Status of Ryanair Longhaul???

[Iver]

I realise that MOL has stated his intention to operate a separate longhaul airline from Ryanair at some point in the future. I presume negotiations with a few airports across the Pond have taken place and that MOL is considering potential fleet types based on aircraft availability, etc.

Does anyone know the status of these discussions? Do you think it will actually happen? If so, care to estimate when we shall see these Airbus/Boeing birds flying toward the States? What types are likely (if anyone knows much about aircraft inventories)?

So, what's the latest news? Cheers

[rubik101]

I hear 777 are flavour of the month on long-haul.
Personally, I wouldn't bet on MOL going over the pond. It has been the graveyard of many an airline in the past and right now is not the time to be opening up another competitor.
Vested interests in US and UK are well placed to ride out the tough times but a new entrant would have a hard time of breaking in, even at so called 'budget' prices.
The Ryanair myth of low fares has recently been shown to be a scam, in all but the word. Joe Public and his wife will not be lured by cheap prices and expensive add-ons for long.
With BA and Virgin offering flights to the US for around £250, MOL would be hard pushed to beat that.
He will offer it at £99 but with charges for checking in and actually carrying your bags, seat choices, meals, carrying duty free bags, debit cards, toilets etc. etc, it will be more like £299!

[Phantasm]

rubik101 and all other RYR Bashers,

You really are very single tracked and ignorant aren't you? I mean, have you once stopped to consider that maybe this is how they do business on the planet O'Leary comes from?

Think about that one...

[rubik101]

and the planet in question would be?

I'm not bashing Ryanair, simply stating the facts. The public have rumbled him. The scams and cons that have been deftly strewn in the way of the unwary travellers in the past, and now particularly the on-line check in rip off, will be seen for what they are; a cheap trick to get the pssengers to part with yet more of their hard earned and increasingly tight money.

'Fly Cheaper' does not mean 'Fly Cheapest' as that is often not the case any more.

[Phantasm]

Very tongue in cheek - I thought I was being funny :p

For the record I agree somewhat, but I also think hey, you get what you pay for I s'pose...

p.s. I say I was joking, but I did hear somewhere that he may originate from a planet in the Vega system...

[david.craig]

Not at all, Ryanair dont 'charge extra' to take bags, they simply give you the option to take them. Same goes with meals (which unfortunetly seems to require payment on more and more airlines).

At the end of the day, why pay for a service your not using.

Granted, these services would be utilised more on long-haul

[Bealzebub]

I'm not bashing Ryanair, simply stating the facts. The public have rumbled him. The scams and cons that have been deftly strewn in the way of the unwary travellers in the past, and now particularly the on-line check in rip off, will be seen for what they are; a cheap trick to get the pssengers to part with yet more of their hard earned and increasingly tight money.

Isn't it the goal of all businesses to try and get punters to part with "their hard earned and increasingly tight money?" That hardly makes it a scam or a con. They may have a host of additional charges, but you can see what they are before you decide if you want to make the purchase. It is not as if they take the money with no intention of providing the service. If you think the amount finally charged is too high for the selections you have made, then don't enter your card details and don't click "Order". Move on to a competitors website and try and get a better deal, that is what competition and choice is all about.

[Ten West]

Who wants to fly Ryanair long haul anyway? I want to go where the ticket says, not wind up at some desert airstrip miles from anywhere when the tickets say 'Los Angeles'. :rolleyes:

Come to think of it, that may well be a problem for Moykel. He won't have immigration and DHS facilities at the disused farm strips he'll be looking to operate out of. He'll have to use the main entry points to the U.S. like everyone else. And pay the landing fees.

[philbky]

Ten West needs to do some research before posting.

If Ryanair fly out of SNN and DUB where full US Customs and Immigration will be available prior to departure there won't be a problem.

The likes of Rubik101 should consider the following:

I've booked on Ryanair from SNN to MAN in June and paid €0.00 one way for each of two adults and €0.99 each the other way. I have booked one on line check in with priority boarding and one airport check in without priority boarding each way with 1 bag (15kgs). There is a 10kgs hand baggage allowance per person each way.

