And should regular travellers be counted separately from other travellers? I am sure that BA, AF, LH and all the rest would have numbers even lower than at present if only new passengers were considered, given the time and effort they put into promoting their expensive and not particularly rewarding frequent flyer programmes!

I believe I have said it before, but MOL is an amazing publicity gathering machine. Love him or hate him he gets people talking, he causes the debate of no frills (the FR way) vs full service airlines to be talked about in pubs, restaurants, homes, offices and internet forums ;) all over Europe. And what happens is people use the words "cheap" and "Ryanair" on both sides of the argument, and the next time even a Ryanair basher wants a low air fare they will at least check out the FR price. Take a look at this forum for example, 12 responses in less than 9 hours, arguing about what MOL wants us to argue about. In his endless quest for publicity at least, he is a genious.

XSB

Frankfurt-Hahn is the OFFICIAL name of the airport, nothing to do with Ryanair. It is the secondary airport to Frankfurt Main. It's only an hour from the airport, believe me, I've done it! Before Doncaster Robin Hood opened, my nearest major airport was Manchester, which is over an hour away, so one can hardly complain about airports being far away on the other end. People say that Ryanair only fly to small airports in the middle of no where, but if you turn it the other way round, people living near such airports could think that Ryanair offers flights to Major airports across the UK. Thinking about it, Ryanair flys to many "secondary" airports in the UK, such as East Midlands, Doncaster, Humberside, Leeds-Bradford, et al which don't have suc high passengers numbers as say Manchester or the London airports.

There is virtually no figure issued by Ryanair that can be treated as necessarily being an honest statement. They manipulate geography, figures and the English language to their advantage. And who said there is anything wrong with that? - let the reader (and buyer) beware! Is that not the first rule of acquisition?

We have been through all of this here on PPRuNe before ... it looks like it is all going to start again, like a bad dream. Comparative Ryanair salary figures (you know like showing Ryanair pilots are the best paid in Europe), etc, etc. - the sordid reality versus the hype.

Nobody mentioned what the fact that the Business page of a strong Ryanair supporter has made a number of serious business criticisms - this is indeed a departure from the historical norm. In recent weeks we had a generally quiet period here on PPRuNe with minimal Ryanair nonsense - but suddenly a host of persons singing the praises of Ryanair have appeared to counter the Sunday Indo negative vibrations. A clear sign that those "negative vibes" have hit home. All this after Flight's low key drawing of our attention to certain operational issues in recent months. Interesting times.

As far as location is concerned, ease of access and travel time count for far more than geographical distance. LHR is not too many miles from London (14?) but it's a hellish journey however you make it. LGW is further away but much easier (at least it used to be but then I keep away from the South of England nowadays!). An airport near an existing main railway line is usually the best option as they don't have to build a branch line and charge a massive premium to take the train. (I know, the Underground to LHR is not too expensive but it was always a difficult journey with luggage, kids etc).

Mind you, if you think access to London's airports is bad, just try Leeds-Bradford, especially now they are digging up the road!

Or is it that people on here need their fix of
negativity.

In all these years of bad management and
rule bending how come nothing has really
stuck to the MOL person.

He might just be lucky or he might just be
clever.

Serious business papers are written by
failed business people or else they would
be earning a lot more money in a business.

Everyone should stop being so ANAL about
this airline and vote with their feet.......
oh! they already do times 42M dont they!

MM

But the point MM, is not how many are using it, but how many are repeat business. If the bulk of Ryanair's passengers (not punters) only use it a couple of times and then say "Never again", it does not bode well for Ryanair's future.

As for the quantity of travellers, well, If I buy a petrol station and sell petrol for 10p a litre, I'm going to get lots of customers aren't I? Aren't I a genius? Will the Financial Times swoon on my every word about my new business model? I sell my petrol at below cost, but of course my customers then will pay $5 for a newspaper right?

From my reading of their published accounts, the danger for Ryanair is that a very large chunk of their costs are attributable to running an airline, however only a small and declining percentage of their total profit comes from this activity. A large percentage of profit comes from "ancilliary" activities. This in my humble opinion is not very wise, as a change in passenger behaviour could reduce those profits and still leave the airline running costs intact.

I've had competitors in the printing industry once who always had to undercut my prices. It was pathological. Their idea was that they would eventually drive me and other competitors out of business, raise their prices and clean up. Guess who went under? It wasn't me. A lot of printing businesses gave a sigh of relief when this prat finally went bankrupt.

