Why would they market it as Madrid when they already go to Barajas ??

They would be better off calling it Valdepeñas . :p

Granted they do have the base at Barajas but think about the fact that they've no doubt gone to this airport with the help of an incentive! So what better way to help put it on the map than link it with somewhere much bigger & that many more people will recognise!! http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...lies/smile.gif

Ciudad Real
 

I hope Ciudad Real can make a success of their new airport. They're going to need another few routes to get going though. Barcelona, the Canaries, the UK and Germany hold the best potential in my opinion.

A bit off topic, but does anyone know if Ryanair are interested in the almost complete Castellon Airport (80km north of Valencia, 180km south of Reus)?

Only if Villareal qualify for Europe , which is looking unlikely . ;)

I read an interesting report in the paper today that
said Ryanair passengers had complained more in the last few years
about the airline - and complaints about British Airways had also
gone up - no suprise there!!
Then I was gob-smacked to read that the airline with more 'official'
complaints than any other was................Easyjet !!
You could have knocked me down - as they say.
To think most posters on here sight Easy as a better low-co carrier
than Ryanair.......just goes to show you.

The silence of the last few days has not gone unnoticed!

MM

It would be interesting to find the definition of 'official' complaints, it may be a lies damn lies and statsitics case, however if in fact correct it is one in the eye for the anti FR brigade.

Or were one to apply the grey matter one might conclude that people have concluded that moaning about Ryanair gets you nowhere and is an utter waste of time.

So if there are more complaints they are bad or less complaints they are bad because people not complaining.........:ugh:

Based on that premises there is nothing that could be done that wouldn't ensure you would put a negative spin on the results.

Hav yet to see anything but a positive spin about Ryanair from you Racedo

pwalhx....

Its a report by the Aviation watchdog:Air Transport Users
Council (AUC).I read it in the Grauniad.

'Hav yet to see anything but a positive spin about Ryanair from you Racedo' can I just add 'or a negative from you pwalhx'.

Skipness.....

'Or were one to apply the grey matter one might conclude that people have concluded that moaning about Ryanair gets you nowhere and is an utter waste of time.' - probably with the realisation that to complain about it officially would leave one open to ridicule - perhaps?

Its noticable that the number of complaints to the watchdog
per passengers flown (By Easy/Ryanair)was in effect quite low.

MM

Do people still write letters ?
It has always struck me as a sad thing to do, If i try something and dont like it, then at least I know for next time. You would think people had better things to do with their time.

daz211

More likely to be an email in this day and age surely?

MM

Mickyman if you care to read my posts on this thred I try to keep an even handed view

I think its pretty obvious to most folk that writing to the likes of Ryanair, Baby, Thomsonfly etc etc is a complete waste of time
Even if you complain to the AUC, they have no teeth & the airline is not obliged to accept their findings.
UK Airlines + complaint = waste of time IMHO.

Mr Tis - I suspect that if you have a gold-coloured loyalty card with a UK airline or are some other type of commercially important person, and make a complaint, you are likely to be taken rather more seriously that someone who is not clearly identifiable as a frequent highly profitable customer

Ryanair Subsidies
 

Interesting newspaper piece which casts an alternative view on Ryanair's viability. Air France seem intent on pursuing this.

Is Mick O'Leary just a big EU subsidy-bunny? - Business, Frontpage - Independent.ie

Air France objecting to subsidies : that is to say subsidies to others, of course.
As for Charleroi, some "subsidies" have been forbidden by the EU, but not all of them - Ryanair still fly to Charleroi, more than ever, and will soon have twelve aircraft based there.

AIR FRANCE Lets Fly Legal Attack on RYANAIR
 

And the battle begins...:E

EUROPE March 12, 2010, 12:58PM EST text size: TT
Air France Lets Fly Legal Attack on Ryanair
The French flag carrier is challenging the Irish discount airline over subsidies it demands from localities, which keep fares down but are borne by taxpayers

By John Lichfield


An aerial dogfight is about to break out in the skies of Europe. The French national flag carrier, Air France (AFLYY), has launched the biggest and most elaborate legal challenge so far to the local subsidies – or "contributions" – received by the Irish-based cut-price airline Ryanair (RYAAY) for flying to regional airports in France and elsewhere.

In a complaint filed with the European Commission in December, and made public yesterday, Air France claims that Ryanair now receives €660m (£599m) in public funds from local authorities in Europe each year, including €35m (£32m) in France. Far from making a profit in 2008 and a small loss last year, Air France insists that Ryanair made a whacking de facto loss in both years, disguised by allegedly illegal public subsidies.

"The Irish airline purports to be the Robin Hood [airline] which offers unbeatably low prices, compared to the inflated prices of national carriers," a senior Air France official said yesterday. "In fact, Ryanair is only flying thanks to taxpayers' money."

Ryanair dismissed the suit, which was brought under EU rules guaranteeing free and fair competition. "We pay no attention to false claims from high-fares, fuel-surcharging airlines like Air France," said the Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara. "Ryanair is investing millions in regional French airports, whereas Air France ignores them."

Ryanair has survived previous EU challenges to the "contributions" that it demands from local or regional councils for flying to regional airports. Air France claims it has pieced together the true extent of these "subsidies" by trawling through the accounts presented to local financial watchdogs in France and other EU countries.

The money is paid to Ryanair for, among other things, helping to create new regional air links, or for "marketing" local attractions. In recent months, a couple of French local authorities have protested that Ryanair has demanded increased payments and threatened to move its flights elsewhere.

Michel Boutant, the president of the Charente council in western France, complained in December that Ryanair had asked for an additional €175,000 in "marketing" payments to continue its flights from London to Angoulême this year. He accused the Irish airline of "blackmail."

Under a framework agreement drawn up by the European Commission in 2004, Ryanair (and other airlines) can receive local taxpayers' money under certain conditions. The aid must be notified to Brussels, limited in duration and restricted to small airports that would not otherwise attract international flights.

Air France complains that, in Ryanair's case, these conditions are often broken. It points out, for instance, that Ryanair receives payments from Marseille and Nice airports, both of which are already international and neither of which is small.

The Air France complaint will be studied by the European Commission competition directorate, which must decide whether there are grounds to take action. Previous legal moves against Ryanair by Brussels have been overturned by the European Court of Justice or settled by negotiation.

Provided by The Independent—from London, for Independent minds

Air France complaining about someone being subsidised?
Tres riche!

A level playing field for all? A nice dream - but it will never happen in Europe. Remember the discussion about to reduce subsidizing agricultural products? Same thing: true local thinking and national egoism rule here, too.

If AF was successful in making Ryanair pay for services at local French airports, hey, they just go somewhere else and make a business there. And they will be received by local politicians with their arms (and the taxpayers' pockets) open wide.

As much as I hate to support Ryanair through taxpayers money, I would prefer any competitor to exercise some self-critique and ask himself the question: 'What's better in their offer than in ours - and how can we learn from that?'.