Ryanair - 6

[racedo]

When times were good they were making huge profits, these profits didn't grow exponentially as the airline expanded so for the last two or three years they were effectively 'running to stand still', now they're still expanding but making a loss, the cracks are starting to appear.

They made an operating profit for the year.

What they showed in making a loss was a write down of aircraft for future sales and a write down of holding in Aer Lingus neither of which have any impact on cash.

[RAT 5]

Curious. A friend of mine, flying with RYR, has told me his T's & C's have been reduced/rewritten because RYR posted 2 consecutive qtr's of losses. The staff have taken a personal hit for RYR's financial performance.
However, from the figures above there was an operating profit and the loss seems to have been generated by the Aer Lingus debacle. Was that not a management mistake, as was the fuel hedging. It seems hardly morally fair to penalise staff for events which were totaly outside their influence or control. I doubt if they were asked if they'd like to take a risk with their T's & C's so RYR could play 'takeovers' with no risk to themselves. I wonder if those 'hits' will be restored after the 200-300m euros profit is achieved.

[racedo]

There is a thread under Terms and Conditions which was dealing with this.

[F14]

So what is the latest rumours on new bases. Lots of new aircraft and deteriorating economic situation in the UK means I would see at least 6 more this year (12 aircraft) plus at least 1 at each of the other mature bases (32).

I read in the 09 Full Year results last month Greece removed some sort of airport or pax tax.

I hear also around 10% drops in pax for Vueling and Air Nostrum.

So here are my thoughts :-

1) Oporto
2) Santander
3) Malta
4) Malaga
5) Valencia
6) Treviso

[flying_shortly]

However, from the figures above there was an operating profit and the loss seems to have been generated by the Aer Lingus debacle. Was that not a management mistake, as was the fuel hedging.

Whatever about fuel hedging I don't think Aer Lingus was a mistake. Having Ryanair as a 30% stakeholder has meant other airlines see Aer Lingus as a very unattractive acquisition. Colm Barrington even stated on Irish radio during the week that he would like to see Ryanair go as a major stakeholder as they have been bad for the airline's interests. Ryanair have insured they have the majority of Ireland's loco market one way or another. They're stated loss this year is probably over estimated too. I was reading an article in the Irish Times saying that Ryanair like to under estimate performance and hence do better than expected.

Aer Lingus is one of only two airlines in Europe with 'money in the bank'. It's not a bad airline and with it's expansion out of Ireland I can see it doing well if pointed in the right direction. Ryanair may have screwed up in fuel but I think buying part of Aer Lingus has been a wise move.

[flying_shortly]

I think you're spot on about Malta. It will become a base. Ryanair have top people out there negociating a deal based on pax numbers as an incentive.

That ASFKAP sounds like a nutjob to be honest.

[F14]

Probably a bit late for this year. Maybe Malta 2010 summer season, a bit like the Sardinian/Sicilian bases which opened at the start of this summer.

What normally seems to happen is they pick a destination to make into a base, which is already fed by mature bases still with growth potential. Therefore old routes look good and mature base builds new market.

[wind check]

Is Valencia a ryanair base again? I can see a red square on the web map at Valencia.

[Jippie]

Not anymore, seems like they will announce it soon then.
That always happens when things appear on the Ryanair website for only a short time.

[F14]

Very interesting articles. I don't think O'Toole would have gone to the papers without a reason. Is he testing the water of Maltese Public opinion ?

To be honest I seem to recall the Maltese being a very astute bunch of business people over the centuries. I guess the sort of numbers of Pax, Ryanair could put there way, is way beyond what Air Malta could deliver.

Also, and maybe somebody more informed could comment, when Malta entered the EU, where there certain promises made regarding opening the air transportation market to outside competition ?

[EGAC_Ramper]

Well to be fair regarding VALENCIA the local government offered a quite substantial "investment" to Air Nostrum and FR was agreed this.....now things have been sorted it will be good to see normal operations resumed at VLC!! Which in fact was only fair.....

[F14]

After reading the AirMalta website, sounds like the company is having severe trouble with their Cabin Crew Union.

So maybe this is the leak to the press of the arrival of Ryanair in Malta???

[lplsprog]

Watching a travel programme yesterday and it mentioned the loo situation again. They seem to think that it's not dead but Ryanair are going to take out 2 loos and replace them with 6 more seats. The remaining loo will be charged for at £1 or 1 Euro a go. God help us if it goes U/S during the flight then we will be right in the S##T.

[befree]

MOL has just sold 5,000,000 shares at 3.75 euros on 5th June.
It seems he has got the peak in the price just right as it is already falling back.

The summer will see planes parked up for part of each week and more planes are on the way. He was very lucky to get 3.75 euros a share.

[MUFC_fan]

Spain's Queen Sofia not amused by Ryanair - Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6450329.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084)

£4,400 for world coverage advertisement - true genius.

[Sober Lark]

I heard the 'Priority boarding' Q sign was changed to read 'Plebs and Patricians' for Queen Sofia's flight.

befree, the plural of Euro is Euro and IMHO he got sound advice but I'm more interested to see which line he'd slot into?

[Charlie Roy]

I bet the Ryanair shareholders wish he was as astute when dealing with their money as he is when hes dealing with his own money.....

He is himself a Ryanair shareholder, and a big one at that: more than 4% of shares.

[Sober Lark]

Cashing in shares is amongst other things a form of risk diversification. Why would anyone want to have all of their wealth tied up in an airline?

[pee]

Let me quote something from an other topic (Avman):
Ryanair started using the Southwest model and became equally successful. Unfortunately, it has lost sight with reality and, with its everchanging and increasingly penalising T&Cs, is fast becoming unpopular with a growing number of its clients. Unless they smell the coffee and rethink their gameplan, I envisage RYR becoming one of the industry's catastrophic failures somewhere in the not too distant future.
It is something that many of us have wondered at. Why MOL being so sensitive about money issues, seems unable to understand that better customer relations could so easily be reflected at sells level (= money). Better opinion about the airline as a means of improving the confidence, resulting in the growth of popularity (= better sells, better loads and yields), further development. Have we just found the vulnerable heel of Mr. Achilles MOL, by the way? Is it right here?

[racedo]

MOL has just sold 5,000,000 shares at 3.75 euros on 5th June.

Selling 3 days after results likely means that they were part of an incentive plan and were sold on rather than kept.

He would not have been allowed to sell any shares for a considerable period of time as he would be aware of specific company information regarding results. Its pretty standard practice across companies quoted on the stock exchange.

[MUFC_fan]

I wanted to send a parcel to a friend in Spain but it is actually cheaper for me to fly out with Ryanair and deliver it myself so I will be doing and a day or so in the sun!

Thanks Ryanair - cheaper than Royal Mail inc. yourself!:}

[pee]

So what is the latest rumours on new bases.
here are my thoughts :-

1) Oporto
2) Santander
3) Malta
4) Malaga
5) Valencia
6) Treviso
I see. You seem to consider just Southern airports (as you live in Southern Europe). However, remember Scandinavia (CPH), Germany (SXF? LBC?), Poland (KRK or WRO), other Central-Eastern Europe (BTS?), somewhat unlikely an airport in the Netherlands or France (EIN, BVA).

Once very strong candidate for the FR base, Riga seems to be out of question right now.Riga Airport President Krisjanis Peters hopes that the Irish low-cost airline will not file suit for the cancelled discounts that it benefited from in Riga.

Riga Airport is currently significantly changing its policy – as of November 2009, airBaltic and Ryanair will lose their 80% discount at the airport and thus also a key competitive advantage over other airlines.

As Peters points out in an interview to the business information Web site "Nozare.lv", the two main questions that will arise for the airlines will be about how to survive competition and retain profitability, writes LETA.

"Profitability does not always go hand in hand with the development budget, however, the previous tariffs allowed to expect certain profit. airBaltic and Ryanair understand very well that in order to escape reproaches about competition distortion, change has to take place. Reiterated criticism in the media does not benefit neither the airport nor the image of the airline. In this case we have reached a compromise solution," the head of the airport underlines.

However, he does not exclude either the possibility that Ryanair could protest against the airport's ruling to no longer offer discounts. No confirmation about such information has been received yet, and it is possible that the airline will not take any action in this matter before November when the new fees will come into force.
(from The Baltic Course (http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=14602))

[Seljuk22]

If you think about a base in Germany (and FR said that there will be a new base next year) then you have to take into account FMM.

BRI, BDS and SVQ are also favourites.

[FR195W]

If you think about a base in Germany (and FR said that there will be a new base next year) then you have to take into account FMM.
Don´t forget FKB...

Greets,
fr195w

[paully]

:D:D priceless:D:D

[Charlie Roy]

Scanning of boarding passes at security and gate
Sorry if this is ever so slightly off topic...
At the end of the month I will fly with Ryanair:
Charleroi - Dublin
Dublin - Cork
Web check-in, no hold luggage.

In Dublin when I arrive can I go straight to the gate for the Dublin to Cork flight. Or am I forced to exit Dublin arrivals and do the security queue for departures? Because they usually scan one's boarding pass at security. If I stay airside and go straight to board my flight to Cork, my boarding pass will never have been scanned before my arrival at the boarding gate...
See what I mean?

About bases....
Well Brindisi and Bari and hot contenders for the next bases.
Ryanair are also negotiating with the Sicilian airports of Catania and Comiso. The rumoured routes suggest a Sicilian base. A bold move to immediately launch a destination and a base at the same time, but considering there Italian ambitions, not at all surprising. In fact, any Italian base wouldn't surprise me. We've also been promised an announcement soon of a base in Germany, so all existing non-base German destinations are potential candidates. My money being on Memmingen or Karlsruhe.
Indeed, aspirations of a Malta base is public knowledge, and Ryanair want to get it up and running quicksmart if negotiations go in their favour. I'm not holding my breath though. Word of negotiations between Ryanair and Copenhagen have quietened down again. Maybe it'll become a destination before becoming a base anyway.

[Skipness One Echo]

The boarding pass scan is to check it is genuine and to prevent non fliers getting airside. So long as you are at the right part of the terminal airside, you can go straight to the next flight.

[racedo]

In Dublin when I arrive can I go straight to the gate for the Dublin to Cork flight. Or am I forced to exit Dublin arrivals and do the security queue for departures? Because they usually scan one's boarding pass at security. If I stay airside and go straight to board my flight to Cork, my boarding pass will never have been scanned before my arrival at the boarding gate...
See what I mean?

In Dublin arriving and departing passengers in the newer terminal are kept apart, I don't think this is the case with the portakabin.

[Charlie Roy]

Thanks for the info lads.

[F14]

There is a problem at FMM, it is day Ops only and Skippers landing. This is due to runway width of 30 meters (a throw back to its Military past). So I guess a base there would be difficult, especially in winter!

I hear KRH is doing major runway work and BVA is closed at the moment for runway work and Cat3 ILS installation. Maybe these where Ryanair demands in advance of becoming a base. I guess important with BVA, don't want based aircraft and crews diverting overnight! chaos

[Coquelet]

Charleroi-Dublin-Cork : I just don't see how you could go straight to the gate for the Cork flight, you have to change piers.
Besides, arriving from a Schengen- to a non-Schengen country, you have to go through a passport control. There is none at ORK when arriving from DUB.

[mickyman]

ASFKAP

Its Mr O'Leary to you - if you dont mind !