Sunfish,

As someone who still uses Ryanair a fair bit, I would guess they probably rely pretty heavily on repeat business. Considering Ireland only has 4 million people living there and Ryanair still derives a significant percentage (was about 40% 3 years ago, now? don't know but at a guess I'd still say in the region of 20% to 25%) of it's revenue from it's Irish operation I would say a lot of Irish people do put up with the minimal to ****e service levels time and time again because of one thing: price.

Examples are numerous - I used to do Dublin to Edinburgh one or twice a month with Aer Lingus - absolute minimum cost £100IR (€128). Then Ryanair came along and total average cost, about £50IR. Now how Ryanair arrived at doing this route is well known amongst the flying fraternity and how Ryanair treats it's pax and staff is equally well known and debated. But as a passenger I put up with all that for a relatively painless short-hop flight. Would I do the same for long-haul? Not a chance in hell.

Interesting article in the Times today: OLeary views
It seems that MOL agrees with a number of those here:
“When we’re the biggest airline in Europe, it will be inappropriate to have somebody here shouting, swearing, abusing the competition,” he said.
“You need more professional management than me. And that time is coming,”
It is also revealing in the context of this discussion that their bookings jumped 15% after the Channel 4 documentary! No such thing as bad publicity it would seem.

I think this may be the secret of their sucess.

And on a painfull note: How has this tread gone to 12 pages:ugh:

Ryanair v Southwest

Compare the two minus MOL
What do you get?

MM

Ryanair Prestwick - Charleroi
 

Does anyone know if this route is being discontinued? I can't make a reservation on this route beyond the end of October but to Rome I can book into December. I hope it's not being discontinued as I use it three or four times per year to go to Ostend.

james170969

It's quite possible that the schedules haven't been finalised and uploaded yet :)

RYR Marseille.
 

I'm just curious. There was a spread in the FT that Air France had gone to court over alleged subsidies for a new RYR base at MRS. This was a few weeks ago, yet there has been nothing on here about a new RYR base at MRS nor about these French complaints.
Is this a myth?

Baggage allowance
 

I see from ryanair's website that the baggage allowance is to be reduced down to 15kg again which was what it was before they introduced the checked in baggage charge. I wonder if they'll abolish the charge when they reduce the baggage allowance.

RAT 5,

Check out pages 5 & 6 of this thread. It pays to look back through a thread sometimes!:ok:

Baggage allowance
 

ehh where did you see this? it clearly states that if you booked before the 15th March your allowance is 15kg

The current allowance still remains 20kg

Go to the home page, click on Travel Questions, scroll down to the baggage section and click on "What is my checked baggage allowance?"
It states, "The Checked Baggage allowance is 20kg per person (15kg per person for all passengers travelling from the 1st November 2006 onwards). "
I use Ryanair frequently but I really wish they'd make up they're minds as to what the baggage allowance is. I suspect the temporary increase in the allowance from 15kg to 20kg was a bit of a "sweetner" when they introduced the baggage charge.

Ryanair Cork
 

Ryanair are to recruit several extra cabin crew at Cork. Are we about to see a 2nd plane based there ? They could do this without giving the Southern Airport any extra business.

Surely though they are not going to leave expansion from the new terminal to Aerlingus, BMI Baby, Aer Arann, Wizz, Central Wings etc,

And Easyjet are not gone yet!

Regarding baggage allowance:

Can anyone say if it is leala to deny the ticket holder a full baggage allowance? RYR stipulate that buying an extra seat (empty) does not allow the ticket holder to use the baggage alowance if the seat remains empty. It also says that groups, i.e. families, can not pool luggage. If daddy has paid for all the tickets he should be able to claim the total baggage allowance. It is possible/necessary to purchase a seat for a musical instrument; so why not also be able to have the baggage allowance. YOU HAVE PAID FOR IT! I believe ej do the same. Has anyone tested the legality of this?
Interesting point about the new/old RYR allowance. When the charge was introduced, and the baggage allownace increased plus the overal reduction in fares, it was claimed that paasengers would be better or no worse off. If the allowance is now reduced and excess charges made for baggage upto 20kgs, I suspect the opposite will be true.

Flying lawyer please.

Is this going to be like when Ryanair open routes but don't mention they are closing some? Will more "return to lessor" (after sale/leaseback) be appearing beside FR 738s in the Jethros list?

http://www.jethros.i12.com/fleets/fl...in_service.htm