Ryanair - 8

[Jamie2k9]

Does anybody know why todays PIK - TFS diverted and where it did divert to.

It left PIK around 06.40 and diverted to DUB. Arrived at 08.10 and departed again at 09.15.

All the new routes announced from EIN will have times changed over the next few weeks.

[eu01]

All the new routes announced from EIN will have times changed over the next few weeks.

Smells to me like a new base. But what about the discussed extending of the operating times there?

[AMS flyer]

After FR introduced new flights to EIN, I've found one weird thing on the schedule. Given any monday in dec-jan-feb-mar, there are three morning flights departing KUN. Gatwick (07:10), Dublin (07:45) and Eindhoven (08:40). KUN base only has two airframes, and winter schedule does not indicate there could be the third one.
Has anyone got a clue, if this can be just a planning mistake (unlikely), or some kind of spare a/c rotation?

LGW will move to 15:15 departure (day 1), DUB will leave at 7:45 and EIN at 8:40!

Smells to me like a new base. But what about the discussed extending of the operating times there?

No, not likely. Opening hours discussion is expected to come to a conclusion in 2013. Besides that also other carriers are interested in having a base at EIN. Transavia is the most likely one to have their crew based at EIN.....

[Jamie2k9]

LGW will move to 15:15 departure (day 1), DUB will leave at 7:45 and EIN at 8:40!

LGW will depend on them getting a slot.

Podgorica (Montenegro's

As far as I know for it to happon FR have to:
Start 2 routes which must be year round. They have to delver 100,000 passengers in a year which 50,000 have to come between Oct - May. (low season). If they do the above they will have airport charges reduced and receive marketing support from Montenegro Gov.

Glasgow PIK is a very odd choise.

[vytgri]

Bird strike

FR2228, KUN-KGS had a bird strike right after takeoff this morning. The aircraft was diverted back to KUN after 20 minutes into the flight. Smell and vibrations were reported by some passengers. Replacement a/c is expected to arrive in 2-3hrs

[ryan2000]

Ryanair quoted in the media as calling on DAA to release July figures for Cork and Shannon. They're predicting yet another decline. Well my sources in Cork tell me the figures are +1.9%. This is primarily due to Ryanair's decision to base an additional
plane here for the peak Summer Months.

[Jamie2k9]

As far as I know SNN figures are up slightly to but FR wont believe it as only there fugues are correct and the DAA and CSO are always wrong unless there agree with FR and they are down.

[jabird]

So £12 to cover the APD from EDI and £99.00 to fly to the East coast non stop? could you do it in a 738? Plus luggage & food? , think of the scratch card selling time available ?

With 189 pax I doubt it, but remember 'beds & blowjobs'. OK, it wouldn't be like BA's LCY-SNN-JFK, but I wouldn't expect it to be all Economy. I think MOL has already said though that long-haul would be a separate entity.

If FR or FR+ were going to hit the East Coast, why fly into crowded NYC air space? BWI or PHL would make more sense - onward DIY conx possible too, but both would be more welcoming for a very low cost carrier. PHL would be more favourable to reach the NY area - SEPTA + NJT provide a link at much less than the cost of Amtrak. I could see €39 headline fares encouraging people to get their calculators out - ok, pay for onward train or coach, but avoid APD?

For now, probably an un-needed complication of FRs simple business model - but if UK govt pushed APD higher in an attempt to further appease the green lobby, who knows?

The longer you go, the higher the percentage of fuel cost as a proportion of your overall cost base. As fuel cost is largely determined by the financial markets, that means that the longer a flight is, the less Ryanair's advantage.

To an extent - although short flights are even more fuel-hungry, due to the percentage of fuel used for the take-off and climb. I would also suggest that FR's 738s have an efficiency advantage over CO's 752's - not sure how significant this would be.

I think the real challenge for FR on long haul is that the advantage of lower airport fees diminishes - firstly because it is a much smaller portion of the journey, but also because the a/c need to spend longer on the ground - or do they?

And if I may go back to the argument over LPA (not been PPRUNing for a couple of weeks) - the traditionalist geographer in me says that you should always look up information about the place you are going to - capital cities being an old favourite. Sure, Rome is the capital of Italy and one of its main tourist draws - ditto for Paris & France. But how many people going to Spain visit Madrid? Once you get down to islands, there really is a huge amount of inconsistency in the industry about how they are labelled. If this was BE and the agent was calling out St Helier, or St Peter Port, would people know? Or if this was BA, and they were calling out St Johns (Antigua) or St George's (Greneda)?