MM

[Cyrano]

Charleroi-Dublin-Cork : I just don't see how you could go straight to the gate for the Cork flight, you have to change piers.
Besides, arriving from a Schengen- to a non-Schengen country, you have to go through a passport control. There is none at ORK when arriving from DUB.

As has been pointed out, if you arrive in the "prefab" (D80+?) or indeed in the A pier, there is no separation of arriving and departing passengers so if your onward flight is going from the same area there's nothing to physically prevent you from going to your gate.

(and yes, this does mean that if there is no passport control at ORK when arriving from DUB, and if your CRL-DUB flight arrived in the A pier and your DUB-ORK flight left from the same pier, you would have successfully entered Ireland from the Schengen area without any passport check. I guess the only reason this isn't an even huger immigration loophole than it already is :rolleyes: is that you can't be sure in advance that the flights will use the same pier.)

[Charlie Roy]

Charleroi-Dublin-Cork : I just don't see how you could go straight to the gate for the Cork flight, you have to change piers.
Besides, arriving from a Schengen- to a non-Schengen country, you have to go through a passport control. There is none at ORK when arriving from DUB.
I was wondering about that too... But I was thinking that if I follow the signs for "Tranfers" I could pass between piers without passport control.
Or, I pass through passport control, then I'm in the baggage reclaim, and from there I go to the pier I need to be at for the Cork flight by following the sign for "Transfers"... Anyway, I'll see whether or not it's possible and let ye know.

As O'Leary once said, "we're a point to point airline, we don't do transfers, don't come whinging to us if you miss your connection....."
Ya, if my miss my flight to Cork then I'll loose my 7 euros and I'll just rent a car; which I normally do anyway if I'm flying on a Friday evening (instead of a Thursday evening) when the Charleroi flight arrives into Dublin too late for the last flight to Cork.

[racedo]

Charlie

Hertz don't do one way drop off fees in Ireland, not sure about any of the rest though.

[Skipness One Echo]

Why aren't arriving and departing passengers kept seperate. I assume this allows anyone to wander onwards into the UK?

[Cyrano]

Why aren't arriving and departing passengers kept seperate. I assume this allows anyone to wander onwards into the UK?

Maybe someone with a more intimate knowledge of DUB airport operations can answer this one better, but I think it's simply that the core of the A pier (as the name implies) is one of the older bits of terminal infrastructure in Dublin and never provided for segregation. And meanwhile the D prefab, though newer, is just a large shed - segregation costs space and therefore money. Even if arriving passengers were bussed directly to immigration in the name of segregation, the bus often deposits the passengers at an entrance near the newish immigration facility, in front of the old terminal at the base of the A pier...from which they can happily wander back down to the A gates with no obstacles.

I remember once chatting to a successful and iconoclastic airline founder/CEO who said "when I'm not sure how to do something, I look at how the industry does things and then I do the opposite." In the same way, I believe that DUB can serve a vital anti-role-model for the airport industry - any well-meaning airport CEO can look at how things are done in Dublin Airport and then do the opposite, with a high probability of success. :cool:

[Charlie Roy]

Charlie

Hertz don't do one way drop off fees in Ireland, not sure about any of the rest though.

Thanks.
The plan is to rent a car anyway. Cork (Thursday) to Shannon (Sunday). If I miss my flight to Cork, then I'll just rent Dublin (Thursday) to Shannon (Sunday). No fear of no more cars being available, not with the recession and all that. They nearly beg you to rent a car, and then you get all sorts of free upgrades when you mention "I'll just try out the competition before committing".
I've tried all the rental companies down through the years, and all the websites, and all the brokers. At the end of the day, they've all effed me over at one stage or another, and now I only use AVIS and am a very happy AVIS customer :ok:

Anyway, if CRL - DUB is not too much delayed I'll make the DUB - ORK flight. (Sorry for distracting this forum from the regular discussions)...
CRL - DUB: 1900 - 1935
DUB - ORK: 2050 - 2140

[Tom the Tenor]

It'd be great to have a drive off a big beast of a car all right for a laugh.

Does Avis, Hertz etc rent out cars like Porsche's etc?

[davidjohnson6]

As a polite request, could I suggest someone starts a 'Rental cars at airports' thread somewhere in the 'Passengers and SLF' section ?

I'm sure there's plenty that can be discussed and would be very interesting to a number of people who look at PPRuNe, but I think it would attract interested readers in a much better way than using the Ryanair thread for this purpose.

[Charlie Roy]

Finistère. La mésaventure des passagers du vol Marseille-Brest - Finistère - Le Télégramme (http://www.letelegramme.com/ig/generales/regions/finistere/finistere-la-mesaventure-des-passagers-du-vol-marseille-brest-10-06-2009-419550.php)

Yesterday's Marseille - Brest flight needed to be diverted to Nantes due to bad weather at Brest. Interesting figure was that this Wednesday flight had no less than 171 passengers, or a 90% LF.

[ConstantFlyer]

Charlie Roy

I've done this several times in recent months. If you arrive at the same bit of the terminal from which your next flight departs, then you can just go straight to the gate. Check the departure screens when you arrive. If your second flight leaves from another pier, follow the arrivals route, go through passport control and down into the baggage hall. Instead of exiting, continue straight on to the end of the baggage hall, go up the escalator at the end and follow signs for transfer passengers. Go round to the right, along a corridor, and you arrive at a door into the security search area. Show your boarding pass and you're through to the front of the queue for security.

[Sober Lark]

Congrats on the new arrival Leo. Not celebrating with DOM I hope?

[greatoaks]

I have had issues before with Ryanair but credit where credit is due.

I entered a typo when performing online checkin on the ryr website.

Thought this is going to be bl$$dy expensive and rang up cust service expecting the 100 euro sting.

Call answered by very polite and pleasant lady and all amended completely free of charge.

wow :D

[Stewart28]

Any new routes planned for LDY

[Sober Lark]

"“The government must follow the example of their Belgian, Dutch, Greek and Spanish counterparts by immediately scrapping their stupid and regressive tourist tax " (Ireland not mentioned)

Personally the national standardisation of the school term would appear to have a much greater impact on the cost and reluctance to travel rather than a 10 tax.

[Facelookbovvered]

Ryanair in talks to order 300 planes

Irish carrier in talks over 'deal of the year' as the low-cost airline aims to carry 100 million passengers by 2016

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Work/Pix/pictures/2009/6/14/1244989065662/Ryanair-aircraft-at-Stans-001.jpg Ryanair aircraft at Stansted. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA

Ryanair (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/ryanair) has opened talks with Boeing and Airbus about ordering up to 300 more aircraft in a deal that would make the low-budget carrier more than double the size of British Airways (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/britishairways).
Ryanair has fared better than most airlines in the recession and has managed to expand its business as passengers shun BA. The low-cost carrier aims to take 100 million customers by 2012 – three times the number flown by BA last year.
The Dublin-based airline is considering splitting its plane order into two phases, with the first order comprising 100 aircraft followed by up to 200 more later. If Ryan­air adds another 300 aircraft to its fleet by 2016, it would have just under 600 planes in total compared with BA's current fleet of 248. Southwest, the pioneering US low-cost airline, owns more than 500 planes.
Jim McNerney, Boeing's chief executive, described the potential order as "the deal of the year". Ryanair is one of Boeing's biggest customers and in 2007 it acquired 27 Boeing 737-800s at a combined list price of $1.9bn (£1.15bn), though the airline is thought to have secured a significant discount.
Speaking ahead of the Paris Air Show, which takes place this week, McNerney said discussions had already opened with Ryanair. "I know there are some discussions. It is a very important order and it is something we would have to pay very close attention to."
A Ryanair spokesman confirmed discussions had started on ordering aircraft that would be delivered from 2012 onwards. The airline operates about 190 Boeing aircraft, rising to 301 in 2012 when its latest order is completed.
"We are in negotiations. We are now looking at ordering 100 aircraft first because it might be more advantageous from a price point of view to stretch our requirements over two orders," he said.
Michael O'Leary (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/michael-oleary), Ryanair chief executive, has set an informal target of 150 million passengers by 2016, compared with the 67 million customers that the airline expects to carry this year. In the medium term, it aims to carry 100 million passengers by 2012 – treble the amount carried by BA last year.
However, analysts cautioned that some of the aircraft ordered from 2012 onwards could be replacement planes for older aircraft earmarked for disposal, which would leave Ryanair with a smaller fleet.
Ryanair's aggressive expansion plans have been questioned by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of its arch-rival, easyJet, who also believes that his own carrier is growing too quickly. But it could be a good time to buy.
Andrew Lobbenberg, analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "It is very smart timing because the manufacturers do not have scent of a large aircraft order or delivery at the moment. They are concentrating on stopping customers from cancelling or deferring. There is a trough in orders and mManufacturers are hungry for more customers."
Ryanair has proved doubters wrong so far, not least over the past 12 months when it has managed to expand traffic despite a Europe-wide recession. The airline recorded its first annual loss in two decades last year, but it was dragged into the red by an ill-fated investment in its Irish rival Aer Lingus and made a profit at the operational level. Ryanair's last pre-tax annual loss was in 1989, when it was a full-service carrier that flew 644,000 passengers per year, which is now lower than the average amount of customers it carries per week.
"They have always been ambitious and their reach has not exceeded their grasp so far," said Douglas McNeill, analyst at Blue Oar Securities. "They are making money even now when most airlines are not. They have got a formula that seems to work. It is possible to envisage a future where there are fewer airlines so Ryanair would be gaining market share from other carriers as well as expanding the existing market

[Skipness One Echo]

Classic smokescreen, It's true I am sure that they may have opened talks to see what the price and options out there are, but that's a million miles from buying 300 aircraft. Good press release though and people are talking about potentially doubling in size and all sorts of Armchair CEO routings instead of looking at what's going on in front of their noses in the industry......

THINK people. File this one under "Ryanair to offer Transatlantic Service" except it wasn't and didn't..

[racedo]

I think the buying 300 is probably correct but remember its from 2013 onwards so delivery up to probably 2019.

Given the average age of the current fleet, its probable that this would be replacing some of the jets just delivered as fleet turnover seems to be circa 5-6 years.

[pee]

@Facelookbovvered
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Could you please be more careful while importing texts (why not edit them a bit and remove the rubbish?)

Anyway, Airbus denies any negotiations
European aircraft maker Airbus, Monday said it isn't in negotiations with Ireland's Ryanair Holdings PLC over the delivery of new aircraft.

"We're not negotiating," Airbus Sales Chief John Leahy told Dow Jones Newswires, denying a report in The Guardian newspaper's online edition.

[Rhodes13]

ASFKAP which worthy cause would that be? :confused: I know its definitely not being used to help the Irish deal with green issues and taxing the tourist isnt likely to bring more people to your country which is what the country needs right now.

Which would bring more a 1 euro tax on a millions tourists or 10 euro tax on ever decreasing numbers which we are already seeing?

[45989]

What a good spoof!
The Pikey is shortly about to do the same as his mentor
GPA 2 ... the sequel
Remember them?
Called GECAS now having picked up the wreckage
Amazing the parallels in the business model .....eh Racedo?

[racedo]

Called GECAS now having picked up the wreckage
Amazing the parallels in the business model .....eh Racedo?

Another bit being shoved around by the EI Unions in the hope FR will collapse so they can say told you so.

GPA wasn't a listed company, its listing got pulled.

