O'Really? A self handler? Surely some mistake?:} :E

Dub-kef
 

That's interesting. Would there be a market for a DUB-KEF flight? I know that there is a number of charter flights operated between the two airports but I wouldn't have thought a scheduled flight could have been sustained year-round, especially with 189 seaters. I hope i'm wrong though because it would be great to see a flight like this operating.:ok:

Thanks ;)

I have them myself, sometimes... I almost invariably end up regretting having had them, though! :sad:

My missus dug me out the self-same link (just after I'd posted last), and I've been reading it myself to see what's what, in the light of hindsight. As I expected, the devil is, as always, in the detail. The key bits being:

"As a result of these changes, those 25% of Ryanair’s passengers who presently travel with just hand luggage will avail of lower fares..." (my bold) Isn't that another way of saying "anyone who isn't travelling with just hand luggage, is going to get stiffed"?

In your case, it's unfortunate that you've described your ticket price as being "between €80 and €90" in the old days, because, of course, that €10 gap easily covers any potential €3.50 'saving' or fee twice over, and my guess is (given the way these cut-price lines change their prices even within the same day, depending on loadings, etc) it's impossible to detect whether the 9% reduction has actually been applied. A like for like comparison is presumably the only way (and no doubt, that will have been rendered impossible by changes to schedule timings since Jan, etc)

Just out of curiousity... this up-to-15kg of baggage you're checking in... is it ONE bag, or two? Cos it's pretty clear (well, relatively clear once one has deciphered the double-speak in the press-release), that if you're checking in two bags, you can expect a price hike. In theory, if you're checking in just one bag, you could've expected 'no change'... but...

More to the point, it would seem evident that only those folks doing their check-in via the web will remain at the old price, and then, only if they're web-checking-in just one bag.

Everyone who brings a bag to the desk, and checks it in there, is going to get stiffed for an extra €7.00 per bag, each way - and presumably, that's a 'pre-tax' figure (though I am just guessing, uber-cynically, here!) Is that where the €20 hike you're referring to, actually comes in? If you're not rounding up for effect (which is fine by me, btw!), then maybe it's the ol' "ex-VAT" cobblers that these rotters love to stitch us up with, rearing its ugly head again?

Certainly, it does seem that the increases are greater than espoused at the time of the press-release, but that's probably not a difficult 'promise' to wriggle out of. Increased costs, security-alerts, etc, will all be tools in Molly's defensive armoury, no doubt. Besides, it was a 'warning', really, not a 'promise', and as such, everyone (apart from those going naked with just hand-luggage and a web-booked ticket) were actually just being warned that prices were RISING, not falling, in real terms.

As for the lack of increase in baggage allowance weights, yeah, that's pretty obviously not happened. Is it a broken promise? Well, yeah, but of course it'll be another soapy whitewash that Molly will slip out of with "plausible deniability" and blame-shifting onto some third party, no doubt. I fully expect some explanation to surface later, which somehow manages to convince us all (momentarily) that actually Molly was being a jolly good egg, cos what the CAA really wanted to do was reduce our baggage allowance down to the weight of two pencils and a pair of pants, but jolly old Molly managed to at least keep things the way they were... albeit for a price!

Rotten stinky old world, innit? :}

Iceland skies
 

Does EU/Ireland have an open skies agreement with Iceland? Or will Ryanair have to apply for permission to open any route to Iceland?

Please educate me on this matter :O

If no open skies is in place, then maybe the Icelandic government just won't allow Ryanair to compete with Iceland Express.

Got stiffed by MOL last week travelling down to Toulon....

Back in April or May, I don't remember, booked a ticket for myself, Frau H and a couple of friends.....Four names, Mr H, Frau H, Mr J and Mrs J all on one booking reference.

We knew we would have only one case per couple, so prepaid two cases, but although a single booking ref we had to ' tick ' the cases against two of the four passengers on the booking form....arbitarily I ' ticked ' Mr H and Mr J as the FR booking system does not allow cases to be pre-booked without assigning these to a particular passenger.

On Monday, Mr J informed us that due to an urgent work requirement he would have to travel Friday instead of Thursday, so Thursday morning I checked in along with Frau H and Mrs J and the two cases but without Mr J....

