FR at City Airport
I would disagree that Ryanair are trying to buy business, the widespread reduction of fares to zero levels is an investment into a price statement, low cost travel is well established in the London Belfast Market, so in Ryanair fashion it is dropping fares like crazy until some of the competitors ditch frequency.
Despite the rational for setting up at the City airport, Ryanair have done alot for passenger numbers at the city airport and some jobs.
I would be so sure that Ryanair dont pay one penny of airport fees for these ZERO fares, this is agreed at a certain level with the airport, and as for the APD of £10 per journey, most of this is covered by APD collected for No shows, the same money that never gets paid to the government.
Aer Lingus have a job on there hands to develop their markets when these same routes have too much capacity ( most of them), however, Aer Lingus have an excellent operating margin, they actually have a very desirable cost base, one that can compete with Ryanair on many of its routes and still offer value service and deliver a profit.
I check Flybe for a flight on Gatwick and it says £0.00 then when you add in all the charges a £0.00 flight on Flybe ends up alot more expensive than a £0.00 flight with any of the other market competitors. Does anyone else find this?