There are no similarities between GPA and FR as completely different businesses but keep clutching at the straws.

[Skipness One Echo]

There are no similarities between GPA and FR

All powerful in their field run by egomainiacs who over reached themselves by thinking they were invincible? Naaah, no similarity there at ll.....

[Facelookbovvered]

Reminded me what was the story about GPA2 ? in brief please

[45989]

Simple. The original ryan enterprise over extended itself
in much the same way as the current fool

[racedo]

All powerful in their field run by egomainiacs who over reached themselves by thinking they were invincible? Naaah, no similarity there at ll.....

Very very different in that Tony Ryan and Michael O'Leary are chalk and cheese. One was a definite Patrician with Country squire aspirations and the other as far removed from it as you can get.

GPA tried to float in middle of downturn and ignored the advice it was given.

David Bonderman acquired major part of it and of course he has gone on to other things.

[Skipness One Echo]

ignored the advice it was given.

With Ryanair the advice is "If you push things too far you will kill the goose that laid the golden eggs" The similarity is there, incidentally MOL aka Ducksy is an Irish blue blood at utter odds with this man of the people public persona.

[Facelookbovvered]

I see Airbus are having none of it per press comment at the Paris Airshow

Probably a good stand to take given that until both boeing and Airbus move to NG2 the cost of unseating boeing in a dual fleet would not appeal to MOL

I would guess that if Boeing have a clear run, then their price will be much firmer than last time around, its not really in anyone interest (other than Ryanair) to have Europe dominated by one large airline that treats its customers like cattle and its staff like the stuff that comes out of a cows arse:cool:

[racedo]

I see Airbus are having none of it per press comment at the Paris Airshow


What it says in public and in private are too very different matters.

Its shareholders will have significantly other views knowing full well that an order of this size will come along once every 10 years if that.

Lets see assumming a €25-30 Million price tag would be €7.5 Billion kept in Europe V US.

BBC NEWS | Business | Europe considers Airbus soft loan (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8102550.stm)

In not bidding Airbus rules itself out of delivering anything to FR until about 2020 at the earliest.....can't see that happening as nobody at FR / Airbus and Boeing is likely to be in the same job by then.

[INKJET]

I think you have a point, but i would be very surprised if Ryanair went down the Airbus path, if you are rated on the bus then a move to rest of the Airbus range is little more than a differences course and the staff turnover would rise with the attendent training costs and reduction in skill levels

[racedo]

Inklet I Agree but as delivery is from 2013 onwards and they would still be flying Boeings until 2018/9 then I would reckon that would work its way through the system pretty quickly.

I also think that Airbus would provide a lot of support to ensure training was available but even if not are there many pilots now with FR who would seriously be there in 6 years time when the bulk will have arrived. Listening to some people the answer is clearly NO.

Never rule anything out as some of the Govts involved in Airbus may want to make big concessions in other ways to FR to gain that level of business.

Interesting whether is a 800 or 900 series they would look at if they went Boeing given 215 seats on a 900 series.

[AndyH52]

Can you not check-in online up to 14 days prior to the date of your flight? Surely most people won't leave check in till the last minute? I know I always try and do it in plenty of time just in case there is a glitch in the system or my own PC? I'm sure there will be some who don't know and will get hit with a fee to check-in at the airport. It is to be hoped however that as well as the notice on the website the airline has sent an e-mail notification to anyone intending to travel on the 24th advising them of the system down time.

[Charlie Roy]

Ryanair say on their website that people flying around the time that the website is down, can check-in at the airport check-in desks at no extra cost.

[Skipness One Echo]

I can't believe they are actually closing the whole site for an upgrade. This is crap project management and penny pinching on fundamental infrastructure. Even US Airways had the beta site up and running before the changeover.

[eu01]

I can't believe they are actually closing the whole site for an upgrade.
The upgrade... one more reason to be worried? Navitaire's "New Skies" system appears to be more vulnerable than the former "Old" Skies ;), so what's coming next?
This is crap project management and penny pinching on fundamental infrastructure. Even US Airways had the beta site up and running before the changeover. Right, such a solution would have been much better also for Ryanair.

In my opinion, FR could even attempt to run two systems side by side for a longer time. Or maybe two different interfaces providing the alternative approach to searching and booking.
Much criticized "zero" price + supplementary fees way of selling flights could be complemented by the coexistent "flyryanair.com" (or alike) site showing the total price (all inclusive) first. Needless to say, with the possibility of getting "discounts" during the booking process. No luggage? It's 10 €/£ less. No priority boarding? Look, the price drops again! No credit card, Visa Electron instead? Even less. I wonder how many customers having this option would prefer to do business that way.

The alternative site could also try out the hidden potential of selling some connecting flights. And more!
Unfortunately, I doubt it would even be considered. The ingeniousness doesn't seem to be a strong side of FR sells.

[Charlie Roy]

Source: RTÉ Business: Ryanair cuts Dublin, Shannon services (http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0617/ryanair.html)

Talking about the winter schedules:
Ryanair is reducing the amount of planes it flies from Dublin by one to 16, while the Shannon fleet will be cut from four to three. This will result in Dublin losing 44 flights a week while Shannon will lose 36.

I wonder does this impact the schedules loaded to the booking system, or was the talked about reduction already accounted for in loaded schedules... ?

[PleasureFlyer]

Looks like (f) the £10 tax

[BFS101]

After all the provoking FR sloagans -
Arrividerci Alitalia,
Auf Wiedersehen Lufthansa, and
Arrividerci Alitalia,
maybe slán Ryanair may be more appropriate in the Republic of Ireland at the minute!!

[apaul]

More grief for O'Leary from the German courts. The 4 euro per person per flight credit card fee has been declared illegal. Gericht verbietet Ryanair-Gebühren für Kreditkartennutzung (http://www.shortnews.de/start.cfm?id=770485)

[Centre cities]

And about time to, not just Ryanair but the other airlines as well. In my view an unjustified charge.

And yes I know about the electron card.

Centre cities

[Seljuk22]

UK & Ireland cuts

UPDATE 1-Ryanair sees Irish, UK cuts, growing elsewhere | Industries | Industrials, Materials & Utilities | Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLH86524420090617)

[OltonPete]

Shannon - BHX reduced to four weekly from winter per the
booking engine.

MO/We/Fr/Sun and still a Shannon based aircraft

Pete

[Facelookbovvered]

Conversation between John Lehay & MOL at the Paris Airshow this week.


Mick how’d you doing?

John, not happy wi you boys at Airbus, and its Michael to you

What the problem Mick?

Well the whole world knows am bout to order 300 -900 aircraft and you haven’t replied to my RFP (request for proposals)

Well Mick, there the thing or the ting, I did get it but you didn’t include a cheque for $5million.

What the f**k you mean a cheque for $5 f*****g million,!!?

Well Mick, sorry Michael, you know there a lot of admin in one these RFP ting’s, so we need to cover our Admin cost in order to sell our aircraft cheaper

About we sit down now and do you now a fag packet price job, gimi something to go back at Boeing wiv

Sure, where do wanna start Mick

Well how much gonna charge mi for one of those 320 jobs, a basic one nothing flash, say if I take a 100 now?

Well I think we could do a deal for around $1million bucks a copy

John, that’s a f*****g fantastic deal, were do I sign?

Mick just sign here, is cash or visa electron?

John, you taking the piss or what, you just told me you could do a 320 for $1 million each, so that should be $100 not $10billion………

Mick you need to read the small print and deselect the options

So you want to charge a $1million bucks+ the extra’s??
What’s the extra’s that add up to 100 time the $1 million

Well Mick, you gonna need some engine’s and $4 millions not a bad price is it?

That seems a fair price, but you want to charge me $8 million

Well Mick I thought you might want two

And whats this $9million for?

Seat’s Mick, you know to sit on

What about this $7millon on here for dials?

That ur flight instruments Mick

How’d you get to $6million for paper work

Well Mick you know how expensive paper is and ink and staple’s so we charge $40 a sheet to print it out

Ok Ok I get your drift, but I am paying you cash and you want to charge me an extra $1 million per aircraft, for cash for f**ks sake

Well Mick it cost us a lot more to handle cash, some one has to count it (twice if its coming from a robin **** like you) then someone has to take it to the bank and all the security cost money u know

Ok John I’ve heard enough of this crap from your crappy little manfacturin plant, you can stuff it, I’d much rather deal with some who gives me a price and stick’s to it, not all these bloody extra’s

Mick I know were your coming from, f**k off to boeing

[Jippie]

Funny but true:ok:

[toledoashley]

There is mention in the latest press release of diverting aircraft away from the UK and Ireland, to low cost opertating countries including GREECE!

[RAT 5]

Even KLM is charging 7.50 euros for credit card charges, so let's wait and see about what happens there as well. Scandalous, but the culture has been created by RYR. However, beware. It has been calculated that RYR made
650m euros in charges in 2008. Much of this was CC charges. If they must reduce these then they will increase other charges to compensate. There is no way RYR can reduce it charges as they make up a large part of their profit.
They must maintain the claim they have the lowest fares, which is not the same as the cheapest flight cost.

[MUFC_fan]

Ryanair - News : Ryanair.com 10 hour closure for upgrade (http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=09&month=jun&story=gen-en-150609)


“Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares will see 67 million passengers travel on one of our 800 routes this year."

I would guess, out of all Ryanair's routes, it would have to be DUB-STN:};)

Anyway, just booked Liverpool to Dublin for September - 2 people £30!:} EI at MAN was £100 as was FR - not bad, thanks FR-LPL!:ok:

[davidjohnson6]

3 possible questions arise over the court's decision in Berlin:

1) Does Ryanair have the right to appeal the decision to a higher court, and would this be feasible ?

2) What is the scope of the decision of the court ? Does it cover consumers with a credit card registered to a German address ? Consumers resident in Germany ? Flights from Germany ? Flights to and from Germany ? If a German resident with a German credit card booked a flight from Italy to Spain, does the court's decision apply ?

3) Is Ryanair able to come up with another fee for German consumers that makes it sufficiently awkward that people end up paying the higher fee anyway ?

Perhaps an option to pay cash at airport offices from 6 am to 6:30 am every 2nd Tuesday in the month, staffed by just one person completing transactions very slowly ? :E

Hahn for example has the advantage of being sufficiently far from where most residents of Rheinland-Pfalz live, that having an office open weekdays from 10 am to 5 pm when a lot of potential customers are otherwise occupied in a quiet and unvisited (but technically public) area of the airport is sufficiently costly in time and money to reach that many people would just moan and then buy online at higher cost anyway.

Would such a scheme be deemed contempt of court, or would it just be a case of raking in the money for 2 years while German consumer groups go through the lower courts all over again ?

[Charlie Roy]

Talking about the reduction of aircraft in Dublin and Shannon:
Ryanair will switch these aircraft and continue to grow in lower cost/no tourist tax countries such as Belgium, Holland, Greece and Spain where governments have recently scrapped tourist taxes and airport charges to promote tourism.

[captplaystation]

facelookbovvered,
priceless :D thanks for that, :ok: and Oh so true :rolleyes:

[dcantwell]

I just babelfished the article
Citizen of Berlin the Court of Appeal forbade Ryanair to the cheap airline to require for the payment with the credit card with on-line reservations of tickets a fee. Per simple flight Ryanair had computed four euros, so that during and return flight altogether eight euros had be shelled out. The complaint was initiated of consumer center the Federal association, which is the confusing prices of favorable flight offerers a thorn in the eye.

