looking for example at July next year a lot simply display 7 airplanes with a red line through them. I presume this means the flights for next year are not yet loaded.

But when checking Alicante to Derry it displays no planes. It is the only destination to do this. Is this significant? Does it mean ALC-LDY is for the axe.

[befree]

Ryanair have dropped another digit on the traffic number for october. last month they claim to have sold 6.84M this month it 7.0M.

the half year slid shows has them going up to 299 planes at the end of 2013 but I cannot see where they are going to park all the ones that they do not have profitable routes. It seems FR are cutting in Ireland, UK, Germany and France. Having 64 more planes coming though the door and onto the books seems like very bad news.

When I give facts they are just ignored by racodo.
look at when they made a pre-tax pre exceptional profit in winter (H2)
In 2006/7
H1 profit 329m euro - full year 401 m euro hence 72 million euro profit in winter
in 2007/8
H1 profit 408m euro - full year 481 m euro - hence 73 million profit in winter.

now they are going to make a 50m to 70m loss in winter

[racedo]

Befree

Nope they have not said they are going to make a loss in Winter, they were very clear that while they have some indication of revenue numbers for Q3, they were not in a position to state as such for Q4.
"Our outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year remains cautious as we have little visibility on Q4 yields."
They stated using caveat above that their profit will be at top end of forecast but thats subject to lots of things.

As for parking planes well I think we can go back 2 year when everyone was stating with absolute fact that Ryanair couldn't take delivery of 42 planes last year, yet they did and grew traffic accordingly. by 7.6 Million passengers.

They also have already taken delivery of 45 aircraft in this calendar year and grown passenger numbers by 7.2 Million.

Face it yet again you are caught by your own posts.

[Skipness One Echo]

racedo the worry is that there is a never ending list of Ryanair haters who will queue up to rehash the same old argument that was aired and settled ten pages back.

The logical leap from "Things are tougher than they were in better days" to Private Fraser's "We're doooooooomed" is a rather large one in the case of growing cash rich company like Ryanair. It's a fascinating take on the human condition watching people queue up to bash 'em, as from any perspective most airlines are
1) Less punctual
2) Fly older aircraft
3) Don't fly to as many places in Europe
4) but are far less enthralling!

Ryanair are clearly screwed. Why? Because.

racedo one cannot argue with that but my compliments for trying, and being informative if occasionally selective.....

[racedo]

racedo the worry is that there is a never ending list of Ryanair haters who will queue up to rehash the same old argument that was aired and settled ten pages back.

racedo one cannot argue with that but my compliments for trying, and being informative if occasionally selective.....

;)...............

[mickyman]

racedo & Skipness One Echo,

Cannot fault your latest posts....

MM

[INKJET]

I think we are entering a new and interesting time in the low cost market of which Ryanair are of course the biggest player. Historically legacy airline operated routes pretty much year round and reduced frequency over the winter months, they lost a lot of money in winter but not quite as much as they made in the summer, the nett result was a small ish profit for the year and year round services with prices higher in Summer than would have been the case if they could park up and more importantly not pay their staff in the winter.

With out sourcing of contracted services, handling, cleaning, check in and now pilots, airlines can fly when routes are profitable and not when there not!!

Of course there are still some cost for parking your fleet over the winter, but i guess if you can promise AND deliver squidmillion pax and have a new base a week you can probably park your airplanes all over Europe for free and that is pretty much what most airpark (sorry airports) look like with heaps of Harps parked up, its a brilliant strategy because it means that you don't loose (as much) in the winter which means you don't have to make as much in the Summer ie your charges can be less than other competitors who employ people year round (Jet2 take note)

So what can go wrong? , you have billions in cash a route network that allows few other airlines a chance to start with out being driven off on pricing a huge customer base that flys with you because your cheap and on time and thus far safe(very safe) they have trained masses of pilots (profitably) and are unafraid of any national government or indeed the EU?

I am unsure what effect (positive or negative) the looming sovereign debt crisis in Ireland may have?

Threats? well clearly the raft of EU governments imposing so called environmental taxes is an issue but if they all do it your back to a level playing field?

In moving into more traditional airports there is some risk that after a few years the airports might re think the benefit equation of having a large LoCo on site all year, but flying only in peak months?

On balance i think O'leary probably right that it will end up with a few very large airlines groups LH AF/KLM BA/IB with protected hubs, the IT the few that are left that is and Ryanair/Easy and niche players

Bring on 2011:cool:

[mickyman]

INKJET

I'm still waiting for Ryanairs 'LUCK' to run out!

MM

[INKJET]

Mickeyman you don't make that much money based on luck, sure luck helps but you make your own luck.

But in this industry bad luck is lurking around every corner, having lots of cash sorts out the men from the wannabes

[mickyman]

INKJET

The Ryanair detractors seem to put the airlines
continuing performance down to 'LUCK' and not
planning - something I have been quite willing
to correct in the past on this forum.

MM

Good to see that BA is digging itself out of the hole
at last.

[befree]

Befree

Nope they have not said they are going to make a loss in Winter

Ryanair have reported the profit for the half year that is far more than their expected whole year profit. They are expecting in effect to have something like 60m euros loss in the the winter that needs taking off the summer profit to give the year end figure. If you can do maths knowing H1 and also knowing H1+H2 allows you to work out H2.

[racedo]

Ryanair have reported the profit for the half year that is far more than their expected whole year profit. They are expecting in effect to have something like 60m euros loss in the the winter that needs taking off the summer profit to give the year end figure. If you can do maths knowing H1 and also knowing H1+H2 allows you to work out H2.

Wrong they are very clear in what they are saying in stating the caveat that they have no visibility on revenue in Q4.
Stating in line with forecast or at upper end of forecast is NOT stating what it will be nor is it stating they will make a loss.

[pee]

@ Cyrano (Lappeenranta / Russia issue)

I did answer your question, but unfortunately it's gone as my text went to the last page of the Ryanair-7 thread truncated after the database error.

Anyway, if you are interested, I just came across the English-language publication (https://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/14445/Mardeev_Arthur.pdf?sequence=1) made by (probably) Russian-born bachelor of Business Administration from Finnish University, analysing the market potential of Lappeenranta airport towards Russia. His thesis are from May, when the flights have just begun. Many details (https://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/14445/Mardeev_Arthur.pdf?sequence=1) you can find there.

This week Ryanair started its new connection to LPP, from Charleroi. Amazingly (or should it really be such a surprise?) and in spite of low-season, the first flight from Lappeenranta to Belgium was almost sold-out and the LF approached 100%.

[Cyrano]

Thanks, Pee!

[befree]

H1
Ryanair Half Year Profits Rise 17% To €452m

Full year
we now believe that full year Net Profit will exceed the upper end of our previous forecast range (€350m to €375m) and will now finish (subject to Q4 yields) within a range of €380m to €400m.

Even with some uncertinty over revenue in Q4 they are clearly expecting a loss in H2 and have told the city to expect full year net profits to be less than half year net profits. They are expecting to be around a €20m window and even if they were well high it would be a loss in the winter.

[Lord Lardy]

Stating in line with forecast or at upper end of forecast is NOT stating what it will be nor is it stating they will make a loss.


On Morning Ireland, a breakfast news program on Irish radio on Nov 1st, Michael Cawley, the deputy CEO of Ryanair says in an interview and I quote his exact words "We are going to lose up to 50 million in the second half of the year" He volunteers the information himself and makes the point that this 50m loss will be less than the 70 million loss in the same period last year. Dosen't get much clearer than that.

These appear to be a good set of results overall by Ryanair. Just making the post to clear up the argument in relation to a second half loss.

Podcast here (http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_morningireland.xml) of the interview under Business section Nov 1st about halfway down the page. The loss remark is made 1 minute into the interview.

[racedo]

Despite what is said on RTE the statements that count are those to the Stock Exchange and are clear they have no idea what Q4 revenue will be so he is making a forecast nothing else.

IF a double dip happens they could lose €200 million but if demand firms up the could just as easily make that as well.

I love the idea that all of a sudden that oh well they MAY lose money in 2nd half seems to be this week reason for hating Ryanair from usual mob but until results are known post March 31st there is no way to know.

[befree]

Thanks Lord Lardy for finding the clip. Most airlines make a profit in the summer and a loss in the winter. Ryanair was different as it used to be able to make winter profits as well as summer ones. It is a very important change. The ryanair model could be changing to something like the easyjet one! FRs space at the bottom of the market is getting less profitable in the winter.

[LEEDS APPROACH]

A question to Jamie2K9.

Why are you so sure that LBA will remain a 2 aircraft base next summer?

[Jamie2k9]

A question to Jamie2K9.

Why are you so sure that LBA will remain a 2 aircraft base next summer?


I can't confirm if it will be 2 or 3 a/c next summer.

Alicante, Barcelona, Faro all operated by non based aircraft.
Dublin morning by Leeds aircraft and evening by Dublin aircraft.
Carcassonne & Girona dropped for summer 2011.

There is not enough routes been operated by Leeds aircraft to justify a 3 based a/c.

Venice & Gdansk is not on sale yet but will be Leed a/c
Pisa will be a Pisa based a/c.
Weeze will be Weeze based a/c

[frfly]

I would expect Leeds to have 3. I'd also expect Edinburgh to have 7 or 8. All other UK airports I would think would stay similar to this year, maybe with a slight reduction in STN.

The schedule is nowhere near finished, it might take until after Christmas for it to be fully up and running.

[jpta2000]

The start of a 1-plane base in MLA seems to have been a good move for FR - the good performance of the base was commented upon in FR's half-yearly report.

The national airline, KM, are in deep financial trouble and have already indicated that they will reduce the number of flights flown next summer.

Jamie2K9 or frfly might know - are there any plans to increase the number of FR based aircraft in summer 11?

JP.

[frfly]

No strong rumours to suggest another aircraft but I would be shocked if another one was not added. The only problem is Ryanair have to agree routes with the authorities in advance, and now Air Malta are in trouble it's a question of does the government protect Air Malta or have in place an airline that can continue to deliver tourism growth to the island....which is in no doubt Ryanair.

