Sunday times article
Did anyone else see the articles in the business section of yesterday's Irish Sunday Times on Ryanair. Apparantly Shannon and Frankfurt Hahn are the only lossmaking bases out of the 28 Ryanair bases. The Shannon base has never made a profit. Hahn on the otherhand was profitable initially, but the huge increase in capacity over a relatively short period of time (increasing from 4 aircraft to 12 in the space of 2 years) has made it unprofitable. Apparantly they're threatening to either pull out of Shannon or reduce services unless a new more profitable deal can be negotiated. Michael O'Leary is quoted as saying "I am not known for hanging around losing money". Considering they're reported to only be paying €1 per passenger at the moment its hard to see how it could get any more favourable for Ryanair without the SAA paying them to fly from Shannon and I don't think that would go down well with the EU (The existing deal sparked an EU investigation) or with Aer Lingus. However with Ryanair carrying approximately 70% of Shannon pax they really have the SAA over a barrell.