I especially like "a thorn in the eye".

[chuks]

That's the German version of "a thorn in your side," nothing special about that.

From what I read in the local paper the court said, basically, that Ryanair was charging for something they were not providing an extra service for. In other words, if I sell you something in a shop for 100 €, I cannot say it's 110 if you pay by card, it's against German commercial law.

Ryanair have appealed the ruling so that it shall be "business as usual" for the noo.

Here in Bremen they built a new terminal that is exactly like a pre-fab hangar with the bare necessities for pax instead of planes. Concrete floor, steel pre-fab structure, all very, very basic and the way they handle their pax is kind of short on the old charm but, yeah, it's cheap.

On the other hand I think that, when I checked, the flight I wanted had already been chopped from the schedule. Low yields, I assume.

It will be interesting to see how long, if at all, it takes for MOL to wear out his welcome here.

[Noxegon]

Indeed. I've used Ryanair a lot over the last few years, but the way they've gone lately has made them very much a last resort for me. I prefer to pay a bit more and be treated like a human being.

[captplaystation]

Why do you want to book 10 mths in advance anyhow ?:confused: as long as you leave 1 or 2 months ahead to book it will normally :hmm: be fairly cheap anyhow ?

I just did BCN-LIS return with TAP, booked less than 2wks before,143e return for TWO ! ! :ok:
no incessant PA's urging me to buy booze (with the 2nd one free ! ! ) in a poly bag . . . YUK :yuk: or a bus ticket from STN to London ( WTF ? )
a nice sarnie and a glass of quite acceptable Portugese plonk served by someone with "weight in proportion to height" and a little bit of manners included, the little things make me happy sometimes ;) coz I remember how it used to be.
Having said that , I am grateful that the Pirates like RYR have forced the TAP's etc to make it affordable, so lets also maintain a sense of reality here.

Really, as a pax, I am wholeheartedly in agreement with you . . . . avoid if you can find an alternative :rolleyes: will they learn ? :hmm: will the leopard change his spots ? :hmm:
Time will tell. . . . isn't life interesting ?
Fly well.

[Skipness One Echo]

Why do you want to book 10 mths in advance anyhow ? as long as you leave 1 or 2 months ahead to book it will normally be fairly cheap anyhow ?

Possibly because they might not move the Heineken Cup for the poor guy if he can't get affordable flights nearer the time?

Incidentally, punctuating with so many smileys is simply retarded. Please desist as any serious point you make is lost when the background appears to be done in crayon by an infant.

[flying_shortly]

While watching the Lions last weekend over a few beers we were discussing the trip, one or two people mentioned the fact that Aer Lingus and BA might not be around next May so we should consider carefully which airline we choose, we have a number of other options, Air France direct, LH via FRA, BMI to LHR and the tunnel, and several other possibilities.

With such bull:mad: talk over beer with the lads you have to be a D4 rugger bugger! I've lost respect for any further opinions you post...

[vkid]

With such bull talk over beer with the lads you have to be a D4 rugger bugger! I've lost respect for any further opinions you post...

That made me ROFL!!!

[captplaystation]

I think in this instance it was my excesses he objected to :}
As you say, astonishing what some people can be bothered to comment on :rolleyes:
Oh, well, it takes all types to populate the planet I guess, :O
Vive le difference, or some other froggy saying :D

[smith]

I would imagine that the cc charge itself is not illegal


I think you'll find it is actually an "administration fee" and not a "credit card fee" as it applies to debit cards as well.

Try booking tickets to with Ticketmaster for a Take That concert and see how much their "admin fee" is, and they won't give you it free if you use an electron card.

[Charlie Roy]

Based on these figures it makes perfect business sense to reduce the size of the fleet at Dublin but blaming it on the new tax or anything else is simply disingenuous

I dunno....
Ireland --- Europe traffic is UP [Yippee for Ryanair]
Ireland --- Transatlantic is DOWN [Ryanair don't care]
Ireland --- UK is DOWN [Ryanair presevere while Aer Lingus, BMI, Aer Arann suffer]

[RAT 5]

What really hacks me off is that RYR's booking engine does not recognise my Visa debit card and so I have to declare it as a Visa credit card and apy an extra cost. Easyjet recognises my Visa debit card. I have no reply to my queries from RYR about this. Does anyone have any similar experiences and offer any solutions?

[Bengt]

There is no difference in service amount charged between Visa credit and Visa debit cards. The only card type currently without service charge is Visa Electron.

[Charlie Roy]

Indeed, you'd think a benefit of the Ryanair MBNA Credit card would be an exemption from the CC charge. Pity they didn't make it so.

[RAT 5]

Bengt: The last time I tried to book a RYR flight the difference between Visa DEBIT & Visa CREDIT card was about 4 euros: credit card being more expensive. RYR did not recognise my card number as a DEBIT card. Everyone else does. That is my gripe. The money goes from my a/c directly with little or no charge from my bank. RYR are conning me. Full Stop.
Now; does anyone else have the same problem and any solutions? I know about the electron card route and its difficulty. I want a REAL solution. Interestingly, on HardTalk, on BBC, the interview with MOL discussed credit card charges. MOL deflected the argument by bringing up the possibility of free use with Electron. Sadly the BBC had not done their research and did not counter with the argment about how difficult it is for UK & non-UK pax to obtain such a card. Thus a stealth tax of which G.B. would be proud. It will drip feed into all airlines and be a cancer on the internet booking culture, just as baggage charges and reservation charges have done.
Imagine if MOL's philosophy was copied by cinemas, theatres, restaurants etc. Life would be intolerable, and I'm sure there would be a massive public revolt and governments would become involved.
What is so sacred about airlines that they can operate in such a fashion?

[conti onepass]

guys in flew back from ibiza this am ryanair landed as we waited to take off, funny colourscheme stripes on tail with ryanair over it???? any ideas

[MUFC_fan]

Dreamliner?

[alm1]

Why it is difficult to get Visa Electron? Don't you have any banks that care out there? In Lithuania you just ask for one using internet banking or in person at any branch office and then go to collect it a few days later. It costs about 5 pounds per year. Every bank has them. The only minor problem that only one of major banks gives permission to use them on internet but those who care know which bank to chose.

[davidjohnson6]

Did it have a dark blue, mid blue and white wavy stripes, and look a bit like Boeing's livery, except with Ryanair written on the tail in dark blue lettering ?

[conti onepass]

yes that must av been it mate, looked a bit strange

[BALLSOUT]

Special Boeing colour scheme to celebrate the 800th model 737-800

[davidjohnson6]

Anyone have any thoughts as to whether Ryanair will announce Bratislava as a new base in the next 6 months ? Perhaps wait for NE to cease operations, and then do a "Ryanair to rescue the people of Bratislava" publicity stunt ? Should be be a way to use a couple of otherwise dormant airframes over the winter.

Alternatively, will BTS management realise that they need to have a 2nd airline with a substantial amount of flying at BTS to avoid being continually threatened with withdrawal of routes whenever airport fees are being discussed ?

[EI-BUD]

That will be EI-DCL if you google that reg you should get a pic of it!

EI-BUD

[Bengt]

Rat5 wrote
Bengt: The last time I tried to book a RYR flight the difference between Visa DEBIT & Visa CREDIT card was about 4 euros: credit card being more expensive. RYR did not recognise my card number as a DEBIT card. Everyone else does. That is my gripe. The money goes from my a/c directly with little or no charge from my bank. RYR are conning me. Full Stop.

That was changed about a year ago. That was when I got my Electron. I am not trying to defend Ryanair here, just stating the facts...
By the way as I has understood it you can get a Visa Electron at Halifax and at Coop (?) in the UK. But I believe it is almost impossible on Ireland..

[pee]

unless you really need to fly to some former Eastern Bloc airbase 50km outside some un-pronouncable town on a tuesday morning......
I really do not like the tone of your post. Ryanair might be a thorn in your side or whatever, but people seem to fly just to (and from!) these small airports, so they do need them. They use them IN SPITE of Ryanair's harsh style, what's wrong in that? You think that everything important should concentrate in big centres only? Why many local communities in Europe couldn't benefit from the global tourism giving much needed sources if income?

Un-pronouncable towns... well, you mean Slavic ones? I guess Finnish words and names are equally difficult, so what? People still fly here. And to CE Europe as well.

Military airports of former Eastern Bloc? Both Hahn and Weeze are also former military airports, of Western Bloc, would you prefer them to become abandoned just due to their past?

Your personal hatred towards FR or lccs in general seems to influence your opinions in much broader context, I suppose.

[VanBosh]

So Ryanair have now announced that growth will be frozen at their 9 UK bases as a result of the APD. This in addition to reducing planes at DUB & SNN.

All they seem to do these days is announce non expansion or cuts, so where are they actually going to place these planes to achieve the passenger growth they anticipate. With so many new planes coming in over the winter and so many existing planes being pulled, should they not be announcing some new bases or base expansions soon?

I believe they mentioned they would announce some new bases in July but surely they must have about 20 planes to allocate at this stage?

[potkettleblack]

Yep just the usual subterfuge that MOL comes out with. As we all know it takes the heat off the main issues and by and large the media and analysts seem to fall for it time and again. Like for example how is he going to get cheap aircraft with Airbus not willing to enter into a bidding war.

[dublindispatch]

Cheapest airfares yes, most expensive way to travel defo.

[Powerjet1]

Ryanair bag handling 'coach-style' by 2010 - Travel Trade Gazette (http://www.ttglive.com/c/portal/layout?p_l_id=61139&CMPI_SHARED_articleId=2617995&CMPI_SHARED_ImageArticleId=2617995&CMPI_SHARED_articleIdRelated=2617995&CMPI_SHARED_ToolsArticleId=2617995&CMPI_SHARED_CommentArticleId=2617995&articleTitle=Ryanair%20bag%20handling%20'coach-style'%20by%202010)

[Based]

Pee, I think you've summed up ASFKAP's rants pretty well.

the reality of the situation is that the general public aren't really complaining about it....

I'm a member of the general public and I don't like it.

[Based]

When was the march, I must have missed that one....?http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/confused.gif

Your logic that there has to be a public outcry to any government measure to prove it is not good for the country is severely flawed. Your mention of the public sector levy being a prime example.

ASFKAP, do you believe that the tax is having no effect on the airline and tourism industry in Ireland?

[eu01]

To my mind, there is nothing wrong in Ryanair's basic model. To provide cheaper services for a broad public. Giving pax the opportunity to save on flying, to fly more often, to spend more money at the destination, less for air travel.

There's also nothing wrong in using these minor airports, as long as on another side of the route exists a bigger one (a base presumably). It's cheaper to use them, many smaller airports are very pleasant indeed. The vicinity is sometimes very beautiful, tourists are always able to find more or less fascinating attractions nearby. Local people are keen to have better links to other places in Europe too.

The carrier has been able to exploit this very well and has grown rapidly. What has been disregarded by FR - it's the need to adjust the model to the changing environment (the level of competition, saturation of the market, more demanding and less price-sensitive passengers reacting on other type of inducement than cheap propaganda MOL's style, and so on). Some kind of face-lifting operation still can be done, to get more clients (and to keep the old ones). In fact a kind of re-branding has to be implemented pretty soon, if Ryanair want to sustain the growth.