Guess what ?

That's right - at check-in, Mrs J informed that she had no pre-booked case and was required to pay £15 for the outbound and inbound flights....

OK, not a fortune, but had I arbitarily ' ticked ' Mrs J as the case-carrying passenger, then no ' on the day ' charge would have been required....

Can't help wondering if the FR booking site isn't cunningly designed to strip a few more pounds form the passengers on these sort of occasions....particularly as there is no option to assign the pre-booked baggage to the booking reference instead of to the individuals on the booking reference.

Every time I say ' Enough is enough with these tos*ers ' but then give them another chance to stiff me another way a few months later....But this time was absolutely, positively, definitely the last time !! Now it's personal.....

Just been reading the BRS thread and there is a FR base rumour on there, obviously this is a rumour website, but would BRS not be in with a shout? we all know how MOL loves to pee on EZY's parade, what better way than to set up a base in EZY's busiest airport outside of London? They also fell out with CWL and no longer operate from there(last year it was listed on their website as a growth area) also it doesn't seem they're to keen on EXT as usually their STN-NQY service diverts to BRS as apposed to the much closer EXT?Any thoughts on that one?

Bases
 

I can list at least a dozen airports that I have heard are set to become Ryanair bases. Maybe they will indeed all become Ryanair bases one day. But we can really only expect one or two more bases to be announced before the end the this year.

Facts:

• Ryanair said at one moment that they would announce 2 or 3 bases before the end of 2006.
• Since then they have announced Bremen, leaving 1 or 2 still to be announced.
• Ryanair have began receiving a delivery of 30 aircraft for "Winter 2006/2007".
• Ryanair have announced to the public where they intend to place 21 of these aircraft.
• Ryanair have told investors last week that EMA is to receive 3 more aircraft during the winter.
• Thus the plans for 6 aircraft due to arrive before April 2007 have not yet been announced.

So the question is: how will these 6 aircraft be used?
Existing bases? New base(s)? Replacement of old aircraft? Reserve aircraft?

Eitherway, LOADS of more route announcements ahead in the next few months :ok:

Iceland is in the European Economic Area so there should be open skies

Well, one thing is clear.

When the changes were brought in, part of the loudly-announced package was that the "free" baggage allowance was being increased to 20 kg per person from 15 kg, although there was going to be this new per piece fee. Part of the swings and roundabouts, it was said. OK, fair enough.

Very quietly, the weight allowance is being reduced back to 15 kg.

Would I be being too cynical if I were to assume that this wasn't all planned in advance?

Ryanair will annunce soon a major expansion of EMA base.

Italian press report about new Ryanair route EMA-AHO will be annunced soon.

Also Alghero is negotiating with Ryanair to become a new italian base.

SNN will get another next yr

KEF would be an intersting one...

The reason they do not divert to Exeter is because Exeter refuse to let them, something to do with not wanting low fares at there airport as I have heard EZY and FR have both tried getting routes there as at the moment there is no big airport in the sotuhwest apart from Bristol as NQY is unreliable due to the weather and Plymouth is just to small and also suffers alot from the weather..

Errr - what business model do Flybe operate these days then?

Ryanair buying Aer Lingus?
 

A very rare return to the boards for me, just to say that Ryanair have just announced a bid for Aer Lingus. RYA share down 4% on the announcement, Aer Lingus up 7.6%. MOL says he sees opportunities to reduce operating costs and increase efficiencies.

Nice to see you Stockie. Can't imagine Lingus staff are too thrilled at this idea.:\ :hmm:

Also on:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5408780.stm

Ryanair buying Aer Lingus. Confirmed
 

They bought 16% of AL shares yeaterday.


Making a EUR 2.80 per share for the company today!!!

What % of Aer Lingus is owned by the employees again?

3.4% directly, 9.9% in the employee trust.

60,000 euros each should soften the blow for the employees as reported in Irish papers this morning.
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investi...0&in_page_id=3

Ryanair launches Aer Lingus Takeover
 

Am extremly surprised to read Ryanair has built up a large stake in Aer Lingus since its flotation in the last week and also is now going for a full takeover bid. I dont think this was the intention of the Irish Govt when it floated its stake in the airline. Do you think competition rules may prevent this? Ryanair are saying its a unique opportunity, i think its a strange strategic choice to be honest :confused: , if they did take it over i wonder what changes they will make to Aer Lingus longhaul ops?... will have to see how this one plays out!

