I'm not going to go through every single point because this post would never end...
Ok... I'm a kid, so clearly I know nothing about how anything works and all I care about is having lots of shiny new planes flying around here there and everywhere half empty with passengers who only payed a tenner
There is MASSIVE misunderstanding here, and I will pick up on this point because I do in fact know quite a lot about it after 2 years of studying development and globalisation. This also majorly p***es me off in many brexit debates because people blame the EU for this when it's not, it's natural progression.
Easyjet was ALWAYS going to start flying to their smaller bases from abroad, it's cheaper to employ staff and probably many other things in Spain. That's why Ryanair is better off flying INTO Newcastle versus OUT of Newcastle. Simply because it costs more money. Exactly the same principle as call centres outsourcing to India. Brexit will exacerbate this and increase the extent to which it happens, but it was gonna start happening anyway, Palma and Barcelona bases for example.
Now of course this is probably going to get blamed on Ryanair setting up shop at NCL, but have you not considered that there may be benefits?
NCL has lost a good chunk of traffic since the highs, XL went, EZY imploded, countless companies went bust, domestic took a massive hit losing EZY to STN and BA to LGW, as well as downsizing to LHR... Then all the 757's went. Ryanair is simply filling in all the gaps that have been left, have you looked at the facts and figures? Most months (using ALC as an example) the growth Ryanair provided was exceeded. An example I remember (not got the numbers to hand) was that Ryanair added an extra 8000 or so seats that month, and pax growth was in the order of 11,000 that month.
How many passengers have been redirected from Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and some even Greece - to Spain and Portugal?
If yields were being trashed, would Ryanair keep expanding as rapidly as they have, bloody brave if you ask me but they've obviously tapped something! Would Jet2 be adding another aircraft for S17? Would Easyjet be going for new routes? Yes ok they're cutting some frequencies but it's worked out for the best - new routes coming up if rumours are to be believed, and that's what we need!
Ok, maybe some people are averse to low cost airlines and would rather see NCL scaled down with only legacies and the occasional old style - full service charter airlines, But then you say we're a poor region and struggle to support service... Ryanair gives the customers exactly what they want and need. Cheap flights. How else might your average North East family be able to afford a family holiday - but then be able to consider a city break later on in the year for the adults... Something they'd never have been able to afford when they were limited with package options (look at jet2holidays, they're perfect for the market they serve) and their city break was via a hub with BA/AF/KL... They can probably get the whole thing cheaper than just the flights now!
I get slated for my optimism, but I don't see how investment is a bad thing. I can't comprehend why this is being made negative. A huge low cost airline invests in us and it's the end of local jobs and employment at our airport? Cheap flights are trashing yields and going to make airlines leave despite the clear demand for it (and by the way, it WILL create demand too)... I want to work in the aviation industry, of course I want to see it directly creating local jobs, but I know that's probably the most unlikely it's been for a while.
I know I've gone on but I'm just going to end it on, if anything it's Brexit and Scottish APD devolution that will be the death of NCL... Not *INVESTMENT* and *EXPANSION* from Ryanair and at the end of the day, they're going to bring 750,000 people through their doors in 2017, do you know how much investment that could mean by the things holidaymakers buy in airports?
You don't get business travellers paying for airport parking, having meals and pints in the terminal, buying the adapters they forgot, having a little preflight shop, maybe a last minute currency exchange, and as they head back to get their kids that are playing the arcade sinking coins into all the machines "oooh I could read that book by the pool" cha-ching £15 to WHSmiths - times 750,000 (and the rest).
This is not a bad thing! Ryanair are filling a gap, and now I'm off to look for a birthday break next May - creating demand
Someone might want to tell Mr O'Leary that he can't make money selling cheap flights by the way... He might want to know that!