Nowadays, the lack of customer care is much more disturbing and jeopardizing the entire model than any government tax (unnecessary, true, but used as an excuse for everything). It's not so expensive to change that. Why not surprise us in a positive way?

[racedo]

I'm saying the only one whining on about it is Ducksy & Co,

Completely false as Colm Barrington has been going on about it as well including writing to Irish Govt.

[davidjohnson6]

Seen on Bloomberg, rather than Ryanair website, so cannot vouch for its veracity

Ryanair Will Abolish Checked Luggage to Reduce Costs (Update1) - Bloomberg.com (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=RYA%3ALN&sid=ad_1t6Mslq4M)

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Further to davidjohnson6's posting, there is a real danger that Ryanair is creating a significant pool of would-be customers who are rendered UNABLE to use the company's flights in the future. We all know of people who are not internet connected, and some (often older people) who do not have the facility to check-in online. There are many people who MUST take significant luggage away with them on their travels, eg. accessories for babies, kit for long stays in holiday homes abroad, sports equipment etc. If Ryanair's actions actually exclude these travelers from their pool of potential customers, then life for Ryanair could become increasingly difficult. There is already a hardcore of customers who avoid Ryanair due to customer service issues; if they now exclude a wedge of willing customers who would otherwise be minded to avail themselves of Ryanair flights, their wares will end up in pursuit of an ever-shrinking customer-base.

Opinions, flames and comments welcome!

SHED.

[Charlie Roy]

Ryanair set to announce:
Porto - Saint-Etienne (twice weekly)
Does this mean a Porto base? Or maybe a W, but there is no mention of other Saint-Etienne routes, and most Porto routes are long enough sectors not condusive to W's, with exception of Madrid and Girona. A Saint-Etienne base seems improbable given they have no current routes there, and the fact that it's France and the legal wranglings Ryanair are currently in about Marseille base employees having Irish contracts...
Source: Has disappeared from the internet. But if you search "Ryanair" here then the introduction of the article is visible:
Rechercher dans les archives du journal (http://www.leprogres.fr/fr/search/GPRS_Search.aspx)

More talk of a base at Barcelona El Prat, and even how Ryanair would consider the route BCN - MAD (that could keep a couple of aircraft busy every day if they were gonna go at it with high frequncies).
Source: Ryanair busca extender su dominio en El Prat en Cincodias.com (http://www.cincodias.com/articulo/empresas/Ryanair-busca-extender-dominio-Prat/20090623cdscdiemp_27/cdsemp/)

[conti onepass]

just booked a return fare to gerona from amnchester next month for 20 quid, no online fee or nowt, bargain, also noticed more frequency on the route from october, also breman and milan goes daily

[racedo]

There are many people who MUST take significant luggage away with them on their travels, eg. accessories for babies, kit for long stays in holiday homes abroad, sports equipment etc.

Can take that with you already and drop off at the bag drop as I did with car seats for littlies 2 weeks ago.

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Hi Racedo,

May I draw your attention to the posting by davidjohnson6 at 18:23. My posting refers to forthcoming changes to be introduced by Ryanair, not the procedures which apply at the present time.

Regards, SHED.

[Noxegon]

the spokesman said that the charges could be avoided by using the Visa Electron card, the presenter pointed out that they were impossible to get in Ireland,
"nonsense" replied the spokesman, "we all have them in our office and we use them all the time..."
"But where did you get yours?" the interviewer asked
"Well I don't have one myself" he replied " but some of the people in the office do"
"well where did they get theirs?" he was asked
"Er....I don't know, you should ask the banks...."

Which station was this on?

[take-off]

Just out of interest, when they say that luggage will only be put in the hold when the cabin lockers are full, does this mean ,those unlucky enough to get on the plane first will get charged or will it be free, and will this have a knock on effect on turnaround times?:ugh::ugh:

[racedo]

More talk of a base at Barcelona El Prat, and even how Ryanair would consider the route BCN - MAD (that could keep a couple of aircraft busy every day if they were gonna go at it with high frequncies).

I though that market had pretty much collapsed since introduction of High Speed train service.

What is interesting at the moment is that if you look to book from LGW there is a BAR in the drop down box which opens a window and defaults to Gerona BUT maybe planning something here.

[racedo]

Just out of interest, when they say that luggage will only be put in the hold when the cabin lockers are full, does this mean ,those unlucky enough to get on the plane first will get charged or will it be free, and will this have a knock on effect on turnaround times?

On SLF someone who has come across this indicated it was free, which it should be given you have already complied with T and C's. Additionally too much hassle for CC to try taking money at this stage.

[Sober Lark]

"when they say that luggage will only be put in the hold when the cabin lockers are full, does this mean ,those unlucky enough to get on the plane first will get charged or will it be free,"

I assume if the rule of strictly of one piece of hand baggage is enforced then there will room in the over head bins even on a full aircraft where all pax carry on one item?

Flew FR MRS-DUB on Monday 22nd. Priority boarding with family. Polite crew, smiling, as good as you get with others who charge three times the price. Couldn't fault it and a great price.

[freightdoggy dog]

Have to agree with the smiling Sober Lark, especially as a certain EMA based CC has made the pages of FRONT magazine this month :ok:

[LLuke]

Would it be cheaper for passengers if they'd fly themselves :}

[Based]

I'm saying the only one whining on about it is Ducksy & Co,

Of the top of my head, Aer Lingus and IBEC are also 'whining', what's your opinion on these?

why doesn't he absorb the €10 tax by waiving his online check in fee, or his "optional" CC fee or his "optional" handling fee, or his "optional" baggage fee etc etc.......

Because they're all Ryanair revenue streams, why should any company have to absorb a tax that has no basis in the first place?

people that have to travel will pay the tax people that want to travel will pay the tax

Put the tax to €400 and people will still travel. Doesn't mean you should do it and more importantly it doesn't mean it's going to be good for the economy.

[shamrock7seal]

BOH post seems to indicate 2nd a/c for BOH for summer 2010...

can anyone confirm on here?

[racedo]

Discuss......

Not even worth the bother

[racedo]

Good call......http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/smile.gif

We might even get a meaningful discussion now.......:rolleyes:

Thanks for that......

You are not looking for a meaningfull discussion you are seeking something to reinforce your views.

[davidjohnson6]

While going against the herd may result in higher risks, it can also (sometimes) produce spectacular returns. The accepted wisdom as applicable to a crowd is not always correct when applied to an individual.

"The recession is bad for companies"
"The recession is great if you are an accountantcy firm specialising in insolvency"

In the case of Ryanair, outside spectators may have the benefit of an independent viewpoint, they are also at a disadvantage in that they do not have the same amount of information as those actually running the company.

[beamwidth]

The RYR business model is freely available

Thats probably the only true free thing that Ryanair have to offer!

[Seljuk22]

This year FR will order (incl. optins) up to 300 a/c, said MOL a German newspaper. By 2017 FR will transport 150m passengers.

Trotz Krise: Ryanair-Chef will bis zu 300 Flugzeuge bestellen - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten - Wirtschaft (http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,632962,00.html)

[Based]

ASFKAP, by your logic Ryanair would never have existed in their current capacity. Qantas are still expanding by the way. Discuss.

[MUFC_fan]

Newsonaviation(dot)B.L.O.G.S.P.O.T(dot)com - They won't allow blogs as links!:mad:


It was recently revealed that Ryanair are planning to charge passengers to use the plane toilets in the future.
Planes would also have one loo, instead of the current three, with six extra passenger seats*.

*It is currently not possible for the airline to add more seats to the aircraft as mentioned above. The authorities have given the aircraft a maximum seating of 189 which is the current number on any Ryanair aircraft.


What they'll print - looks like the poster has made a comment at the bottom to put it straight!:}

[ryand36]

I notice on the Ryanair website thy are not longer reselling flights from STN-NQY for the winter? is this a seasonal reduction or permanent? Also does anyone know the extent of the winter reduction/route cuts temporary or permanent form London Stansted for Ryanair.

[toledoashley]

Looking through the Ryanair website there are no flights to:

Memmingen
Zweibrucken
Pula
Zadar
Tours
Angueleme
Toulon
Montpellier

[anna_list]

Hi,

I think it might be a little bit early to say for sure which routes will be dropped over the winter. Many airlines are still trying to work out how much they need to cut in order to survive another difficult winter. We should have a clearer picture by September.

Last winter Pula, Zadar, Almeria, Angouleme, Rodez, Toulon and Newquay all went into hibernation.

It looks as though discussions are still on going over Zweibrucken (article in German): Ryanair denkt über Rückzug aus Zweibrücken nach - DMM Der Mobilitätsmanager: Mehr Effizienz bei Geschäftsreise, Firmenwagen, Veranstaltung (http://dmm.travel/news/artikel/lesen/2009/06/ryanair-denkt-ueber-rueckzug-aus-zweibruecken-nach-23054/)

STN-PMO is currently not bookable for the winter either.

It has been known for routes to disappear from the booking engine and then appear again. Cynics might suggest that it could be a Ryanair tactic to get a little bit of extra "help" from regional airports.

[BHX5DME]

I flew back from Memmingen to Stansted last Saturday there were 45 pax on the flight.

Myself and my six friends only paid £2 return each !

BHX5DME

[AMS flyer]

When rumours are correct.....

Tomorrow Ryanair's 33rd base will be announced!

Does anyone know where....?? :ok:

[toledoashley]

I would put bets on somewhere in Italy (maybe Catania or Bari)

[anna_list]

I believe there is to be a press conference in Porto.

Of course, this might only be one of the new routes from the new base, rather than the base itself.

[Charlie Roy]

Porto is a strong contender given that Ryanair were recently negotiating with Saint Etienne to open a route:
Porto - Saint Etienne

[Powerjet1]

Per The ADB....

New:Porto, Francisco Sa Carneiro (OPO) to Mulhouse/Basel, Euro Swiss CH (BSL)
New:Porto, Francisco Sa Carneiro (OPO) to St Etienne, Boutheon (EBU)
New:Porto, Francisco Sa Carneiro (OPO) to Eindhoven (EIN)
New:Porto, Francisco Sa Carneiro (OPO) to Tours, St Symphorien (TUF)

[frelli]

theAirDB.

Link to the news:

Ryanair opens new base in Porto (OPO), opens 4 new destinations (Basel (BSL), St Etienne(EBU), Eindhoven (EIN) and Tours(TUF) on top of the 12 existing ones (http://www.theairdb.com/news/20090702120-ryanair.html)

[racedo]

I believe there is to be a press conference in Porto.

Of course, this might only be one of the new routes from the new base, rather than the base itself.

Anna

You are generally spot on when you post.

[boyzinblue]

Porto is confirmed with 2 aircraft.

[Jippie]

@ASFKAP
The market is there else Ryanair wouldn't exist.
I for one are happy that there now is a direct link from my regional airport EIN to OPO. There are also people living near regional airports!
Actually in this case quite a lot of people live closer to EIN then another airport with direct service to OPO. And they will also be happy that they have a cheaper option then TAP.

[Based]

Jippie, don't waste your time. It's actually quite disturbing to see a comment bordering on racial discrimination appearing on these boards.

[Charlie Roy]

They must be dancing in the "street" tonight......

You obviously know nothing about the Portugese diaspora :hmm:

[rafinha130]

ASFKAP,

You bet we are very happy in Oporto, indeed almost dancing in the streets.:) We have been expecting today's announcement. It´s very important for a small country like Portugal. It's the very first time that a foreign aviation company settled operations here.