I would expect at least 1 more to be added, maybe just for 6 months April-October in the same way ALC and AGP are increased in size for the summer for holiday routes.

[apaul]

Ryanair is probably one of the worst options for regions to develop tourism in the medium term or longer. As plenty of places in Italy, Spain, France Croatia and indeed Ireland have already found out, Ryanair will move on when it can no longer squeeze 'marketing support' from the public purse and little or no landing fee deals from the airports. Plus the high baggage charges and poor customer service make Ryanair a lot less attractive for family holidays than the headline cheap fares suggest. EasyJet and Jet2 are better partners to develop tourism.

[racedo]

Plus the high baggage charges and poor customer service make Ryanair a lot less attractive for family holidays than the headline cheap fares suggest.

So you reckon that in Summer just gone that booking FR rather than U2 was likely to have left people with poorer customer service ?

Even the U2 people who saw cancellations all over the place due to lack of crew resources would struggle to back that one up.

As for the bags well funnily enough the majority of passengers are now travelling lights with bags so that blows that theory out the window.

The ontime stats speak for themselves.

[jpta2000]

Frfly,

thanks for the reply :ok:.

JP

[jferreira20]

Last week it was announced another plane (number 5) to Porto base.

This plane will start operating in March, but only two new routes were announced: Rome, starting in January and transfered from Santiago and La Rochelle, with only two flights/week.

Does anyone know if it I should expect more routes to be announced?

[Sunnyjohn]

As promised (threatened?!) Ryanair have reopened their base at Valencia. Their winter timetable shows 32 destinations Europe-wide with four to UK. They have Valencia-Madrid, despite AVE high speed trains starting in mid December with ten trains per day in ninety minutes at, supposedly 40 euros return. Could be good competition for our Irishman - keep him on his toes!

[eu01]

I certainly prefer MOL fighting with... well, taxes, fees, politicians ("morons"), airports, other carriers, but do not like him fighting with trains. It resembles me Don Quixote and his windmills, sorry. TheAVE high-speed train will travel from Valencia to central Madrid in just 90 minutes.

I'm not a "crazy green activist", but certainly would prefer trains on that route. Just to remind you, formerly even the Brussels (CRL) - London (STN) flights had to be discontinued in spite of the train travel taking some three hours at the time.

So called route planning strategy is seemingly not the the strongest point of FR. Possibly they didn't even bother to analyze the regional infrastructure development plans.... :hmm:

[davidjohnson6]

eu01 - I wouldn't worry too much about Ryanair fighting with trains. The train will not go away, but in a reasonable period of time, the airline will realise that they are losing lots of money on the route and just choose a different route where flying has an advantage instead. It's all part of the capitalist system - to punish those who make stupid decisions with a loss of money.

[eu01]

davidjohnson6
MOL is kind of a penny-pinching capitalist, able to make some really awesome savings and extraordinary deals where you would not have expected the money could be found. But at the same time he openly neglects good research and thorough planning... why? In fact there are not so many unpredictable things on Earth, you can anticipate to a great extent average people needs and potential behaviours.

You can talk of an early "wild" capitalism but also of a modern, much wiser and sophisticated one. There is NO NEED to try blindly and with no expertise what happen if we start this or that arbitrary, what for? It can result in selling tickets for six or twelve months for just a few euros, reducing frequencies, losing money without any logical reason. Right, Ryanair is strong enough to afford it, but there is simply no need for it. Carrying out some research, not expensive indeed, could be in fact another form of SAVING real money. Good research to assess the potential of some new routes could also bring some encouraging hints and solutions where at first sight you wouldn't expect any good results at all (e.g. casus Lappeenranta).

Clearly, I hate leaning on consulting firms where it's obviously costly and unnecessary. Selectively and in the reasonable form the expertise/ research should not be rejected, though.

[davidjohnson6]

he openly neglects good research and thorough planning... why?

In life, everyone has to learn some things the hard way. If anything, being hurt occasionally makes us a little bit more human

[ara01jbb]

If anything, being hurt occasionally makes us a little bit more human

+1. Proof that MOL has never really suffered any pain :E

[MichaelOLearyGenius]

"A man who makes no mistakes is a man who makes nothing"

[AvWRup]

Ryanair's 'babes' have got their bits out again for the charity calendar (http://bit.ly/a1HTli). Last year's 'making of' video is hysterical!

[pee]

You could have embedded this video:

0J4fnS1o_7k

[AvWRup]

You're right, I could have.

[eu01]

As travelweekly (http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2010/11/09/35194/wtm-2010-lebanon-courts-no-frills-carriers.html) (UK) writes, Lebanon courts no-frills carriers, especially Ryanair and easyJet.
The Lebanese tourism minister said he was ready to “play ball” with no-frills airlines as he seeks to break the “duopoly” of BMI and Middle East Airlines on flights between the UK and Lebanon.

“We have two or three flights a day from Heathrow,” said Mr HE Faddy Aboud.

“I’d like to see flights from Luton, Stansted and Manchester. I’m calling on Ryanair, easyJet and any other low-cost airlines to come and talk to me.”

UK arrivals to Lebanon are up by 25% in 2010, after a couple of years of widespread positive press coverage about the country as a tourist destination.

The Lebanese tourism ministry will underline its commitment to the UK next year by taking on a PR agency and spending £2 million of its £10 million promotional budget in the UK.

The ministry intends to draw attention to the country’s diversity, encouraging visitors to venture outside Beirut, which currently attracts 70% of all tourists.

Mr Aboud hopes to attract a wider diversity of types of tourist, broadening its appeal from gap-year students, the adventure tourism market and medical tourists.Let me tell this straight. Mr Aboud doesn't have to "play ball" with anybody, at least not with FR. Just reduce the airport fees (why not 1 euro per flight or so?) and use your promotional budget to start the marketing support right away, you'll get almost as many connections as you wish.

PS. I'm not MOL's spokesman, by the way :}

[Stewart28]

Does anyone why Ryanair cancelled the Alicante to Derry route

[Kavs8]

Just hearing that Ryanair is to significantly expand its operations in Spain, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus & Bulgaria next summer as well as introducing new routes to Tunisia & Turkey. Any one else heard this?

[Cyrano]

When you say "just hearing", you mean you (or someone you were talking to) read this article (http://www.routesonline.com/news/36/the-hub/97447/amajor-opportunities-remain-in-europea-a-ryanair-route-director/)? :hmm:

[eu01]

^^
O’Toole said there remains major opportunities in Spain and Italy, as well as Norway, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Russia. He added that future open skies agreements in Turkey, Tunisia and Georgia could make these interesting countries for the carrier.How big opportunities are to be found in these countries?

Spain? Well indeed, the sunny destinations will always be viable. But limiting at the same time the activities in e.g. UK, Ireland, France and Germany will generate a kind of asymmetry. Pax want to fly to Spanish resorts from the above mentioned countries rather and not so much from one Spanish resort to another.
Otherwise, in Spain there are some not-quite-necessary airports that would even agree to pay for flying (Lleida, Ciudad Real), but could go bust first.

Italy? Already pretty much saturated. The potential still exists, some risk would be associated with a possible closure of Ciampino that would have a very negative impact on internal activities. Hopefully it won't happen.

Norway? Isn't it too small country to create a "major" opportunity?

Portugal? The possible development is pretty much limited to Lisbon, where easyJet is already ahead of FR.

Greece? Well yes. But are they likely to offer terms good enough for Ryanair? Furthermore, long distances to go.

Bulgaria? Wizz is more advanced in that country so far. Apart from commuting workers, the Black Sea coast could indeed handle more tourists, mostly in Summer though.

Cyprus? The source said: “My own view is that the gap between our positions narrowed because Ryanair decided that it could not wait any longer to implement its strategy for the Middle East”. Less than million inhabitants means mostly the inbound and seasonal activity, however.

Russia? Oh yes, the potential is great, but any "future open skies agreement" is still very unlikely. I don't believe FR will enter Russia, they could make some use of the neighbouring countries' airports rather.

Turkey? Although the potential seems good, the flight distances are not very optimal.
Tunisia? Ditto.

Georgia? We learn that Ryanair “is very much interested” in launching flights to Georgia starting from next summer. Vera Kobalia, the Georgian economy minister, met Ryanair executives in Ireland and was told that Georgia should at first upgrade its Kutaisi Airport in its second largest city and to sign a common aviation agreement with EU. Meeting these conditions would pave the way for Ryanair’s entry into Georgia. Fine, but this country is too small and too distant anyway.

[Sikpupi]

Ryanair closed the Kerry base today.

Another case of the toys being thrown out of the pram cos he didn't win this round against the Government. Shame on the staff who moved there who now have to move again.

Do Ryanair really care about anything other than share price?? Staff, loyalty, business relationships etc etc???

Can't see him winning this one against the Govermment! Picked himself a bad fight this time...

[davidjohnson6]

eu01 - I may be wrong, but the tone of your post seems rather more negative than the opportunities that others might see. The following are just random guesses - I don't claim any accuracy on the size of the opportunities presented, just trying to give reason for optimism for Ryanair rather than pessimism.

Spain - can anything be done at any of the other cities in Spain ? Out of 46 million people, there must be residents outside Madrid + Barcelona + beach resorts who want to fly places in Europe.

Italy - is there nothing do-able from Naples or Salerno ? Turin ? Genoa ?

Norway - small population, but wealthy. Norwegian seems to have found plenty of opportunity for flying. Is there room for Ryanair to take a little bit of market share off them in western or mid Norway ?

Greece - has very little in the way of LCC flying. With Olympic and Aegean merging, that leaves just one main domestic carrier. Perhaps time for other airlines to enter the market ?

Bulgaria + Romania - I know that Ryanair and Wizz tend not to compete head-to-head, but will Ryanair really leave these 2 countries almost entirely to Wizz and the currently troubled Blue Air ? Yes, incomes are low, but they are EU members and these 2 countries make for 30 million people

Cyprus - yes the population is small, but being so far south, the climate is good for a big chunk of the year. Malta has a population about half that of Cyprus

Russia - perhaps now is the time to start opening more routes to Estonia and Lappeenranta ?