Of course you say - people should know from the codes. LPA is obvious to me. Except, couldn't that be La Palma (SPC). Las Palmas, La Palma and Palma Majorca are VERY easy to mix up - I have seen plenty of people in the industry do it, just as I have heard of cases (not always apocryphal) of people trying to go to Newcastle UK, but ending up in Newcastle, Australia - or even the tiny village of Newcastle in Nevis, which happens to be right by the airport (NEV).

So to anyone who deals in airport codes and names every day - don't be surprised if people don't have the same knowledge as you, especially when they are in the queue to drop their heavy bags and rush to the airport bar before the gate closes. Geography is the last thing on their mind! And let's not forget the cases of pilots who have landed their planes at the wrong airport!

[jabird]

I note my typo of 'Greneda' above! Which reminds me of a 'specialist' company I shall not name which wrote about the 'spice island walled city' of Grenada - which was somehow in both southern Spain and the Caribbean.

At least FR UK pax won't get confused about flights to GRX

[pee]

An interesting article in Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat concerning the purchasing power of Russian customers in Europe. They write "Locals irritated by long queues of Russian tax-free shoppers in stores in southeastern Finland". "Every made purchase increases what is going to be a record figure".

Undoubtedly the trans-border shopping is a mainstream here. Intriguing could be, however, this observation: "The latest phenomenon is the really valuable items purchased from Milan since the spring opening by Ryanair of the route from Lappeenranta to the Italian city."

Flying cheap, buying much. Who knows what a potential is hidden here?

[Steviec9]

FR1182/1183

What's happening with FR1182/3 SNN-LGW-SNN during September and October? I've got a few tickets booked and timings are changing (and not that consistently) throughout the above period before (apparently) settling down again from November to the usual midday rotation. Nice to have a few evening departures for a change though!

[virginblue]

If they have so much money, why do they bother trekking to Lappeenrantaa and taking a Ryanair flight? Which, in the first place, is a funny concept if you go on a shopping trip as two checked bags can set Ms Abramovich back a whopping 160 GBP for a return flight.

As we are just at it, I noticed that a UK based passenger paying in GBP will pay for the above-mentioned amount of luggage 22 GBP more than a passenger based in the EUR zone, as the Ryanair fees are based on a 1:1 GBP / EUR parity whereas the current real-life exchange rate is 1 GBP for 1.14 EUR. So it makes some sense to not book a return flight into the EUR-zone and pay it in GBP but to book two one-ways so that you can pay the return leg in EUR.

[pee]

^^ Just join the euro zone.
Okay, it's perhaps not the best moment to talk into it

As far as I can see, Russians do make quite a few purchases while flying FR (aboard the planes). Also eating, drinking and so on. Not bad customers it seems.

[davidjohnson6]

virginblue - it's not just luggage fees, one often finds that the airfare for a return back to the UK is cheaper when priced in EUR compared to GBP. The only catch with booking separate flights, is that if one flight has the time substantially changed or cancelled, forget about any kind of refund for the other leg of your trip.

Just one of those little features that makes Ryanair as lovable as it it !

[blueplatinum]

....one often finds that the airfare for a return back to the UK is cheaper when priced in EUR compared to GBP.

In my experience the GBP price is always the same number of Pounds as Euros i.e. 1:1.

[virginblue]

when priced in EUR compared to GBP.

As said, for Ryanair it is 1:1, for the rest of the world it is 1:1,14. So Ryanair is 14 per cent more expensive for those payning in GBP than for those paying in EUR.

Time to join the EUR-zone indeed

[Jack1985]

Very good piece here by anna.aero on the Ryanair - Irish Gov spat, delighted to see their going to report on the matter... Ryanair V Irish govt: Air Passenger Duty and inbound/outbound tourism

[j636]

Was in Porto at around 3.30 and a Ryanair flight diverted because of an emergency according to crew on my flight. Runway was closed for a shot while not sure what the problem was as after it landed we started to push back. Nothing on FR website about it.

[PPRuNeUser0176]

Think it was a flight from Dublin, not sure where it was going.

[Jamie2k9]

It was DUB - LPA that diverted. As far as I know it was because of ATC reasons. Landed Porto at 15.37 and departed at 17.38. ACE - DUB this evening was delayed because of ATC issues. TFS and FUE have also had problems to.