I'm certain the base will perform quite well.

By the way, did you know that over 1 million portuguese people live in France? Most of them of northern Portugal? And yes, thousands in the Lyon/St. Etienne/Clermont-Ferrand area.

Guess what, half a million in Switzerland too.

Oh, almost forgot, in Holland (where i lived for over a year) we are a considerable community without cheap connections to Porto, only expensive TAP.

Eindhoven is just 100 km away from Nordrhein-Westfalen "heart" the "Land" with the major portuguese community in Germany, again, thousands.

Did i gave you another perpective? I hope so...:ok::ok:

[Seljuk22]

With the new base at OPO MAD (14/7), BVA (now 14/7, was 7/7 with W-pattern by a PIK based a/c), GRO (3/7 + 9/7 ex GRO) and CRL (4/7) are operated by the OPO based a/c.

Question: PIK going down to 4 a/c and new routes/additional frequencies out of MAD :confused:

[dublin_eire]

I had a :mad: up dream last night where I woke up to hear the radio news announce Ryanair and B.A. had joined forces after months of secret discussions...

Hahaha...

[racedo]

Passenger number

June 08 5.17 Million
June 09 5.84 Million

Load Factor 85% +1% v June 08

12 Month rolling passenger number 60.2 Million

[boyzinblue]

MOL confirmed that FR are in discussions with 4 German airports currently not flown to.

[rafinha130]

Looking at the based planes weekly schedule, does anybody have a clue which route will occupy the missing rotation on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning (E.T.D 11.00 a.m)?

PLANE 1
OPO-MAD 06.35-08.45 1234567
MAD-OPO 09.20-09.35 1234567
OPO-TUF 10.05-13.05 1---5--
TUF-OPO 13.30-14.35 1---5--
OPO-BVA 10.00-13.05 -2-4-6-
BVA-OPO 13.30-14.35 -2-4-6-
OPO-EBU 10.15-13.15 --3---7
EBU-OPO 13.40-14.50 --3---7
OPO-MAD 15.40-18.00 1234567
MAD-OPO 18.35-18.50 1234567
OPO-BVA 19.15-22.20 1234567
BVA-OPO 22.45-23.50 1234567

PLANE 2
OPO-BVA 06.30-09.35 1-3-5-7
BVA-OPO 10.00-11.05 1-3-5-7
OPO-GRO 06.30-09.20 -2-4-6-
GRO-OPO 09.45-10.35 -2-4-6-
OPO-CRL 11.30-14.50 1-3-5-7
CRL-OPO 15.15-16.40 1-3-5-7
OPO-XXX -2-4-6-
XXX-OPO -2-4-6-
OPO-EIN 17.30-21.20 1-3-5-7
EIN-OPO 21.35-23.15 1-3-5-7
OPO-BSL 17.05-20.40 -2-4-6-
BSL-OPO 21.05-22.40 -2-4-6-

[rafinha130]

Yeap,

We are a massive presence in Massachussets and New Jersey.

People from Porto, are Portuenses, tripeiros (not Tripieras, as you wrote) is a negative way as the southern people, mainly in Lisbon, refer to us.

When french napoleonic invasions took place in the 19th century, as the population was surrounded in the city walls, the portuenses were forced to eat animal guts/intestines to survive, while the british army was in their way to help us, that´s why.

Ryanair is a presence in Porto Airport since 2004, and is one of the several low cost airlines operating here, contribuing for a exponential growing for the last 4 years. From 3 millions to over 4,5 millions.

Their arrival, did not kick away traditional high quality carriers, because, unfortunately, we don't have them, except Lufthansa, Iberia (franchised Air Nostrum) and of course national TAP. I suppose they think that there is no enough market. Wrong! Northern Portugal has almost 4 millions habitants, and so close to the spanish province of Galicia with another 3 millions more. They are an important part of our global traffic (mainly in the intercontinental flights to Brasil, Venezuela and USA).

Recently BA announced a route from LGW but they changed their plans. London is one of OPO most importants market's, and Easyjet took the chance, and will start operating it.

TAP did not pulled out a single route also served by any LC, so there is a
sustainable market, thirsty for more and more routes and airliners.

[OltonPete]

rafinha130

Hopefully the missing slot will be BHX!

The BHX based service on Monday & Friday which was on sale for next winter is no longer bookable.

As it was one of BHX's best services in terms of load factor (yes we all know it is down to yields blah blah blah), it would be surprising if this
service stopped.

BHX-NYO and BHX-BLQ are also not bookable at present this winter and they were in the first release.

In fact BHX this winter now only needs three based aircraft most days!

Pete

[rafinha130]

Your guess I suppose, because I can't find any scheduled operation in their website.

The DUB route had even better LF, over 85% and was gone.

[rafinha130]

ASFKAP (http://www.pprune.org/members/44184-asfkap),

Don´t need to apologize, derogatory sense used by the "Lisboners", not foreigners or tourist aware of our history, besides, we are kind and friendly people, and don't take it ofensive.:ok:

[rafinha130]

Looking at the based planes weekly schedule, does anybody have a clue which route will occupy the missing rotation on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning (E.T.D 11.00 a.m)?

PLANE 2
OPO-BVA 06.30-09.35 1-3-5-7
BVA-OPO 10.00-11.05 1-3-5-7
OPO-GRO 06.30-09.20 -2-4-6-
GRO-OPO 09.45-10.35 -2-4-6-
OPO-CRL 11.30-14.50 1-3-5-7
CRL-OPO 15.15-16.40 1-3-5-7
OPO-XXX -2-4-6-
XXX-OPO -2-4-6-
OPO-EIN 17.30-21.20 1-3-5-7
EIN-OPO 21.35-23.15 1-3-5-7
OPO-BSL 17.05-20.40 -2-4-6-
BSL-OPO 21.05-22.40 -2-4-6-

According to a source that i consider somehow trustful, the missing rotation is a new route to Lille.

Is anybody aware of this? If so, why didn't FR announced it past Thursday? Could it be because Lille will become a base too? 120 km away from CRL, which is also connected to OPO, would this be possible?

[toinou59]

Good :ok:

Ryanair maybe waits for the launch of the new Lille Alicante on Tuesday to announce this new route ...

Do you think that Lille can become a new Ryanair base ? It would be a great thing !

[FLYboh]

Ryanair boss wants passengers to stand on flights | The Sun |News (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2518680/Ryanair-boss-wants-passengers-to-stand-on-flights.html)

[Charlie Roy]

MOL now wants pax to stand on flights!

Read: "MOL wants some free publicity" :}

[en2r]

Do you think that Lille can become a new Ryanair base ? It would be a great thing !
Its probably a bit too close to Charleroi, I think its only about 2 hours away. However, I imagine that Ryanair will continue to operate routes from Lille so they can use the threat of moving to Lille as leverage for continued reduced landing fees at Charleroi.

[MUFC_fan]

When will Paris become a base? Probably the busiest not base going.

[en2r]

When will Paris become a base? Probably the busiest not base going.
Not anytime soon, Ryanair are in ongoing litigation regarding their practice of employing staff at their Marseilles base on Irish contracts, whereas French unions are demanding that they employ staff on more onerous French contracts (as for example Easyjet do). Until this is sorted it is unlikely that Ryanair will be opening any new French bases.

[frostbite]

When I first saw 'charging for stools' I thought it meant something else!

Ryanair considers stools on flights - Yahoo! News UK (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090706/tuk-ryanair-considers-stools-on-flights-6323e80.html)

[Storminnorm]

How are they going to manage to get all the cows on board?
not to mention the buckets for the milk.
Silly idea IMHO.
Still, could be a novel form of in flight MOOvie I suppose.

[Two's in]

And how much has MOL paid for front page coverage again? You can't fault his ability to generate free publicity every time he opnes his mouth.

[Storminnorm]

You cudn't believe it, cud you?

Still, it's an udder story.

Just hope the cows don't get too horny.

[leeds 65]

Free Propaganda for the regime,once again goebbels is dead but not forgotten.

Thats all this is

You cannot partially stand for T/O or landing.This will not be approved

But the public will buy it and talk about it as if it could happen !!!!

Thats what FR want,ryanair on the brain so people will enter the website

It is fantastic free marketing

[Koan]

However, I'm one who will never fly on MOL's ship of fools for any reason.

[Bally Heck]

Free marketing?

Due to O'Leary's attitude, perceived or otherwise, I would rather walk than take a Ryanair flight. The thought of lining the pocket of a selfish little waste of skin like him abhors me. Most of my acquaintances who have expressed a preference think the same.

I am not Ryanair "bashing" here. Get rid of O'leary, and pretend to be a company that cares about something other than his bank balance. Pretend to care about passenger and employee welfare. Even try really caring about these things!

I suspect that if he went, thousands (upon thousands) of people who currently wouldn't dream of booking a Ryanair flight, might.

[LEGAL TENDER]

I am not Ryanair "bashing" here. Get rid of O'leary, and pretend to be a company that cares about something other than his bank balance. Pretend to care about passenger and employee welfare. Even try really caring about these things!

At least he's honest about his shrewdness.

Most CEOs in any other company have just about the same agenda as MOL, only they cover and hide it with lies.

Try working for a "World Leader in Air Traffic Management" if you don't believe it !

[Road_Hog]

However, I'm one who will never fly on MOL's ship of fools for any reason.

Yes, but then a high number of people here will already get reduced/free flights. For those of us that pay, there is a different viewpoint. I've had several free flights on Ryanair, as in 1p per person including taxes, many to parts of Europe where the flights would have been quite expensive, e.g. Scandinavia.

Also, because of his trying to save every penny, Ryanair flights, board you at the last minute and have you off the airplane in no time. Yes I know why, but at 6'2" I appreciate boarding at the last minute, taking off immediately and getting out of the airplane straight away.

Funnily enough I would never have used Ryanair, untl my old company booked me on a flight, as it was the only airline that flew to the airport near our factory I was visiting in Italy.

He may not be the most pleasant person, but there are some things he's got right.

[ZOOKER]

First Class, Business Class, Club Class, Economy Class, and now, Stool Pigeon Class! :}:}

[Dysag]

I have flown Ryanair many times and I have never had a bad experience. New planes (unlike BA), clean planes (unlike BA), on time (unlike BA), lowest fares (unlike BA), better food (if I want to pay) and pilots I trust. You want more?

[John47]

Make passengers stand! Well, not completely, but close enough. "It's just like bar stools. The safety belt is the most important thing. It will still be fastened around the waist," Spring Airlines' Zhang Wuan told China's CCTV.

Cattle class at last. No food, no water and no doubt no toilets. (Oxygen?)

[HeadingSouth]

...and it's not as if it were invented by MOL himself.

According to the news report a chinese airline named "Spring" has this already implemented.

Unfortunately I cannot understand their website, but 13 A320's in Stool Class outfit would certainly be an interesting point to start...

Anyone ever flew with them Spring Airlines?

[BillS]

http://blog.mobissimo.com/uploads/standing_up_seats.jpg
:E

[dearjohn]

I see that Europes favourite airline are once more thinking laterally!
Ryanair considers stools on flights - Yahoo! News UK (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090706/tuk-ryanair-considers-stools-on-flights-6323e80.html)

[babymike737]

Ryanair could only have 11 more seats than they already have, to avoid the extra cabin crew member rule of 1 for every 50 pax or fraction of. You can fly for free on the stool, but you'll have to pay if you wan't to sit, or have to sit because the 11 free stools have been baggsed:D I would love to see that stampede of a boarding.