[eu01]

davidjohnson,
I'm not negative about Ryanair, maybe just less optimistic than I used to be a few years ago. The potential does remain in both “old” and “new” territories. The significant expansion is still possible and indeed expected by many. What I dislike in Ryanair is kind of their attitude: “You don't like us? We can go elsewhere. Look at the opportunities here, there and in Africa too ;).” While the opportunities do exist, the wrong thing in FR policies is the conquistador's way of thinking. It's not enough to exploit one place and after some time just go to another, one has to care about the places you are already recognized, maybe valued in some way. For their own sake the enterprise should do its best to maintain good relations there, to get as much new opportunities as possible and to continue the growth in these “old” places as well.
Look at forestry. Would we still have forests in Europe without managing, growing and protecting them? The resources (as well as the conquering opportunities here in Europe) are limited, unfortunately.

The care about partners and customers as well as the entire imago question are imperfect at Ryanair, expressing it in a restrained manner. What I wanted to highlight here – look at the possibilities you have in the places you already operate. And they are still huge.

It's a very large issue, so let me reiterate just one thing. The potential of small airports. Once fascinated by the opportunities hidden there, FR is now trying to shift the operations partially to bigger places. Well, but there's still much to achieve in there. Just that people from, say, Vaxjo/Smaland, Sweden, will soon be fed up with Weeze/ Düsseldorf and its surroundings and also the perspective of flying every year for the sunbath just to Alicante doesn't suit everybody. They would likely fly with Ryanair again, but elsewhere (Rome, Krakow, Malta, Madrid, whatever) and will probably never be offered a direct connection, it's impossible. Think different, I have to say, look at the opportunities coming with the introduction of connecting flights for such a people. In Germany one doesn't even have to pay a government tax at the airports if connecting flights.

[Seljuk22]

Read this:

O’Toole said there remains major opportunities in Spain and Italy, as well as Norway, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Russia. He added that future open skies agreements in Turkey, Tunisia and Georgia could make these interesting countries for the carrier.

“Major opportunities remain in Europe� – Ryanair route director :: Routesonline (http://www.routesonline.com/news/36/the-hub/97447/amajor-opportunities-remain-in-europea-a-ryanair-route-director/)

22 new a/c arriving in 2011 and 9 are already allocated!? (I guess to FAO, OPO, RYG, Spain and Italy)

Trapani: winter 2 additional a/c. I think there are already 4 a/c at TPS. Going up to 6?

With Eurocypria going bust and Blue Air closed its LCA Base there is plenty of room left for FR.

[jethro15]

22 new a/c arriving in 2011 and 9 are already allocated!?
Not 37?

jethro's UK and Ireland Airline Fleet Listings - Ryanair (http://www.jethros.eu/fleets/fleet_listings/ryanair.htm)

[LGS6753]

Jethro,

The 37 you list are new airframe arrivals. The 22 they refer to are net new, i.e. after accounting for (presumably 15) disposals. FR have been defleeting their older 738s for some time.

Panic over? :ok:

[FR-]

My question would be, if we are no longer placing orders for new a/c, will we start to keep a/c for more than 5 years?

fr-

[bia botal]

My question would be, if we are no longer placing orders for new a/c, will we start to keep a/c for more than 5 years?

I would hope so or there will be none left in 10.

[Amelia Earhart]

In July-October 2009 LDY-ALC carried 10601 pax and in July-October 2010 it carried 10042 but now the route has been axed.

(I have deliberately ignored the figures from April to June due to the Volcano and ATC strikes and also to allow a comparison with the shorter season the previous year.)

OK, figures are slightly down and it says nothing about yields but would it not have made more sense to keep the route on the original shorter season and if necessary reduce it to one flight per week until the recession ends. That would improve yields and allow the route to establish itself better against offerings from BFS and the new LDY-FAO route.

But to axe it completely seems to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Bring it back: June - Sep, 1 x flight per week!

[eu01]

MOL has acknowledged that Ryanair is planning to cut even more German routes from its 2011 Summer schedule. O'Leary will give more details only a few weeks ahead of Christmas. For now, one can draw some conclusions from the ongoing talks with Berlin, Bremen and Weeze airports.
Well, the introduction of 8€ tax wasn't a wise move of the German government, nevertheless we might wonder how vulnerable to fairly small changes in these conditions Ryanair really is.

And at least one of MOL's opinions concerning Germany has my fool backing. He thinks Berlin's new BBI all-in-one airport is a "nonsense idea", "very expensive and complicated.” “Berlin used to have three well-operating airports, Tegel, Tempelhof and Schoenefeld, well developed and able to compete,” said O'Leary in his interview with the "Tagesspiegel". “But the construction of a fanciful, shiny giant airport, the idea pursued by politicians, is harmful.” “By blocking any competition Berlin can only lose”.

And the lack of competition in Brandenburg is obvious. Not only big ones, but also smaller and more distant airports like these in Neuhardenberg and Eberswalde-Finow, both having the runways good enough to serve big passenger jets, were banned from such operations. Too apparently just to prevent any competition with the new BBI in the majesty of the law.
.

[apaul]

As usual O'Leary is talking ill-informed nonsense. The three Berlin airports did not compete against each other, and it has long been agreed that Tempelhof would close on environmental grounds as it is in a completely built up area.

[Janu]

I've just ordered my copy of 'The Girls of Ryanair Cabin Crew Charity Calendar 2011'. :)

[Jamie2k9]

Just booked to fly from DUB-TFS (2 adults - 1 checked bag) on Dec 27 for a week.

I booked DUB - TFS with Ryanair and TFS to DUB with Aer Lingus. I saved around €180.00.

[eu01]

@ posts #94 and 95.
Are we going to continue this thread by stating "I ordered a cup of tea and a sandwich flying from A to B"?

Sure, your news are more neutral than e.g. citing news agencies "More than 100 angry passengers refused to leave a Ryanair flight Wednesday after it was diverted to Belgium, demanding that they be taken home". Sorry to hear this, as it won't help FR getting more pax in the future, that's the kind of publicity really unnecessary in tough times.

[Centrefire]

Have been hearing rumours that FR are to return to Balaton next spring. Anyone know the truth?

[FR-]

jamie2k9, glad you saved so much, you would saved even more on staff travel :E

[riverrock]

Any idea what the press conference in Dub today is about??

[eu01]

FR is rumoured to be planning the return to Hungary before Summer. Probably it's not decided yet (or not officially known) which one destination will be shown the green light; BUD or Sármellék (Balaton).

Regrettably, no news about any activities at the site of the new low-cost Alba airport near Székesfehérvár, previously scheduled to start this year. Looks like there are severe financing problems and it's probably discontinued. It's a pity, because it would be ideally situated, half way between the two most popular Hungarian destinations: Budapest and the Lake Balaton.

[WJ888]

I checked the Wikipedia page regarding Balaton Airport, and it's stating Ryanair will restart flights from Balaton from April, to Frankfurt-Hahn and London Stansted.

[Jamie2k9]

Ryanair cut further flights from Dublin in Jan 2011 as new airport charges come into effect.

48 weekly flights axed

DUB-ORK - 7 flights cut

Reductions on other flights to Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, East-Midlands and Manchester.

This cuts are no surprise as at the end of October Ryanair decided to increase flights to UK from DUB.

Ryanair to axe some Dublin routes next year - RTÉ News (http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1117/ryanair-business.html)

[davidjohnson6]

I do not want to be anti-Ireland, but if the experience of Aerolineas Argentinas around 2002 / 2003 is anything to go by, consumer demand for aviation in Ireland, Greece and possibly Portugal may well see a significant fall in the next 18 months.

[eu01]

Oh where, oh where, will all these new planes go?

I suspect that the cuts at DUB won't be significant in Summer, even so there are quite a few new aircraft yet to allocate. Any suggestions?

[Jamie2k9]

The DAA called it Hot Air before T2 opens on Fri.
Ryanair?s Hot Air Increases As Countdown to Terminal 2 Continues (http://www.dublinairport.com/at-airport/latest-news/171110.html)

I suspect that the cuts at DUB won't be significant in Summer

Yes your right

For Summer 2010 Ryanair announced that they would only have 15 based a/c but they had 18 based a/c.

For Winter 2010/11 Ryanair announced that they would only have 12 based a/c but they have 13 based a/c.

Over the last few months Ryanair has said that Dublin Airport traffic will fall below 17million this year but yet again it is a load of bull.

Currently it is expected to be between 18.5 - 19 million.

Ryanair have also dropped a few routes from Faro next summer. They are also expected to pull out of Durham Tees over a passenger charge.

[FR-]

ACE will become the 44th base

[pee]

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary brought a funeral hearse and coffin to Dublin Airport, to mark the opening of Terminal 2.http://www.98fm.com/wp-content/files/2010/11/RyanairT2-Coffin-Protest-460x306.jpg
The low-cost airline says the unveiling of the new facility marks the ‘death of Irish tourism’.

The Taoiseach escaped from economic turbulance this morning to open the state of the art T2 – almost a reminder now of more prosperous times – but his arrival was somewhat hijacked by the Ryanair protest.

From 98FM (http://www.98fm.com/news-sport/news/coffin-t2protest943/).

[tangarizie]

Any further info about the base at ACE? Open date, new routes, etc?

When will it become official?

[waffler]

How can opening a new modern airport terminal which enhances the experience of arriving and departing passangers as well as increasing the flow of transit pax through Dublin airport cause the death of the irish tourism industry ?

Answer: it does not.

Just more Bull from an increasingly pathetic looking publicity seeker.
Ignore him.

[Based]

How can opening a new modern airport terminal which...increasing the flow of transit pax through Dublin airport cause the death of the irish tourism industry ?

Answer: it does not.

