Im just waiting for the ryanair add for this one!!

Regarding TOM at Dublin does anyone know what aircraft they will base this summer? And do they have DUB based cabin crew again?

Is it also TOM who will operate Dublin - Larnaca ?

Yes Thomson will operate Dublin-Larnaca every Sunday for the summer period

DAA profits down 9% to €30 million for 2011.

T2 handled 8 millon passengers in 2011 and it will increae to over 8.5 in 2012.

As a matter of interest what max capacity is T2 designed for?

I suppose T1 used to handle 22 million?

T1 has a capacity of 20 million, and T2 15 million.

Fat chance of capacity being achieved this half century.

Racedo, thats rubbish - Go back 40 years to 1970 racedo, and see the changes in Dublin airport.

Ireland will come out of this recession, and will start growing - we will be over 25m by 2020 without question.

Copenhagen

That was with an economy growing massively, a returning population and a start of people travelling.

The expectations that the growth rates between 1970 and 2010 will apply between 2010 and 2050 is laughable.

The era of 1 cent flights is over for good as Govt see it as an opportunity to tax and the inward flow of migrants seen in decade since 2000 is over.

Its probable by 2025 that €50 will be the minimum tax payable on any flight as EU seeks to kill the golden goose.

Racedo - Between now and 2050, Just 1.5% growth annually is needed to grow from 20m to 35m. By any paramaters, that is a sustainable growth level.

At 3% - hardly earth shattering growth - 35m is reached in 2031 and 25m by 2020.

The era of 1c flights is over because:

1) FR and EI are going for margin over loads
2) Fuel prices

Great to see that in a recession, both EI and FR can increase fares and load factors.

very probably true - considering EI and FR are already there.

Problem is Dublin is nowhere near 20 million passengers and will not be for a considerable time.

The era of cheap flights and weekends away is over, the Irish economy still has a lot of bloodletting to do in the Public sector and on welfare recipients so this will reduce spend available over next 5 years.

My comment regarding Tax I think you misunderstood as the €50 is what will be the Govts / EU take not the airlines price.

They have 2 B738 based and they are leased from sunwing.

Ryanair market share in 2011 dropped from 41% to 39% while Aer Lingus increased its share from 37% to 41%.

One is in hapaglloyd colours.

The moment FR want that market share back, all they have to do is turn back up the load factors, and add back in two aircraft.

It's at 19 million atm, how is that nowhere near 20 million?

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It's at 19 million atm, how is that nowhere near 20 million?

Was thinking that myself... just booked Malaga out with EI and back with FR for October.

Remember a few years ago at Dublin when EI were expanding and FR in dispute with the DAA FR gave in and announced a major expansion....Dublin is still important for FR even though MOL is not too keen to say so....

It is and always will be....also FR related they are being slowly squeesed out of Stockholm route from DUB. They have cut capacity a lot since Aer Lingus and SAS announced new route and increased flights. I got an e-mail two weeks before I was travling saying my FR flight was canceled due to low demand and I could be transfer to another flight or have a refund which I did and booked with EI and my flight from DUB was full and my return was upgraded to a A321 and was also full and they were cheeper than Ryanair. They have the lowest presance on the route this summer compared to 2011.

EI are expanding in areas that are not served by FR mainly and the regional accounts for a lot and they can compete with FR just fine.

Somebody in Aer Lingus ( I can't remember exactly who) a few years ago said nobody knows how to compete with Ryanair like us, and its coming to fruition. On the point of regional, just look how they are now competing on the GLA-DUB, never thought I would see FR sidelined so much at PIK, where even GO couldn't hit them.

Its still going backwards and 1/2 of a percent down in first 4 months of this year........June will benefit from people heading to Poland but that will impact on bucket and spade business later in the summer.

Yup it rose 310,000 pax in 2011 v 2010 but 2010 had impact of Iceland volcano and when you strip that out from April and May you still heading backwards.............

For me at least, I've had a pretty miserable FR experience, and as a direct consequence I now only use them as a last resort; if any other airline has suitable flights at suitable times then I will use them; cost really doesn't matter to me (within reason).

I wonder how many other people feel the same way...