[babemagnet]

they can only put max 189 pax in there unless they get planes with extra emergency exits! like the 737-900

like this one: JetPhotos.Net Photo » EC-KQQ (CN: 35223) Futura International Airways Boeing 737-96NER by Biel Gomila (http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6234378&nseq=1)

[babymike737]

Good point, must defo be a publicity stunt. I know it wouldn't get approved, but I was seriously wondering that MOL might actually believe it would. There are to many safety implications such as turblance and RTO's

[45989]

Course its just another publicity stunt, the attention seeker ought to focus on the REAL and increasing problems at Pikey Central

Anyone note the parallels between ryr and its defunct relation Guinness Peat Aviation...............

Remember them?
Classic case of over expansion
Many an MBA was awarded using it as a case study

[Falcon666]

Oh god when will this all stop!!
I gave up on Ryanair this year completely.lLast year i used them over 20 times but their standards have dropped significantly.
I transferred to Easy this year.So far i have flown 12 times with them.
Their c/c actually seem to enjoy the job.
Flying to the main Airports leads to better onward connections.
And yes as Ryanair always state "on time" performance.Many customers i have spoken to dont mind a ten or twenty minute delay from the major Airports.
Easy could always do what Ryanair do and make schedules stretch to make more on time performance but eventually the customers will decide if they are happy.
Long may Ryanair ridicule themselves.MOL it will go wrong eventually.

[EI-BUD]

There is always so much interesting commentary on here about Ryanair v easyjet and other loco's on matters such as service, punctuality, destinations served etc.

However, I mentioned before that I distinctly think that ryanair avoid any direct competition with Flybe.. Are there any comparible city pairs that Flybe and Ryanair compete on say outside of Belfast London market?

Does anyone see that Ryanair have avoided this? There was a bit of a peak in publicity in Bournemouth (bournemouth v southampton) some years ago but seems to have died off.

MOL if you read this forum, I would like to know when are you going to have the bottle to take on flybe? Ryanair are comfortable to go head to head with other loco's with similar sized aircraft, but how do would you fair against Flybe?
Anybody else have any thoughts on this idea?

On many sectors Flybe would be more realistic in terms of aircraft size, ie 2/3 Q400s per day instead of 1 738?


EI-BUD

[CCR]

Flew Ryanair to Cork today. Great fare, great service and friendly cabin crew. A pleasure to fly with them:ok:

[Runway 31]

EI-BUD,

You could also look at it the other way in that FlyBe avoid Ryanair.

[Charlie Roy]

Ryanair want to base 2 planes at Seville and bring the number of routes there to 40 by the coming winter if they can strike a deal with Seville Airport of course...


Source (in Spanish)
Sevilla - Ryanair apuesta por Sevilla para instalar una base operativa en el aeropuerto - ADN.es (http://www.adn.es/local/sevilla/20090707/NWS-0954-Ryanair-Sevilla-aeropuerto-operativa-instalar.html)

[Angry Rebel]

BillS, you've totally overengineered those seats (post #4763)! MOL would never go for it! This would be more like it I reckon!

http://www.ananova.com/images/web/961051.jpg

[bucko]

That's a great idea, you have the added bonus of building up killer abs during your flight!!!:} Knowing MOL, he'd charge for that as well!

[boyzinblue]

The next "standing" poll is up and running.
I hope the Irish Aviation Authority comes out soon to prevent this idea!!

[racedo]

The next "standing" poll is up and running.
I hope the Irish Aviation Authority comes out soon to prevent this idea!!

They not even going to be asked, non story.

[captplaystation]

A bit like having to pay to have a p1ss, never a hope of it happening but it generates free publicity for a day or two. Like transporting then using images of the Queen of Spain without her permission. Are some of you guys unable to see the wood for the trees ?

[lonkmu]

LOW-COST airline Ryanair may be an Irish company, it was claimed last night.

Aviation experts said that expecting passengers to stand for an entire journey on board a plane travelling at 400mph and vulnerable to turbulence and sudden, sharp descents did have a 'flavour of the Emerald Isle about it'.

Tom Logan, from Brunel University, said: "As far as we're aware most of their flights are vaguely on time and the whole thing is reasonably piss-free and efficient, so we knew they weren't English.

"And of course there are no planes in Wales because of their fear of dragons, so we were able to rule that out.

"Then we noticed they were always in the newspapers for horrible, mean-spirited ideas designed to accumulate as much money as possible with no regard for anyone else, so we just assumed they were Scottish.

"But now with the 'standing up on a plane' idea it seems they may actually be from Ireland."

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said if there was no standing room left then passengers could be strapped to the roof or hang from the engines on a rope.

He added: "Thousands of people stand on tube trains every day. I completely fail to see to the difference.

"Sure, the tube tends to stay below 30,000 feet and seldom goes over 400mph, but I think there's a big market for people who think a long weekend in Gdansk is worth dying for."

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said: "He's like a cross between Willy Wonka and a leprechaun that was abused as a child. It's endearing and terrifying in equal measure."
FROM "THEDAILYMASH.COM"

[0523 cov man]

what next from ryan air 0523 covman

[leeds 65]

just chatted to a few mates there and one of the first things they said was - 'so is it true that o'leary wants people to stand'.before that it was 'is it true that ryanair will charge soon for takin a piss?'.

Ryanair on the brain,thats is the aim here.to get the public talking ryanair.some will say its pathetic and they will never fly them,others will say how ryanair are thinking of everything to cut costs and that there flights are great because there cheap.

people ACTUALLY believe anything printed in papers or on an rte news bulletin.Hilarious

Goebbels = 1. 'If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it'

2. 'Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.' include ryanair instead of government.

it is pathetic ryanair at its best

[boyzinblue]

FR leaving Zweibrücken in Germany after only 1 year. Last flights to STN in October.

[wanderer123]

What's happening with the Ryanair Christmas routes? Have tried to look at flights from Prestwick to Milan but there is nothing? Also noticed a few other Prestwick routes have disappeared towards winter. Will they be added later or have they been cancelled altogether? I know some of the other ones have been cut back but haven't been able to find any information about Prestwick......

[A319-100]

very good:D

[Based]

This is a disaster, how are travellers supposed to get from Stansted to Zweibrücken (where ever that is) now...http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/confused.gif


Don't stress ASFKAP, they'll just get there using the means they did before the STN-ZQW route was introduced. Zweibrücken is in Germany by the way.

[Charlie Roy]

ASFKAP, "FR leaving Zweibrücken in Germany after only 1 year. Last flights to STN in October" is a very valid post in this thread. More valid than many. Your own included. Your belittlement of it disgusts me :*

[davidjohnson6]

Charlie - go easy on ASFKAP. I doubt he/she meant harm to the good people of Zweibrucken.... but Ryanair have a greater tendency than other airlines to fly to places which really are a long way from population centres. The fact that the route lasted only 12 months indicates that there were very few people willing to pay substantial amounts of money to fly Stansted-Zweibrucken. If few people are willing to pay for a product, this generally means that relatively few consumers needed or wanted it enough to pay for it

Being a little flippant every now and then is not such a bad thing

[Based]

Charlie - go easy on ASFKAP. I doubt he/she meant harm to the good people of Zweibrucken

Well he/she could pay them a little more respect if he/she didn't. It's not the first time this has happened.

but Ryanair have a greater tendency than other airlines to fly to places which really are a long way from population centres

Is there a problem with this?

The fact that the route lasted only 12 months indicates that there were very few people willing to pay substantial amounts of money to fly Stansted-Zweibrucken.

Possibly, certainly doesn't prove it wasn't a profitable route for Ryanair. The average fare is far from being the most important factor on many of it's marginal routes.

If few people are willing to pay for a product, this generally means that relatively few consumers needed or wanted it enough to pay for it

Thanks for that.

Phew! Thats alright then, we can go on Lufthansa.......http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/smile.gif

ASFKAP, yes Lufthansa from Heathrow or London City to Frankfurt, with a ground connection to Zweibrücken would work OK too.

[Charlie Roy]

a small regional town with a relatively small population base (approx 40000) and a major city like London

Saarbrücken (200,000) is 40km to the west of Zweibrücken and no doubt Ryanair were actively targeting this population who have no direct route to London from their local airport. Who knows the exact reasons why the route is being cancelled. Low demand / yield or a hissy fit between Ryanair and the airport when the introductory reduced fees turned out to be just that: introductory. Ryanair have been known to cut profitable routes just because they weren't getting their way on charges with an airport. So we'll never know I suppose.
Winners: London routes to Luxembourg, Hahn, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg.
Losers: People wishing to fly between London and Zweibrücken / Saarland / North Eastern Alsace.

[Seljuk22]

FR launched Zweibrücken cause of the 3€ "tax" at HHN which not came and now they're leaving and maybe increasing HHN-STN next summer.

If you read italian newspapers (maybe not the best source) Genova could be a base from 2010.

Con due milioni di passeggeri l'aeroporto dribbla lo stadio | Genova la Repubblica.it (http://genova.repubblica.it/dettaglio/con-due-milioni-di-passeggeri-laeroporto-dribbla-lo-stadio/1670981)

[harer92]

what aircraft will be operating:

LPL - PSA FR9626 on the 30th July
PSA - LPL FR9627 on the 2nd August

+

will these aircraft have the new leather seats or the old material seats

many thanks,

Harer92.

[super737]

It wouldn't yet be known as to the registration of the aircraft operating those respective flights. Although there would be a very rough idea the issue is that


Unscheduled mx
Crewing
Airport curfews
Aircraft mx checks i.e. A B C D checksAll of these factor into the rotation of aircraft through the network.

For example a DUB based a/c arrives into LPL. The DUB based crew perform a down route a/c swap and bring back a different 738 to DUB for line maintenance and scheduled checks.

[harer92]

ahhh thanks for that, so there is no way of finding out what aircraft i get untill the day or nearer those dates.

[super737]

Should be about 48-24 hours before the ships are assigned to routings.

[davidjohnson6]

If Zweibrucken airport was trying to market itself to the people of Saarbrucken, it was doing a lousy job. Not only does Saarbrucken have its own airport (with Luxair having their 2nd base there after Luxembourg), but the bus times from Zweibrucken airport to either Saarbrucken or the nearer Homburg were pretty lousy for anyone wanting to visit from London.

To those who want to go from London to Saarbrucken on an LCC, even before the Zweibrucken route was canned, going via Hahn seems to be the least worst option. Then again, given that the minibus on the evening of 11 July from Saarbrucken, Homburg and Ramstein to Hahn had a grand total of 4 passengers, I suspect not a lot of people want to make this journey.

[Centre cities]

Re Ryaniar for winter 2009/10 at the UK bases.

Anyone in the know at Ryanair able to say if there is a further winter release.

Most UK bases I have checked have based aircraft reductions for the winter period on the current released programme, EMA, BRS and BHX to name three I have looked at.

Not asking for destinations etc but at present the reductions are high, perhaps something to do with incresing taxes.

Centre cities

[johnnychips]

I'm flying with Ryanair on Monday, so I did my on-line check in tonight.

I was asked questions like 'Have you packed your bag yourself?' 'Could anybody have put things in your bag?' etc.

when evidently I haven't packed it yet... too much laundry to be done.