Transit passengers tend to do exactly that, transit. It may help the airlines but not so much the Irish tourism industry directly. Besides even assuming transit passengers would definitely help Irish tourism, building a 'new modern airport terminal' doesn't guarantee anything, there would be a lot of other countries doing it if it did!

which enhances the experience of arriving and departing passangers

You see I have no issue with any passenger who deems the terminal a passenger enhancing experience deciding to utilise it. What about the passenger that doesn't and wishes to use an airline who doesn't either - why does this passenger have to pay for it as well? I've been to many airports which seem to be able to cater for both.

[vkid]

to be fair even supporters of T2 (eg. Tourism Ireland) on RTE News admitted the debt associated with it is an issue. DAA say it cost 600m, O'Leary says 1.2billion. I'd imagine its somewhere in the middle. Even so, at either end of the scale it is massive money and regardless of the benefits of T2 to Dublin someone has to pay for it. Without doubt that will be the passenger/tourist. Its expensive enough to holiday in this country without further burden of cost being put on tourists/passengers..so O'Leary has a point imo.
It could have been done a lot lot cheaper and with falling passenger numbers thats a big issue. (Please dont start telling me what passenger volumes will be in 10-15 years time.) If we've learnt anything at all in the last 2 years, it is that predictions are a load of horse manure and no-one can really tell what passenger numbers in Dublin will be. I'd also imagine there will be a knock on affect to services in Cork and Shannon with the DAA in control no doubt they will doing their best to channel as much traffic as possible through Dublin.

Will be interesting to see what happens Metro North, when the IMF are calling the shots.

[Sober Lark]

So O'Leary has skeletons in his cupboard. He could use the coffin prop when he is closing down his own bases. Although using the poppy wreath as a prop at opening of T2 DUB was distasteful and far too irreverent to the symbolism of the poppy to my liking.

[daz211]

I just got back from ACE yesterday, major works going on on the ramp looks like they are making alot more room for something. there were loads of spotters and yes I did find myself sitting on the beach between the runway and the landing lights :O.

[frfly]

Great news on ACE - finally! Wonder how long TFS, LPA and PMI are behind. It will be interesting to see how the Canary schedules work, would expect only 4 sectors out of the airport. Maybe a northern europe 2 sector and a 2 sector mainland spain or portugal, cant see the aircraft or crews being able to do much else with them being so far south!

[FR-]

I can see it will be a very popular base for the crew. But I heard it maybe be a 9month a year base, not 100%sure about that myself. But great news for ACE, Ryanair and the crew who get based at ACE.

fr-

[befree]

The Irish bail-out will mean far higher taxes for Ryanair.
I expect to see higher airport taxes, higher corporation tax and lots less flying.

[jedy]

FR-

ACE will become the 44th base.

Where did you get that info? I haven't seen anything officially anounced yet.

Me think is just a nice rumour.

[FR-]

I aint saying since it was a select group who was told last week, i will pvt you

[Stevek]

The Irish bail-out will mean far higher taxes for Ryanair.
I expect to see higher airport taxes, higher corporation tax and lots less flying.

I expect you to be wrong.

[FA10]

Great news on ACE - finally! Wonder how long TFS, LPA and PMI are behind. It will be interesting to see how the Canary schedules work, ...

would PMI not necessarily operate with a Canaries schedule...
As Palma is highly seasonal, some years ago switching between "summer base" and "winter base" was discussed (e.g. Palma and Salzburg). I know that finding crews who are willing to relocate twice a year would be challenging, but it could be worth trying!

[Noxegon]

You see I have no issue with any passenger who deems the terminal a passenger enhancing experience deciding to utilise it. What about the passenger that doesn't and wishes to use an airline who doesn't either - why does this passenger have to pay for it as well? I've been to many airports which seem to be able to cater for both.

This is a valid perspective.

However, the fact is that the Dublin Airport Authority does not want to offer a product at different price levels. There is nothing obliging them to do so. There are plenty of cities in Europe with major airports that do not offer low-cost terminal facilities. I don't see Ryanair and their apologists regularly pontificating about AMS, CDG, or MUC.

Lets be realistic here. Ryanair and Mick don't give a flying about Irish tourism. They are here to make a profit. If DUB wasn't profitable for them then they'd pull all their aircraft out. The fact is that they're after a deal that isn't on offer, and whinging incessantly because they're not getting what they want. If the proposed airport at Tubber ever gets built I'm sure it'll be much cheaper than DUB. Maybe Ryanair can base their fourteen aircraft there, and good luck to them.

[fivejuliet]

I actually have far more of an idea than most, dear sir!

[TSR2]

I note that Ryanair have cancelled 52 flights on Wednesday 24th November due to the planned general strike in Portugal on that date.

[MARKEYD]

Are Ryanair planning to operate from Bournemouth next summer ?

The reason i ask is still you can only book up to 23 March on all routes , not even Easter is on sale

All other UK airports have had there summer programme put on sale for some time now but again Bournemouth has been left out

Are Ryanair just leaving it to the last minute like this winter , then say forward bookings are poor so pulling out , leaving no time for any one else to put in place a flight programme

[FR-]

fr will be operating from boh this year coming, the jobs have also been advertised within the company

[Gruffy]

Which jobs have been advertised internally and where. As far as I know all the staff are in place and waiting for the base to reopen. The pilots certainly are.

[sky9]

If you go on here and do a search you will find that they are operating after the 1st Feb.
Bournemouth Airport : Timetables (http://www.bournemouthairport.com/BOHFlightInfo/SearchFlights)

[pee]

Ryanair will start its second route between Spain and Finland, from 27.3.2011.
The schedule (Wed, Sun):

Alicante - Tampere
8.15 - 14.00

Tampere - Alicante
14.25 - 17.55

A long route, admittedly, but it's potentially a very profitable one and a very good choice in my opinion.

[robertkajzer]

has anyone heard if the harp will pull out of east midlands

I have heard this from 2 sources but cant find if its true or is it just negotiating possitions?
:=:=:=

[Noxegon]

Ryanair will start its second route between Spain and Finland, from
Alicante - Tampere

A bit hard on the crew though... two four hour flights with a twenty-five minute turnaround between them? Ouch.

[RYR738_driver]

A bit hard on the crew though... two four hour flights with a twenty-five minute turnaround between them? Ouch


Why is it hard???

Its not the longest flight in the network by far!

After a 20 minute flight, or a 4 hour flight, the turnaround for us is exactly the same.

[Noxegon]

Dunno about you, but after a flight of that length I'd like a bit of time to stretch my legs!

[apaul]

I see Ryanair has increased the least optional of its additional charges - the online check-in charge - by 20%. Now the OFT has got round to investigating the anticompetitive gas and electricity suppliers, the way 'lo-cost' and charter airlines have pushed up additional charges should be next in line for an inquiry.

[davidjohnson6]

apaul - an online check-in fee may be seen by some as sharp practice, but on what grounds could the OFT actually do anything about it in a way that would stand up to an inevitable court challenge from Ryanair ?

[F14]

Anybody heard anymore about new bases?

[Telstar]

Pure speculation on my part F14 but I've been wondering about Palermo as a base. There is a W originating in Bergamo routing Palermo to Verona.

Apart from that nothing more to add from what has been said earlier: One possibly two bases in the Canary islands and Palma.

[F14]

Thanks Telstar. I'm hearing those bases too. ACE,TFS and PMI but no company info yet. Maybe next few weeks :ok:

[Mexotag]

I doubt the OFT can do anything as the charge is clearly shown, however these charges are really ruining the cheapo flights!

[sky9]

I thought that if a charge wasn't optional it had to be included in the fare. As far as I am aware you can either check-in on-line or at the airport.

I suppose the 3rd option could be to phone MOL and ask him to do it for you. :ok:

[egnxema]

"the harp and ema

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
has anyone heard if the harp will pull out of east midlands

I have heard this from 2 sources but cant find if its true or is it just negotiating possitions?"


I also heard from 2 sources that FR are to pull out of STN!
:E:}

[ltnmad]

I also heard from 2 sources that FR are to pull out of STN!I SERIOUSLY doubt Ryanair will be pulling out of Stansted, they have in excess of 100 routes from this, their largest base and the good Lord knows how many annual movements at the airport. I can think of very few airports in Europe, let alone the UK which could offer them anywhere near the capacity required, which they have at STN! And let's not forget, how many airports could offer the prices which Ryanair pay at Stansted? You can bet your teeth that they're not the published prices....

[Stevek]

Possible expansion at DUB on the cards with old routes re-opening. Travel tax will be gone in Jan.

[bia botal]

Possible expansion at DUB on the cards with old routes re-opening. Travel tax will be gone in Jan.

I suspect you are right, all the evidence point toward it, LTC upgrades that are not needed going ahead, pressure on the government to scrape TT, uncertainty about the aer arann operation and the possibility that aer lingus may find that the government have to sell there stake in them would all suggest that ryanair may increase operation just to hurry things along a bit. however some of the announcements may just be the normal expansion for the summer schedule.

[Jamie2k9]

Ryanair announce 4 new routes from Ibiza to Cagliari, Dublin, Malaga and Reus

News : Ryanair Launches Ibiza Summer 2011 Schedule (http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-launches-ibiza-summer-2011-schedule)
Also two new routes from Salzburg to Glasgow and Liverpool from Feb 13 & 19.

[jdcg]

Surely now is a good time to stick with STN now that BAA are obliged to sell and with a new buyer likely to try and compete more aggressively..?

[Stevek]

Bear in mind they still haven't published their winter schedule for Dublin.

[Jamie2k9]

Ryanair will restart a number of seasonal routes from Dublin at the begining of March next insted of the end like summer 2010. All other FR seasonal routes from the UK and Europe will not start until the end of March.

[MidlandDeltic]

jdcg wrote "Surely now is a good time to stick with STN now that BAA are obliged to sell and with a new buyer likely to try and compete more aggressively..?"

Alternately, threaten to pull out as a negotiating tactic to get a better deal with BAA prior to the new owners taking over. FR provide a substantial cash flow for STN, and the loss of the airline would badly affect the price BAA could realise from the enforced sale.

MD

[daz211]

No, No, No...
The best thing Ryanair could do for the best outcome is -
Stay at STN play the "we are very happy" card and when the new owners take over
then say you want a better deal or they will pull out ...