I remember him saying he wouldn't take EI as a present.

Now he thinks it's worth £1 bn.

Every roller coaster ride comes to an end.

He may have said that he would not take EI if given it as a present but anybody that might be interested in buying something is not going to talk up its value!

Hmm let me see, Aer Lingus:

All Airbus fleet.
Full union representation.
Long-haul routes.

Ryanair, none of the above. I can see how this would be a match made in heaven at just about every level. And of course no sour grapes between Ryanair (in particular Tony Ryan) and the Aer Lingus management. Oh yes it is a tremendous opportunity….for what exactly? Based on Ryanair's previous record of the rape and pillage of Buzz: it's employees, it routes and it's fleet, I can foresee certain difficulties if this was to go ahead.

Almost 15%. The Irish government also still hold at least 25% of the shares.

Are there not questions to be raised concerning EU anti-competition laws? The take over would effectively mean Ryanair would have a monopoly on Ireland's medium and long-haul operations.:confused:

It certainly looks a strange move on a few levels. On a strategic level, FR has a very clear strategy that works, competing on a low cost basis, one aircraft type short-haul routes, no unions, ultra quick turnarounds etc. They are now trying to buy a very different company, heavily unionised, long-haul routes and a very different cost base.

Business academics would warn against this possible devastating tinkering with this strategy.

It'd be like Southwest buying NWA, it will surely change an awful lot in FR.

The various unions will be up in arms over this as will the Irish govt. Bertie Ahern's constituency is North Dublin and he like Ray Burke always had a cosy little relationshiop with the unions, give me your votes and I'll look after you. He'll be under pressure over this as well.

So all very strange at this point...

Roger, how's this? Drop the short-haul fleet over time to a minimum as Ryanair can always do it cheaper (Aer Lingus "unprofitable" on a route, it's dropped, but then Ryanair pick it up). Aer Lingus shorthaul reduced to places like LHR/AMS where they have to interline, A320s dropped as their leases expire over time. Do a deal with Boeing for new long-haul aircraft, leave Mannion to do what he has stated from day 1 he wants to do and make some money on long-haul.

Simplistic, I know, and anti-competition may well have its say - but if the yield is better from leaving their cash in the bank, how can MOL lose? Apart from that, maybe RYR heard that someone they don't like were preparing a bid for Aer Lingus, so they've decided to spike it by using their cash, and in any case they could always sell it to the other party in time and make some more money.

And this should all stop now because someone in the unions will be upset?

Be afraid......

they have said on the BBC website that he intends to keep the 2 airlines competing for a while. What he says and does may be 2 completely different things. Might be a way around the anti-competition laws. Keeping them as separate entities.

If Bertie survives his current little domestic difficulties (which I suspect he will) I imagine that not only will his devotion to his North Dublin voters influence his view but also his utter contempt for MOL may also be a factor.
There is no love lost between those chaps.
While the state only retains about 25% (is it 28%?) of Aer Lingus, is it not still in the governments power to stuff this takeover?

"However, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen and Minister for Transport Martin Cullen stated that the Government remains fully and firmly committed to competition in aviation markets, adding it would not sell its shares in Aer Lingus."

I guess that the banks who control a lot of the shares would be delighted to cash their chips in .As for the hapless aer lingus staff .....mmmm better get the tin hats on guys and girls.:8

what could happen?
 

If the bid fails then ryanair have another argument against there goverment to try and get publicity.
If the suceed then they will have an even bigger battle with Dublin airport.
They will have somewhere to use all the 737s that are on the way.
They can take out Aer Lingus short haul and rise prices.
Aer Lingus long Haul could be sold on for more than they paid for the whole airline, LHR slots are very valuable on there own.

But will it all go wrong?
The EU will try and stop it..
The unions will go mad.
The ryanair model will break.
MOL will take his eye of the core buisness.

Is it a smokescreen to hide the downturn in lowcost travel since August.
Why are they taking such risks. Mergers are a good way to hide things in the accounts.