I'm not knocking Ryanair for this at all, as anyone, you would think will always state the 'correct' answer, whether on line or a check-in desk.

What's the point? I'd be grateful if any check-in workers would let us know if anybody has given the 'wrong' answer and what happens to them if so?

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Hi johnnychips -

Well I've never had to give the "wrong" answer via online check-in, but I have at the airport. A couple of years ago I checked in at MAN for my Jet2 flight to Pisa and was asked, "Are you carrying anything for anybody else?"

"Yes , I am" I replied, as indeed I was. A bag full of home comforts for a friend based in Pisa for a year to study Italian at the university there.

The poor trainee check-in girl looked stunned and scarcely knew how to reply, but her supervisor soon stepped in and directed me to have my luggage x-rayed nearby prior to acceptance for the flight. And that is all that really needs to happen; an extra layer of security checking for the affected luggage.

Hope this answers the question.

SHED.

[racedo]

A couple of years ago I checked in at MAN for my Jet2 flight to Pisa and was asked, "Are you carrying anything for anybody else?"

"Yes , I am" I replied, as indeed I was. A bag full of home comforts for a friend based in Pisa for a year to study Italian at the university there.

Yes but you well know they meant were you given stuff by a 3rd party to carry on.

I agree though that the question can be interpreted a couple of different ways and depends on the mood of the Pax and Checkin operator.

Best was going with a couple of mates on a flight and everyone getting asked did you pack the bags yourself.

One guy to his enternal shame never got to answer as another mate stated loudly, "of course he didn't his mum packed it for him", the look of Pity from the checkin girl said it all.

[conradmueller]

German consumer organization opposing FR´s payment fees.
Ryanair cricket protest : Stansted Airport News Stories (http://www.uk-airport-news.info/stansted-airport-news-140709.html)

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Hi Racedo -

The stuff DID belong to a third party (the student who had asked me to bring it on the flight) and I WAS carrying it on. Hence what I "know well" is that the only legitimate answer to the security question put to me was: "YES!"

Why do you presume to second-guess me about the composition of my own luggage? Do you suggest lying when asked the security questions? Maybe that is what you do?

SHED.

[racedo]

Shed

Carrying something for someone else or carrying on behalf of someone else are two vastly different things.

Buying the items yourself, they are then your items even though you may pass onto someone else. What you do with them after reaching you destination is up to you.

Carrying a package of goods given to you by someone else for another party is discloseable.

[johnnychips]

I always grin at the question
"could anybody have tampered with/put something in your luggage without you knowing about it....?" :rolleyes:

I've just realised how daft this question is. I wonder what would happen if I said, "well how the hell do I know?"

"Yes" is technically the correct answer unless you've taken your case to bed with you on the night before the flight and you're a light sleeper... :}

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Racedo -

I don't recall mentioning BUYING anything. I conveyed the property of a third party from Manchester to Pisa at their request and answered the security question as put to me (ie. not your rephrased alternative) with the only conceivable honest answer - period. You are extremely arrogant to presume that you can interpret events at which you were not present better than the people who were actually there. Are you quite deluded? I fully understand the question which I was asked (thankyou very much) and there were only two possible answers: YES (true in this case), NO (untrue in this case). So I answered yes. Now just what is your problem with that? Do you have a mission in life to promote dishonesty and the misleading of security staff? Or is it just that you are an expert in everything, including conversations/events at which you were not present?

SHED.

[frelli]

Ryanair opens several routes from Oslo Rygge (RYG) and Sandefjord (TRF) to Italy, Spain, France, UK and Belgium

Ryanair opens new routes to Rygge (RYG),Alicante (ALC),Bergamo (BGY),Bremen (BRE),Brussels (CRL),Gerona (GRO),Madrid (MAD),London (STN),Oslo (TRF),Paris (BVA),Rome (CIA),Krakow (KRK),Lodz (LCJ) (http://www.theairdb.com/news/20090716120-ryanair.html)

[AndyH52]

So would that be a new route to the UK that isn't getting any expansion for the forseeable because of Ryanair's beef over the APD charges? :confused:

[Charlie Roy]

So Ryanair beefing up their present in Oslo Torp and also introducing Oslo Rygge. Interesting.
Don't think they are going to be bases though...



Rygge Airport: 65km South East of Oslo
Sandefjord Torp Airport: 115km South West of Oslo
Oslo International Airport: 50km North of Oslo

[pikkuprinssi]

They've just announced a bunch of new routes but there will be no new base in TRF nor in RYG.
;)

[VanBosh]

all the routes from Rygge are current bases so probably free capacity there. Two of the routes from torp tho Lodz(3/7) & Krakow(4/7) arent bases .

Any idea where this W pattern is going to originate from?

Also with such a large number of routes why not base at Torp?

[boyzinblue]

Is Barcelona (BAR) new in the booking engine? If you select BAR it says choose Reus or Girona!

[davidjohnson6]

Is operating a handful of routes from Rygge meant to be a spoiler against Norwegian, similiar to the Ryanair base at Madrid acting as a spoiler against Easyjet ?
Norwegian announced good profits earlier this week - perhaps it's time for MOL to make life a little more difficult for them ?

[Charlie Roy]

Also with such a large number of routes why not base at Torp?

One hindrance is the fact that Norway is not in the European Union and how Ryanair employees based there would probably need different (non-Irish and more costly) contracts.

[racedo]

Is Barcelona (BAR) new in the booking engine? If you select BAR it says choose Reus or Girona!

http://www.pprune.org/5017647-post4692.html

Picked that one up couple of weeks ago and not sure what idea is but could mean BCN may come on in near future.

[OltonPete]

I have checked the Torp schedules to see how the LCJ & KRK
work but obviously some more changes needed.

LCJ is operated as a "W" from Torp and Krakow is operated as
if it was Krakow based but I could not find where the Krakow
aircraft originates from to do the Torp (unless I have missed
something).

However the one thing I did notice was that BHX-TRF is no longer
on sale for winter following BHX-NYO, BLQ and OPO.

The difference here is that BHX-TRF has had awful load factors
lin the main and it should not really be a surprise if it has gone.

Pete

[dymonaz]

Picked that one up couple of weeks ago and not sure what idea is but could mean BCN may come on in near future.

Highly doubt it :) A simple marketing trick, to get more customers. "You don't fly to Barcelona?!" "Sure we do - pick the airport!" Nobody wants to go to Gerona. Everyone is looking for Barca.

And, well, a usability improvement to the website, after all. If they were to show the flights for both - Gerona and Reus in the same screen, to let me pick the cheapest one - it would work even better. For me, ofc, not them.

[Charlie Roy]

For now those Torp W's are an enigma....

Torp - Beauvais - Torp
1-3-5-- 0915 - 1340 (aircraft then flies from Torp to Home base @ 1405)
------7 1635 - 2100 (aircraft then flies from Torp to Home base @ 2125)

Beauvais - Torp - Beauvais
-2-4-6- 1800 - 2225 (aircraft then flies from Beauvais to Home base @ 2250 !!!)

Torp - Lodz - Torp
-2-4-6- 1745 - 2110 (aircraft then flies from Torp to Home base @ 2135)

Krakow - Torp - Krakow
1-3-5-7 1745 - 2130 (aircraft then flies from Krakow to Home base @ 2155 !!)

With these times I think we could be looking at a base in Beauvais and a base in Krakow. A plane taking off at 2250 at Beauvais could really only be going to a base in the GMT time zone (UK or Ireland). Similary, a plane taking off a 2155 from Krakow is either making a very small hop (Weeze), or else going to the UK or Ireland.

[Master_Dn]

Porto is a new base and also has some vacant spots for new routes and in Portugal it's GMT... The times below are GMT departure times from Porto from one of the two planes based there from September. On the other days the schedule is full.

Tue
GRO 6:30
? ?
BSL 17:05


Thu
GRO 6:30
? ?
BSL 17:05


Sat
GRO 6:30
? ?
BSL 17:05

[eu01]

This morning in Irish Times:
The EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes is no pushover. Nicknamed “Nickel Neelie” by the media which compares her rise in politics to that of former British prime minister “iron lady” Margaret Thatcher, she has taken on some of the biggest beasts in business and politics and won the day. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has suffered the indignity of seeing the 67-year-old Dutch competition commissioner block his proposed takeover of Aer Lingus.
(...)

“It was an unacceptable deal that he placed on the table; there is no doubt about that. But I was also aware that I was facing a guy who had broken up a protected air policy in Europe. So on the one hand I had great respect for what he had done for Europe and for consumers,” says Kroes, who adds that it is possible that changing circumstances would enable a merger between the two Irish airlines to go ahead some time in the future.And indeed, the MOL's anti-protectionism policy did change a lot on the European skies. But don't tell me Ms. Kross is Ryanair's worst enemy. The possible harm to them could result from their own policies rather and not due to the commissioner's decision. Just keep telling people about fee-loos and ‘vertical seating’... laughing is healthy, but they laugh at you.

[rafinha130]

Rumours or maybe not...
It seems like Lille will have at least 2 or 3 new routes.
Announcement this week, aparently to Rome Ciampino, Girona and, as i already antecipated here, Porto.

[Charlie Roy]

Press conference tomorrow: Monday.

[Noxegon]

Absolutely awesome post ASFKAP - haven't laughed so much in weeks!

[ryanair1]

ASFKAP - you work for us right?! How else do you manage an airline with 190 aircraft and airports that don't co-operate... no need for fancy negotiating. Just give it to us cheap or don't bother.

[boyzinblue]

Lille-Porto is now in the booking engine

[Noxegon]

And they've announced another seat sale...

...I'd still love to know where I can get a Visa Electron card in Ireland (and no, I'm not interested in opening a bank account in Spain).

[MUFC_fan]

Abbey (part of the Santander group) in the UK is where I have my Electron/Ryanair card;).

Maybe not Spain but what about UK?

[davidjohnson6]

Next time you're in the UK, you might like to try walking into one of the main branches of the Post Office (i.e. not in some tiny village) and ask for a Travel Money card

[racedo]

For those interested in the "truthful answer", you can't actually get one in the republic...

Avoid the credit card charge when booking with Ryanair Bargains for Irish Consumers (http://bargainsireland.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/avoid-the-credit-card-charge-when-booking-with-ryanair/)

[jkveenstra]

I've booked a flight for the second of September from NRN to TRN. The route was announced on the 6th of july (see here (http://dmm.travel/news/artikel/lesen/2009/07/ryanair-erweitert-flotte-und-flugangebot-in-weeze-23161/)). Today I received the following message:

Ryanair betreurt het dat na een operationeel overleg, uw vlucht/en hieronder vermeld, zullen stoppen van 01/09/09 - 24/10/09.


The message says that the flights will be cancelled for the period from 01/09/09 - 24/10/09. After 24/10/2009 the flights are not bookable any more.

[pikkuprinssi]

Yeah...
The NRN-TRN route seems to get axed as of 30th August.
Now it's a 2xweek (--3---7) and it was initially scheduled as a 4xweek route for the fall/winter (1-3--67)
What a shame...

[EISNN]

RACEDO Thanks for that info on Visa Electron. Very very handy and very helpful. :D;)

[racedo]

EISNN

Glad its a help :ok:

[sky9]

The BBC Newsflash is reporting Ryanair are cutting 40% of flights out of Stansted this winter.