[AMS flyer]

Just in the Dutch press:

3 new bases for Ryanair: LPA - TFS - ACE

Dutch routes:

* LPA-EIN
* ACE-EIN
* TFS-MST

:ok:

[toledoashley]

RYANAIR TO OPEN THREE NEW BASES ON THE CANARY ISLANDS

€400M INVESTMENT, 112 ROUTES (35 NEW), 6 AIRCRAFT & 4.5M PAX AT NEW BASES IN GRAN CANARIA, LANZAROTE AND TENERIFE
AND AT FUERTEVENTURA

Ryanair, the world's favourite airline, today (1st Dec) announced three new bases on the Canary Islands in summer 2011. Ryanair will base six aircraft across Gran Canaria (2 ac), Lanzarote (2 ac) and Tenerife (2 ac) from February 2011 while also increasing Fuerteventura routes and frequencies. Ryanair will operate 112 routes to/from the Canary Islands (including 35 new routes) which will deliver 4.5m passengers p.a., sustaining over 4,500 local jobs including 350 Ryanair pilots, cabin crew and engineers.

Ryanair carried just 300,000 passengers to the Canary Islands in 2009. However, since the Islands' Govt and the Spanish Parliament incentivised air traffic growth by (a) reducing airport charges for 2010 and 2011, and (b) recently announcing a 2013-2015 Regional Marketing Fund to support continued air traffic growth, Ryanair will now grow its traffic to/from the Islands to 4.5m passengers p.a., which will restore all of the traffic lost by the Canary Islands between 2007-2009.

Ryanair's Michael Cawley said:

"Ryanair is pleased to announce three new Canary Island bases, 4.5m passengers p.a. and 112 routes which will be phased in from February 2011 to deliver more low fares and high spending visitors to Fuerteventura and our new bases in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife. Ryanair's growth is directly attributable to the visionary initiatives of the Canary Islands Government who, in recent years, have identified low fare access as being critical, and have worked with Ryanair to reduce airport costs in order to return tourism to its previous 2007 record levels.

The announcement today of a 2013-2015 Regional Marketing Fund, in parallel with AENA's 2011 cost incentives, has allowed the Canary Islands deliver much lower airport costs and secure this largest ever investment by Ryanair, Europe's largest airline, in Spanish Tourism."

[Hull City AFC]

Now Ryanair have announced new bases in Tenerife, Lanzarote & Gran Canaria, does this now rule Palma out as this was also another rumoured new base???.

[FlyboyUK]

Or perhaps Palma was just being confused with Las Palmas by the rumour mill?

[LGS6753]

New Canary Is. routes are:

TFS to Billund, Cork, Doncaster, Knock, Maastricht, Palermo, Beauvais, Santander, Santiago, Seville, Valencia

ACE to Eindhoven, Karlsruhe, Knock, Leeds, Santander, Santiago, Seville, Treviso, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza

LPA to Bratislava, Cork, Eindhoven, Karlsruhe, Knock, Milan (BGY?), Santander, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Zaragoza

FUE to Birmingham, Shannon

Of these 35 routes, notably 15 are to Spanish destinations.

[daz211]

MMM (http://www.pprune.org/go/Airport/airportDetails.do?airportCode=MMM) Middlemount FR 11 (http://www.pprune.org/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?id=210707031&airlineCode=FR&flightNumber=11) Ryanair 9:00 PM Cancelled :ooh:.

Stansted Arrivals ... A very long flight, wiyh how many fuel stops ?.

[GnRdL]

New route: Alicante (ALC) - Kaunas (KUN) from 28th March. 2x/week [1/5]. :ok:

[rouelan]

Ryanair traffic just +2% in November ! Must be plenty of aircraft sitting around Europe ???

[FR-]

I would rather have an a/c sitting about and not making a loss burning fuel.

[irish lad]

everything cancelled to spain today! going to be some job trying to get all those stranded especially in the canaries home

[befree]

Ryanair traffic just +2% in November ! Must be plenty of aircraft sitting around Europe ???

The load factor is the same 80% as last November. It must be around 20% of the aircraft and staff parked up. They will have dropped to around 1,100 sectors a day from the summer peak of 1,400.

This month is also looking very bad for ryanair and we may see very little growth outside the holiday period. We may start to see months of negaive growth after the new year.

[sherpa707]

It would be interesting to see what their financial results would look like without the considerable subsidies upon which Ryan Air's business model is dependent...:

Ryanair Business Model under a new light (http://www.scribd.com/doc/33124715/Ryanair-Business-Model-under-a-new-light)

[TSR2]

everything cancelled to spain today

Some airlines are making every effort to satisfy customers by operating flights albeit late. Pity Ryanair has put up two fingers again.

[daz211]

Ryanair have done the best thing by not flying into or out of Spain Today,
This gives them some time to sort out A/C and crew to be in the right places after the snow and the ATC strike, This also stops other flights being canclled over the next 24hrs and a normal operation can start sooner rather than later, also you might find that FR will put some extra flights on to bring passengers back from the canaries or they might put people on flights to the Spanish mainlad then back to the UK and you will find alot of Airlines have canclled flights into and out of Spain today IB, KLM, FR, EZY to name afew.

[TSR2]

Ryanair have done the best thing by not flying into or out of Spain Today

You may have a different view if you had a booking on one of the cancelled flights.

you will find alot of Airlines have canclled flights into and out of Spain today IB, KLM, FR, EZY to name afew.

True, but Jet2 operated EVERY flight to Spanish destinations from Manchester today. Late yes, but they are getting their passengers to their destinations, not simply saying p$ss off go and rebook your flights.

[ryansf]

I experienced Ryanair's famous customer service for the first time on Thursday. Before I say anything, I have always been a supporter of Ryanair and have used them 20+ times in the past. Even on the outbound to Dublin, I commented on how excellent the flight was, despite the weather.

I was supposed to travel DUB-EMA on Thursday evening, but the flight had been cancelled. After queuing for a re-booking, I was told the next EMA flight would be on Sunday, but there was an LBA one on Saturday, so booked on that. After doing that, I basically got a "Right, see you on Saturday!". They wouldn't provide anything, not even a meal voucher. One Ryanair staff member I spoke to afterwards did seem genuinely upset that she couldn't help, but it was her "managers decision" not to provide anything. So we camped in the DUB food court overnight. Fortunately, I got put on standby (after queuing at 3am) for the Friday morning EMA flight and made it home.

After this experience, I have decided not to fly with Ryanair again. They are fantastic when everything works, but terrible when things go wrong. If I were to fly with them again, it would always be at the back of my mind about the consequences so I'm just going to travel with respectable carriers from now on and not risk being stranded again!

[positive]

If your flight is cancelled they Ryanair have to provide you with Hotel costs and meals costs if the delay is more than 1 day,we had our flight to Murcia cancelled during the summer by Ryanair due to the strike by French ATC we flew out the next day same time but we stayed in the airport hotel and had a meal out too.I sent in the receipts to Ryanair for 14 of us and got the cheque out after 13 days covering the costs involved.The Ryanair staff were not too up front at Dublin about our rights but we knew what we were due.

[ayroplain]

True, but Jet2 operated EVERY flight to Spanish destinations from Manchester today. Late yes, but they are getting their passengers to their destinations, not simply saying p$ss off go and rebook your flights.

This statement conveys a remarkable lack of knowledge of the difference between the logistics of running a major international airline and a penny-halfpenny one.

[ryansf]

Extreme weather (i.e. snow) isn't covered in the EU rules about passenger care (according to Ryanair, anyway). All other airlines (at DUB on Thursday at least) provided their passengers with accomodation and food.

[positive]

The reason why the flight is cancelled (snow) does not come in to play Ryanair cancelled the flight and must abide by the EU rules and provide hotel/meal costs if the delay is over 1 day

[befree]

It would be interesting to see what their financial results would look like without the considerable subsidies upon which Ryan Air's business model is dependent.

The Subsidies are coming to an end and it seems for the first month in a decade BA is growing faster than ryanair. I was also reading a bit about airbus upgrading the engines on BBC website. As airlines get planes that burn 15% less fuel than Ryamair the tables will be turned (esp as fuel is going up sharply again). The other big factor is the residual value of the old 737-800s is likely to drop sharply. The magic will soon be over.

BBC News - Airbus A320 engines to get 1bn-euro upgrade (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11886159)

[daz211]

O you do make me chuckle ...:).
Remind me how many base's has BA announced this year ?
or new routes ? you should stop trying to tell A major Airline what they are doing so wrong and how they are going to run into trouble soon, Im sure they have a better idea on how to run and evolve one of the worlds largest Airlines.
Im sure I dont need to point out that Ryanair have been at the forefront of evolution in the world of Aviation for the last 10 years.

[TSR2]

This statement conveys a remarkable lack of knowledge of the difference between the logistics of running a major international airline and a penny-halfpenny one.

Logistics is not my problem. No matter what airline I book with, the least I expect is that they will make every effort to get me to my destination not simply cancel the flight for their convenience. On todays performance the penny-halfpenny airline was Ryanair.

[racedo]

Daz

Wouldn't bother as he fails to see that during November that ATC strikes in France and Portugal have had impacts on FR pax more than it would BA.

As for the Airbus NEO well given that it is years away and anybody buying existing Airbus planes will find that residuals are going to take a hit but as Engine is unproven and many years away then think I will wait before crowing about it.

[Jamie2k9]

When Dublin Airport reopened on Thursday (Dec 2nd) Ryanair had no choose to cancel all flights after 18:30 because a number of fueling companies refusing to operate on the ramp, claiming hazardous conditions. Only one FR flight departed after 18:30 that evening and it went to Gran Canaria only because the fuel had being put on the aircraft at 12:30 just before the airport suspended flights.

[befree]

befree
O you do make me chuckle ....
Remind me how many base's has BA announced this year ?
or new routes ? you should stop trying to tell A major Airline what they are doing so wrong and how they are going to run into trouble soon, Im sure they have a better idea on how to run and evolve one of the worlds largest Airlines.
Im sure I dont need to point out that Ryanair have been at the forefront of evolution in the world of Aviation for the last 10 years.