That won't satisfy the competition regulators. They aren't that st*pid. Ryanair & Aer Lingus have a combined market share of something in the range of 67% on London-Dublin. Anything over 40% usually gets them nervous!

I like the idea that MOL has done this to usurp 'someone' else who may have been snooping around - any idea who this could be? (My vote: Emirates). They'd love to get their mits on the slots that Aer Lingus has at LHR. :suspect:

Like uklad007, I am also stunned at these developments! It will be very interesting to see what the EU and Irish competiton authority will say to this move. The Ryanair website have an analysis however, on their plans for EIN should they assume majority control.

I can't see them being allowed adjust the long-haul ops too much , actually I don't think they'll do anything to them given that they're all profitable and Ryanair state on their website that they will "retain all profitable routes currently operated by Aer Lingus".

Also all Heathrow slots will be retained for obvious reasons.

Let the games begin!;)

Union Response from the Irish Independant:

The main trade union at Aer Lingus has slammed Ryanair's announcement this morning that it is launching a formal takeover bid for the airline.

SIPTU president Jack O'Connor said today that the proposed buy-out would be bad for the country and vindicated the union's stance in opposing privatisation.

He also said the Government should have seen the move coming when it decided to sell Aer Lingus to private investors.

The Labour Party, meanwhile, has called on the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrats coalition to state what steps it intends to take to protect Aer Lingus from the takeover.

Party spokesperson Roisin Shorthall has described the Ryanair move as "a potentially disastrous development for the Irish travelling public".

She says it is exactly the sort of the situation the Labour Party warned could arise from the "ill-judged and unnecessary" decision to privatise the national airline.

While the Irish Goverment had this to say:

The Government has responded to Ryanair's Aer Lingus takeover bid by saying it will not be selling its shares in the airline.

Ryanair confirmed this morning that it has already acquired 16% of Aer Lingus shares and is offering €2.80 for the remainder.

In a brief statement to the media, Finance Minister Brian Cowen and Transport Minister Martin Cullen said the Government remained committed to competition in aviation markets and would not be selling the 28.3% stake that it has retained in Aer Lingus.

S.C.

And there's also the Dermot Mannion connection between EI and EK

And a consortium of ME business interests were looking at BA a while back but were out off by the pensions deficit. Interests in the UAE are going on major shopping sprees lately, the Dubai Aerospace Group only a recent start up, has already bought SR Techics and has a huge war chest

Look at Qatar airways as well, building a new airport and also unlimited funds...

If you had £1000 with which you had to buy shares in an airline in which of the following four airlines would you invest.


1. British Airways

2. Aer Lingus

3. Ryanair

4. Easyjet


Personally I would invest in Ryanair. This is to ignore the current takeover furore.

The only thing that is preventing a takeover of BA at the moment is the size of the pension deficit and we know about Aer Lingus.

Government called on to protect Aer Lingus By Patrick Logue Last updated: 05-10-06, 10:53
Reaction: The Government must immediately state how it intends to protect Aer Lingus from a "predatory takeover", Labour said this morning.
The party's spokeswoman on transport Roisin Shortall also said Minister for Transport Martin Cullen and Aer Lingus management must also state if they were aware of moves by Ryanair to takeove Aer Lingus.
"The public will have been shocked by the disclosure this morning," Ms Shortall said.
"This is a potentially disastrous development for the Irish travelling public and is exactly the sort of situation the Labour Party warned could arise from the government's ill-judged and unnecessary decision to privatise the national airline," she added.
In a short statement this morning the Government said: "The Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, TD, and the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, TD, have stated that the Government remains fully and firmly committed to competition in aviation markets. It will not sell its shares in Aer Lingus".
Siptu General President Jack O'Connor said a Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus would be bad for the country.
"Anyone with a titter of wit could have foreseen this development", Mr O'Connor said in a statement.
"It will enable Ryanair to take out its principal competitor on their main routes, acquire the critically valuable Heathrow 'slots', consolidate market dominance and dictate whatever price they like to airports, with obvious long term adverse consequences for workers and the travelling public alike.
"All of this is a consequence of the nonsensical decision to privatise Aer Lingus in the first place."