Ryanair has been putting profit ahead of getting pax home. The Ryanair has been a bad evolition for workers in the industry, for airports and when things go wrong bad for the pax.

FR are very dependant on keeping people taking many short trips per year. The more problems people have on these trips the less trips they will take.

[ithaca]

Anyone from Ryanair crewing willing to send me a quick PM? Favour to ask!

Thanks.:)

[Bengt]

Is there a hard ball negotiation taking place between FR and AENA regarding Girona?
I am waiting for the summer schedule from Sweden to be released (Ibiza, Alicante and Madrid already are) to book flights for Easter, June and July.... Still not a single flight available...

[FR-]

FR can have upto 30 stands at BCN so ive been told, bad luck GRO

[eu01]

While Ryanair's load factor for November was 80%, flat with the same period last year and with the passenger count increasing 2%, easyJet reported today a 10.2% rise in number of passengers and an increase in load factor to 85.7%.

The flight prices statistics were not given, but almost certainly Ryanair was the cheaper one here. The capacity reductions much more dramatic at FR compared to U2 .
Conclusions? It's not all about the price, it seems.

Paraphrasing, "I have a dream today!".

I have a dream that one day Ryanair changes its attitude and policies and starts marketing itself as a "new, improved and refurbished, customer-friendly airline". With a massive campaign to get a new, better image and win some new, encouraged passengers, and get some old ones returning.

I think improving the brand could help, but rather give it to PR professionals and forget about pay-for-pee propaganda and some other insane ideas. Otherwise, I can see some troubles ahead.

PS. Just "dreaming", not against FR.

[INKJET]

Ryanair have reduced their winter program substantially this year and give the the chaos of this weather event they must be very pleased they did, it really is a huge advantage to have a good number of pilots who you don't have to pay if they are not earning their keep by flying, who cares about loads or yields in November the bottom line is that Ryanair will loose less money over this winter than the did last year

[MichaelOLearyGenius]

TSR2
Logistics is not my problem. No matter what airline I book with, the least I expect is that they will make every effort to get me to my destination not simply cancel the flight for their convenience. On todays performance the penny-halfpenny airline was Ryanair.

Have you been living in a cave for the last 10 years!

You get no customer service from FR at all and the sooner you realise this the better. If you want a service where, if you are delayed or cancelled, you are automatically switched to the next flight, you must fly BA or some other legacy carrier.

Ryanair are upfront with what service you can expect to receive so stop complaining and book with a major airline.

The days of great service are long gone and nowadays people are more interested in price than getting pampered. Even in the High St for example Boots the Chemist was always a bit pricier but you would expect good service, nowadays there is Savers, Bodycare, Superdrug, Semi-Chem, Poundland etc selling the same stuff way cheaper than Boots. You can guess where I shop, and if I don't get a smile and a thank you at the check out, I don't lose sleep over it.

So stop fretting and just remember in future if you choose to fly ryanair and things go ( . )( . )'s up you're on your own mate, your on you're own.

Ryanair have taken the glamour out of flying and now it is like catching a bus. If a bus service was delayed or cancelled would you kick up a fuss as well!!!!

[FR-]

whats a major airline? i'd say 73 million pax would make ryanair a rather large airline. I dont know why bashers come on here . . . :ugh: it adds nothing new..

[Skipness One Echo]

If a bus service was delayed or cancelled would you kick up a fuss as well!!!!

Of course I would. You should get out of that cave more often and investigate the bus stop. Incidentally Ryanair are a pretty major airline as you should know.

Ryanair are upfront with what service you can expect to receive so stop complaining and book with a major airline.

Yes. That's right. They are. Really they are. Of course they are. Up front and honest. Forthright and straightforward. Transparent even. I should say so. Certainly..

*is crushed under the weight of bitter experience*

Having said that I do fly them a lot!

[daz211]

Well done Ryanair :ok:.
I see that Ryanair put on extra flights to get Passengers home after all the snow and ATC problems, what good customer service, I mean other Airlines have just made people rebook on the next avaiable flight...

[MichaelOLearyGenius]

FR

whats a major airline? i'd say 73 million pax would make ryanair a rather large airline. I dont know why bashers come on here . . . :ugh: it adds nothing new..

Apologies, you are corect, I meant to say legacy airline instead of major airline.

Anyway, if you read my post I'm not bashing FR, I am just stating that the face of air travel has changed since the advent of loco's and that if you want the service we all took for granted years ago, you should book a LEGACY carrier, on saying that the LEGACY carriers' services have diminished as well since the loco's arrived too.

[JohnnyPharm]

I actually agree with genius's original post. Size doesn't necesserely make you a major!!!

If you take the British Open Golf Championship, it has a first prize of about 750,00GBP and is cosidered a "Major", there are plenty of other tournaments in the world with prizes of a million and over and they are not considered "majors".

A major has history, culture and, if you like, breeding. BA has all three and Ryan only has one, that being a greed "culture".

I think the point genius was trying to make was that by major he meant legacy, the detractors here know that and were just being pedantic.

[racedo]

A major has history, culture and, if you like, breeding. BA has all three and Ryan only has one, that being a greed "culture".


Is this the breeding of strikes, disputes and abandoning passengers and their luggage again and again and thats just since the millenium.

You keep with the breeding I think the passengers want someone to take them from A to B and not go on strike again and again.

[eastern wiseguy]

someone to take them from A to B


Or near A to somewhere a bus ride from B.....:p



Teddies in pram chaps......teasing

[TSR2]

Well done Ryanair .
I see that Ryanair put on extra flights to get Passengers home after all the snow and ATC problems, what good customer service, I mean other Airlines have just made people rebook on the next avaiable flight

They would not have needed to if they had operated the flights in the first place, and what do you think Ryanair passengers who's flights were unnecessarily cancelled had to do?

Appalling customer care and that goes for EZY and ZB.

[racedo]

They would not have needed to if they had operated the flights in the first place, and what do you think Ryanair passengers who's flights were unnecessarily cancelled had to do?

Why not ask the folks at Gatwick, Edinburgh and ATC Spain about that......oh wait you only seeking to bitch about Ryanair so guess that won't be happeneing.

[TSR2]

You very conveniently omit my last statement (reference to EZY and ZB) to enable you to brand me as a Ryanair basher. I repeat, it is a bitch against ANY airline who cancels flights to suit their own convenience.

If you check previous postings on this thread, you will see that I brought up this subject in response to an incorrect statement that 'All flights to Spain have been cancelled'. They were not, LS, TOM and TCX operated flights to various destinations in Spain albeit very late but at least they got their passengers to their destination.

If you also check the thread in Passengers and SLF you will see that I have also been critical of EZY and ZB so please do not accuse me of being an FR basher.

It would appear that you cannot accept any criticism of Ryanair without accusation of FR bashing.

[JayPee28bpr]

Well done Ryanair http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gif.
I see that Ryanair put on extra flights to get Passengers home after all the snow and ATC problems, what good customer service, I mean other Airlines have just made people rebook on the next avaiable flight...


I'm guessing you work for Ryanair!

Let me tell you my partner's experience with Ryanair. She was due to fly from Aberdeen to Dublin last Tuesday. They got as far as the pre-boarding passport and boarding card check, and were then told the flight was cancelled having been diverted to Prestwick on its inbound journey. Although Dublin had been closed that morning (meaning the DUB-ABZ flight was late to leave), Aberdeen was open at the time the plane would have landed. In short, there was no operational reason at all to cancel the flight.

FR only operate DUB-ABZ-DUB every other day, so my partner was stranded in Aberdeen until Thursday. The flight was cancelled again, for exactly the same reason: diverted to Prestwick because of "snow at Aberdeen". Every other flight acheduled to arrive at Aberdeen, other than those departing closed airports (eg Gatwick) did arrive in Aberdeen that day, except for the one and only Ryanair flight from Dublin. Therefore my partner was stuck in Aberdeen for another two days and finally got home on Saturday.

So, the only reason Ryanair could put on extra flights elsewhere was because, as usual, they cynically decided to strand passengers at what they consider to be unimportant locations on routes where they face no competition, and instead utilise the planes to repatriate passengers to/from more profitable locations. Whilst this might make commercial sense, please don't insult peoples' intelligence by suggesting this is any kind of customer service revolution at Ryanair. It isn't. They continue to be as blissfully unconcerned about their passengers as they always have been.

[Jamie2k9]

TSR2
They would not have needed to if they had operated the flights in the first place, and what do you think Ryanair passengers who's flights were unnecessarily canceled had to do?

If the flights were canceled people would be giving out.
If the flights operated people would be giving out when the flights are delayed for hours.

No matter what FR do they will always be people who aren't going to be happy.

A lot of TOM, TCX, MON etc flights between Spain and the UK & Ireland were delayed over 12 Hours. The flights departed the airport but were diverted to other airports in Spain.

A lot of passengers would prefer to have there flights canceled rather than being delayed for hours in a airport.

If the flights had operated they would of being a huge knock on effect as crews and aircraft would be grounded on Spain and other flights (not to Spain) would of had to be canceled because crews would of worked there hours and there would of being no aircraft to operate other flights because they would of being grounded in Spain.

What do you expect an airline to do????

I suppose that Easyjet unnecessarily canceled more than 100 flights from Spain as well. Don't see you giving out about tham.

JayPee28bpr - ABZ - DUB

I presume you mean Tuesday November 30. You should check all your facts before posting.

The DUB - ABZ flights was delayed due to adverse weather and de-icing of aircraft at Dublin Airport earlier that morning. When the flight departed and while on route to ABZ it started to snow in ABZ.

Aberdeen Airport (ABZ_Airport) on Twitter (http://www.pprune.org/Aberdeen Airport (ABZ_Airport) on Twitter)

Aberdeen Airport is not closed, in fact we have not closed at all today.

short time later:

We are clearing the latest snow fall but it should not take long. Terminal, check in, security, all still open as normal.

So the airport was open but they had to close the runway for a short time.

A Ryanair B738 would use a lot more of the 1829m runway at ABZ than the likes of Eastren Airways and Flybe etc and thats why all other flights arrived as scheduled.

[The-Zenith]

What you see is what you get with Ryanair when everything in the garden is rosey theres none better. But as soon as the brown stuff hits the twirly object. Then your pretty much stuffed. You pays yer money and takes your choice, but sure as eggs are eggs if a regular commuter you're going to get inconvenienced eventually.:8

[Noxegon]

Looks like Ducksy wasn't amused after all!

Ryanair pilot 'sent to Siberia' after O'Leary jibe | Business | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/07/ryanair-pilo-transfer-michael-o-leary-criticism)

[Sober Lark]

Surely basic intelligence reasons against such simplistic conclusions Noxegon?

[compton3bravo]

I have told you before do not call me Shirley!

[Johnny455]

Whats the story now about Ryanairs presence in Ireland with the Air Travel tax reduced by 7 euro to 3 euro

Will there be any new routes from airports in Ireland?

[eu01]

with the Air Travel tax reduced by 7 euro to 3 euro... will there be any new routes from airports in Ireland?Probably not, according to MOL:
While the Govt reduces the tourist tax by €7, the Govt owned DAA monopoly has increased airport fees by over €11 per departing passenger over 2010 and 2011.

“Irish traffic and tourism can be restored to growth. Ryanair has submitted proposals to the Govt, to grow traffic and tourism dramatically, but only when the tourist tax is scrapped and the high cost DAA airport monopoly broken up, so that competition between terminals at Dublin Airport and between Cork and Shannon airports is allowed to deliver competitive airport fees and improved passenger services where the DAA monopoly has failed.

“One has to ask why airport fees are rising yet again in January to pay for the DAA’s €1.2bn white elephant T2, and their overpaid semi-state fat cat boss who earns over €600,000 p.a., while the airport company he runs loses money. ”
Nevertheless, the tax reduction should be considered as a partial success of Ryanair's CEO. After all, he has a powerful argument that gives him the ability to exert a substancial pressure on governments: his airline.

[Stevek]

In fairness the drop in departure tax is probably more related to do with the EU ruling the two rate system was illegal.

[Jamie2k9]

It simple if Ryanair and othe airlines flying from Ireland don't add routes or increase flights the tax will go up in the Budget for 2012. The finance M said if there is no growth in visitors coming to Ireland next year then it will go back up from Jan 2012.

[INKJET]

Well MOL seems to have won is battle with the Irish Government, travel tax dropped from 10 Euro's to 3 Euro's let see how many aircraft are brought back to Dublin, the problem is that no one in Ireland is going to have any money to spend and visitors have by and large done Dublin just have they have done PRG

[Sober Lark]

...And seemingly the Government state airlines are not to profit from the reduction in tax.. Imagine leaving the stable door open like that. Quite comical really.

I'm not convinced a reduction in tax from €10 to €3 will make that much of a difference to incoming tourist demand to Ireland. Factors such as how much it actually costs to holiday when you get there are probably more obvious deciding factors. Should boost outgoing traffic though.

[clareview]

Well doen to all involved including those like Ryaniar that lobbied for this. Whilst it could be better, to quote from the advert from another very well known giant, "every little helps". What is needed now is a campaign to get inward tourists. For that to happen, not only does that cost of flying have to be attractive, so does accommodation, eating and shopping. I still do not see many bargain hotel rooms in Dublin

[airbourne]

So MOL complains about the DAA putting up its fees, he is also not happy with the travel tax, but has no problem sticking another €1 on to the online check in! €6 to check in yourself, print your own boarding pass etc! I wonder how many people that will stop from travelling!!

[irish lad]

We're trying to save 6 billion.. this new rate of 3euro will save us 35m! Would it not have made more sence to scrap this rate all together, together with the daa temporally following the spainish with a zero charge for airlines? Although this would cost the daa they could take in more money when airlines increase passanger numbers through extra money from parking, rent rates on commercial businesses at the airport
If this was implemented for say the next three to four years, by then growth may have returned to ireland (hopefully) and we can afford to pay the daa charges... :hmm:

[Jamie2k9]

It's only Ryanair who pay 0 fees to airports in Spain. Other airlines do get reduced fees but they are not 0 anyway.

If Ryanair and Aer Lingus don't act on the reduced tax now it will be back to €10 in the next budget. If there is growth in tourism this year then it may be axed in the next Budget. This is a time for Ryanair to prove that it damages tourism.

The charges at Dublin Airport are very cheep to some European airports. Ryanair expect to fly to major airport for nothing.

I haven't seen Ryanair kick up a fuss about the French travel tax but I don't know how much it is myself.

[EI-BUD]

The reduction in travel tax is fantastic, at this much reduced rate expect a major announcement from Ryanair all closed routes ex Shannon to be reopened and Knock to get 50 new routes!!!:O

[pee]

Trondheim Værnes Airport could soon become the northernmost in the entire Ryanair network, according to sources from Norway.

Avinor (the airport authority) has received a letter from Ryanair that they are planning a major offensive in the Scandinavian market over the next few years and want to discuss the possibility of starting flights to Værnes as early as April next year. They hope to get an agreement with the Airport very soon.

Avinor responded that they are working to rise the amount of direct routes to and from Trondheim and Trøndelag, and that the request from Ryanair is very interesting. There's one catch, though. Avinor has sent Ryanair a list of prices that airlines must pay to fly from Værnes hinting it will be ready to arrange a meeting with the airline only if the carrier agrees to these terms.

[derelicte]

With this great new saving on tax, several passengers will be able to club together and afford to check a suitcase! :ok:

[FR-]

Well when i went to TFS for 4days in june i took just my 10kg and that was fine. Plus many pax take a short city/sun break and only need clothes for a few days. Or if you think about our 2nd home owners who have a collection at clothes at the 2nd home, why would these pax want the charge of a hold case inc in the ticket price. Just pay for what you use! I have to admit the printing of your own boarding card does really f :mad:k me off.

[TSR2]

Why on earth would anybody want to bring a suitcase with them on holidays

Perhaps those who are away for more than a few nights.

Or maybe those who care about hygeine issues.

[derelicte]

Well seriously, what a joke it is that MOL moans about taxes, when if you book a Ryanair flight nowadays you have to wade through about two pages of trumped up Ryanair charges before you get to the end of your once £14.99 flight. I suppose you have all noticed how many peeps turn up at the gate with large jackets with poachers pockets in the hottest weather.

It's been so far so good for him, and I know that when Ryanair works it works fine, but at the moment he is just annoying far too many people, and as all marketing and customer relations staff know that this is a very bad long term thing. I know a few people who have met MOL (I haven't) and they all say he is a very smart guy who knows what he is doing.....it's him or marketing theory, one will have to give.

[ssflyer]

The FR web site has been down for hours today-I wonder how they are going to handle PAX who could not check in on line?

[irish lad]

FR 6626Edinburgh - Lanzarote DIVERTED diverted to fuerteventura due to fog at lanzarote. passengers to be coached to lanzarote.

just seen on ryanair website flights to lanzarote diverting to fuerteventura because of fog.
passangers to be 'coached' to lanzarote...
does someone in ryanair not know fuerteventura, lanzarote are islands:ugh::ugh:

[lfc84]

looking at flightstats, it shows 2 FR flights cancelled. yet, nothing else cancelled. must be some coach they are using!

edit: for accuracy. aer lingus and binter had one canx each as well

[MichaelOLearyGenius]

Irish Lad

Did you not know that Ryanair use Fuerteventura Lanzarote international airport for flights to Lanzarote. Its actually only about 25miles away which is pretty close for an FR airport :)

[fivejuliet]

Yes they can be bussed-because there's a ferry between the two islands on which the bus can travel...

[potash]

Are well at least on the way to corralejo to catch the ferry they go past probeley the best beaches in europe and realise Fuerty is a better bet next time :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[eu01]

Looks like the announcement of the "retaliations" against the German airports is imminent, resulting from the new air tax there. Most probably all domestic routes will go. Weeze will lose two planes and as much as 13 routes (e.g. all 3 connections with Poland). Frequency reductions on some other routes. Also Bremen will likely be stripped of some key links like the one to Bergamo or Liverpool.

[Phileas Fogg]

Why on earth would anybody want to bring a suitcase with them on holidays

Perhaps those who are away for more than a few nights.

Or maybe those who care about hygeine issues.


Correct me if I am wrong but to carry 'normal' sizes of such necessities as toothpaste and deodorant one needs to carry these in hold luggage!

[FR-]

Whats wrong with travel size, you can buy at 100ml size

[harbour cotter]

I dont think that this is the appropriate threat, but I think that security at all airports is similar. I am more concerned over the very personal searches which are getting more inappropriate by the day.

Regular travellers will know numerous ways of bypassing these security checks, I'm not going to highlight them. I believe that its more about pacifying the public and at least providing some sort of token barrier rather than preventing someone who was determined.

[jpthomas72]

Weeze will lose two planes and as much as 13 routes (e.g. all 3 connections with Poland). So Wizzair has won ! They are big at DTM. And expanding at HHN. Really odd that FR is stopping Polish-German connections, just ahead of 1st May 2011 when the Polish people (and all other 2004 ascension countries) have full EU workplace freedom, finally also in Germany, just with their passport. At least they keep KUN, RIX and still open TLL. Scrapping BHX from NRN is no surprise, loads poor and flying times odd, FR's BHX effort is ever-shrinking and this only follows HHN and others. FR should re-consider, giving-up a very big share in the EU's biggest economy just about a fairly small tax (much lower than UK's). The competition will be pleased, e.g. at DUS that's FlyBE, BA and LH. "Auf Wiedersehen, Ryanair": the planes lost from HHN are now in the Canaries.

[ssflyer]

Any experts out there know when/how the dispute between these two is going to be resolved?
Normally April-Aug flights on FR are bookable by the previous November.
There are no flights from BHX, EMA,STN etc in range to GRO after 1st April although all the other "sunshine" destinations are bookable including REU!

[AP1995]

will ryanair be expanding into LBA soon with any new routes or any more based aircrafts?

[Jamie2k9]

Not sure yet but there has being reductions on a number of routes.

[looot]

Does anybody can book a flight from Bremen after 27th of March? None of the routes are available. The base is gonna be closed?

[ltnmad]

Does anybody can book a flight from Bremen after 27th of March? None of the routes are available. The base is gonna be closed?

It seems Ryanair have had some disagreements with German airports recently over one tax or another and are consequently still considering what flights to operate from some German airports, including Bremen. With the changes at Dublin, bases may be closed and aircraft moved but no details have been released AFAIK. I am also looking to book some return flights to Bremen in July.

[Jamie2k9]

Further cuts to German routes will be announced very soon but we have a good idea from the booking system which was updated last week.

Bremen cuts - Liverpool, Berlin, Gdańsk, Memmingen, Milan-Bergamo seem to be dropped after March.

Berlin cuts - Bremen, Düsseldorf-Weeze, Frankfurt-Hahn all seem to be dropped after March.

Düsseldorf-Weeze cuts - Berlin, Birmingham, Bydgoszcz, Gothenburg City, Kaunas, Kerry, Krakow, Santander, Valladolid, Wroclaw, Zaragoza seem to be dropped in March.

[looot]

i'm aware also that because the new pax tax some routes are not available, but from BRE i cannot book any of the routes. HHN and NRN going to have some reductions, but i'm still able to book other flights from those german airports, except BRE. The situation is not really good as i see....

[Jamie2k9]

NRN only started to be loaded last week so Bremen will uploaded in the next week or two.

[looot]

You were right, i can book now! However the selection is very limited.....

[compton3bravo]

I see that Ryanair are going to take legal action against AENA (the airport operator) and the Spanish ATC union for the problems of the previous weekend. YAWN YAWN YAWN
How on earth they think they are going to get anywhere in Spain against AENA which is government owned and the union is beyond me.
It is all getting rather tiresome especially if they know how the Spanish legal system works!

[Droghwings]

Given the Irish govts. lowering of the travel tax from €10 to €3, does anybody think Ryanair will start new services or increase frequencies on existing routes from Dublin?

[racedo]

It is all getting rather tiresome especially if they know how the Spanish legal system works!

Funny that this attitude was taken by the PSOE under Gonzalez when they founded GAL and funnily enough the Spanish legal system didn't support the Government.

[Limburg]

Since 13 routes from NRN will be axed, I'm wondering about the impact on the amount of Ryanair flights to cross-border airports MST & EIN...any news already?

[pee]

Further cuts to German routes will be announced very soon
Here we go. The official news release can be read here (http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/berlin-bremen-and-dusseldorf-weeze-travel-tax-cuts).

[frfly]

Before people start saying it's another case of Ryanair throwing the toys out of the pram, you have to remember that the difference between a profitable and unprofitable route in Ryanair is maybe only a few euro. Therefore throw a travel tax in to the mix and for the company it becomes more and more difficult to fill the thinner routes as these tend to attract price sensitive customers. Price sensitive customers will see and 8 euro increase in fare as just too much to deal with, so best option for FR is up and move capacity else where ie. Spain. Look at the success Spain has had. BCN airport is growing (and its mainly down to FR) and so are the Canaries.

Once Ryanair begin to attract customers who are willing to pay a slightly higher price, they cant afford to take these hits in tax increases. Whats the point, at the end of the day they are a business.

[Sikpupi]

I can't really believe that €8 on a fare makes or breaks a route. Don't think the German Govt will run scared at these tactics. Don't hear the Air Berlins, Germanwings etc complaining.... I suppose they could pickup some business as a result of FR withdrawals!!

€8...nothing when compared to an airport checkin of €40... or a poxy gate bag for €35. What about slipping in an extra €1 for on-line checkin? FFS......

[The SSK]

Sikpupi: Don't hear the Air Berlins, Germanwings etc complaining

Germanwings is pulling two of its Berlin-Cologne frequencies and putting them into Maastricht instead.

[jpthomas72]

While this is the Ryanair forum, I should comment that Germanwings is special as they go to Schoenefeld, not Tegel. The Cologne (and Duesseldorf)-Berlin market is overcrowded, and many prefer Tegel which is better connected to the wealthier west of Berlin. Where Germanwings has more exclusivity, e.g. Cologne-Leipzig or Cologne-Dresden, they don't seem to bother about the new tax at all.
About domestic German flights, Ryanair isn't the first airline who operated and failed with HHN-Berlin. Problem is mostly HHN's location in the middle of nowhere, with competition from various corners, CGN, FRA, SCN, LUX but also trains and even cars. Story is similar for NRN.
Ryanair's trial-and-error route choices must be costing them money. E.g. they chop routes from Kaunas which were doomed from the start, notably Schoenefeld. But instead introduce something like East Midlands-Tallinn which seems really odd. I mean Tampere I'd understand, but Tallinn ? This market is so tiny. Estonia is the wealthiest of the Baltic Countries (nicknamed 'Finland South'), no big drive to leave for the UK, yet alone the struggling Midlands. Also shrinking stag-night potential (those still going abroad in the current economic climate, or just to Broad Street ?) as a bit expensive and very cold in winter.

[frfly]

Actually Air Berlin are also doing the same.....

Ryanair to Cut German Routes "Due To Tax Rise" - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576019362829891494.html)

[FR-]

If you think east midlands to tallinn is not a good idea, maybe you should look at the pax numbers and profit on ema-rix.

fr

[OliWW]

Pax figures on EMA-RIX aren't exactly poor! They are just never completely full

[Cyrano]

O'Leary interview in today's Irish Independent. (http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/the-interview-michael-oleary-2462586.html)

"Ultimately, I think that 99pc of people still want the cheapest fare, but there's no reason why our average price should be 50pc cheaper than anybody else," explains Mr O'Leary.

"I think it could easily be 25pc cheaper than everybody else, but that means a different kind of sales mission and a different kind of culture. With me, it's been far too much along the lines of: 'It's cheap, if you don't like it, f**k off because somebody else will take your seat.'

"That works," he continues, "but over time that's not sustainable ad infinitum. You need to change the model. It's cheap, we're price-competitive but we're not always the cheapest -- that's the way you've got to go."

I know that there are some unconditional Ryanair defenders on this forum who have always maintained that the established FR "always-cheapest" model is perfect and that FR can do no wrong - but it seems that even MO'L now foresees a course change. Is he therefore wrong? ;)

[lfc84]

maybe not a model change, but maybe just : sometime we wont always be the very cheapest seat

[pee]

To be the cheapest one? It's important, but not always and not for everyone. A good opinion matters also very much. The carrier need not to have a spotless opinion, but just emphasizing the good record of on time flights is not enough for many. Pax are often frightened more than you can imagine and want to "entrust their fate" to somebody who really cares or at least mocks it well.

I think it's a misunderstanding if the enterprise neglects the diversity among different groups of customers. For example, one can meet some people that would love to save a bit of money, but are too ashamed to accept the marketing style "if you don't like it, f**k off" or simply doesn't want to hear their neighbour asking "will you really fly with that pay-for-loo airline?". The inability to address differing groups of customers is one of the issues Ryanair should re-think as fast as possible.

Furthermore, the markets differ across Europe as well. I also hate taxes, having to pay well over 40% income-tax in my country (with a decent wages of course). But indeed, the 8-euro extra on flights from Germany means really nothing to me and certainly to many else in both Finland and Germany. Is there a reason good enough to slash the frequencies on the extremely well running BRE-TMP route last Summer 7/7 to 3/7 in 2011? It's just shooting themselves in the foot, nothing else, methinks.

[scotsunflyer]

Sikpupi: €8...nothing when compared to an airport checkin of €40... or a poxy gate bag for €35. What about slipping in an extra €1 for on-line checkin? FFS.....


When did they annouce it had gone up to £6 ??

[Sikpupi]

When did they annouce it had gone up to £6 ??

......Zackly!!! When???? I heard no announcement but see On-Line fee below of €6!!!

Thats a cool €154m a year made by the stroke of a pen!!!! (Based on 77m passengers!!)

Wow....what creative accounting.....How to make €154m without spending a penny!!



Depart: Cork 08:10

Arrive:
London-Stansted 09:25

1 x Adult 9.99 EUR


Fare: 9.99 EUR
Online Check-In: 6.00 EUR
Taxes / Fees: 0.00 EUR


Total Price: 15.99 EUR

[Noxegon]

I'm particularly fond of the fact that they charge me to use my own printer, my own ink, and my own time...

[Coquelet]

It was announced on 12.11.2010 :

News : Avoidable Online Check-In Fee to increase (http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-to-raise-online-check-in-fee-by-1-euro-on-all-non-promotional-fares)

[Cyrano]

It was announced on 12.11.2010 :

News : Avoidable Online Check-In Fee to increase (http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-to-raise-online-check-in-fee-by-1-euro-on-all-non-promotional-fares)

Running rings around toothless consumer protection again, I fear. "Avoidable" is supposed to refer to optional charges for a given flight, i.e. I am taking a particular flight but I don't want extra baggage, pre-boarding etc, so I can legitimately avoid these charges. This latest definition of "avoidable" is effectively saying "these charges are avoidable, because you can avoid them... by just taking a different flight." :rolleyes:

[Noxegon]

Puerile in the extreme. But typical Ryanair.

[Phileas Fogg]

(Ryanair, the world’s favourite airline)

I've heard everything now, it's been bad enough listening to BA spouting this cr@p for umpteen years, if, for 20+ years, the people of Liverpool can unite in to not buying a particular (sunny) newspaper, for unscrupilous practices, despite that newspaper perhaps being cheaper than the competition, why can't the people of Europe unite in to not buying from an airline that seems to pride itself in to treating it's customers as if they were cattle?

[johnnychips]

Because they're quite cheap; you always know what total price you're paying before you confirm it - you can look elsewhere if it seems too expensive; and the vast majority of passengers have few problems. The passengers who suffer problems seem to be treated deplorably and there can be some negative publicity - but today's news is tomorrow's chip papers.