Total cost for the whole deal was €139.18

I have an alternative of flying from ORK. With a 6kgs hand baggage allowance each and a 20kgs bag allowance (for which, as on Ryanair, there is a charge) the total cost is €134.38 for the whole deal. Not much in it except that Aer Lingus offer seat selection on the one hand but on the other hand SNN is an hour's drive less each way.

The point of the above is that, prior to Ryanair becoming a low fare airline, low fares on Aer Lingus were as rare as hens teeth. On their pages, as you book a low fare flight, they give the details for flexible fares. These allow limited changes, refunds and 20kg baggage for "free". The problem is the cost. For the same two people on the same flight the cost becomes..... wait for it.......are you sitting down?







€968.08

and my contention is, based on nearly 50 years experience as SLF, that without O'Leary, that is indicative of the fare levels Aer Lingus and others would be charging at all times.

I looked the other day at flying from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September for a trip I have to take. For two of us flying SNN - BOS on Aer Lingus, we are paying €780 return.

The trip from Boston to Halifax takes about 90 minutes gate to gate so, in Ryanair terms in Europe, a total of €200 for the return trip for two would have been considered reasonable.

Apart from the fact that there are few Boston - Halifax direct services the lowest price return PER PERSON is US$516 on Delta with a transfer in JFK! There are many other flights at prices up to $720 going over LGA, and EWR. The cheapest direct flight is $769 PER PERSON.

Many of these prices have refund/change restrictions.

In addition, AA CO and DL charge $15 for the first bag, $25 for each additional bag per person, with AC the first bag is free, the second is $25.

The current exchange rate is $1.2928 = €1

Now Rubik101 which airlines are in the scamming business? Ryanair?, Aer Lingus?, Air Canada?, American?, Continental?, Delta?.

Some may say Halifax is not a popular destination from Boston but then Hahn was not popular from Kerry or Carcassonne from Shannon until the advent of O'Leary.

Ryanair is a low fare airline. It then charges add ons and if people are too thick to work these out that's their stupidity to blame. Aer Lingus has partially hopped on the low fare bus.

The others mentioned charge high fares, make restrictions AND have baggage charges. If Rubik101 and his friends were honest they would accept that airlines rip people off where ever they can, some far more than others and that, for all his faults and annoying stunts, without O'Leary the European passenger would be paying far more than is necessary.

[Seat62K]

I agree. I was looking at Montreal-Houston recently and was shocked at some of the "lowest" fares quoted (admittedly, the weakness of sterling compounded things somewhat).

I would add that some younger passengers are probably unaware of just how expensive flying, particularly within Europe, used to be.

In North America, People Express' $20 one way fares were seen as absolutely incredible, yet if you compare like-for-like in terms of distance and factor in what $20 would be in today's money, many Ryanair fares are even more amazing. (And People Express operated ancient aircraft, not shiny new ones.)

Put another way, the general public has access to fares which can be cheaper than staff travel fares on legacy carriers. ID80s from London to Madrid on BA, for example, in the 1980s and 1990s cost - if memory serves me correct - around £50 return (and that without APD, which didn't exist). I think the ID80 fare is now close to £100 (not sure what the ID 90 fare is). Trips I've made with easyJet from London to Madrid have been as little as £50 return and with Ryanair £10.

Yes, Ryanair is not perfect but I certainly have little to complain about.

[Peter47]

I can't see the economics adding up.

Low cost carriers have very significant savings over legacy carriers flying short haul

- crews fly up to 900 hours a year
- no overnighting so no hotel bills, crew expenses, etc
- shorter turnaround times, more productivity per aircraft
- often shorter sector times from using less congested airports

and so on.

Most of these savings don't really apply to long haul flying. The only savings are paying staff less (don't some airlines already do that) and cutting back on service. This is a relatively small proportion of costs for long long haul services.

With BA / VS certainly, and I suspect most legacy carriers, the front of the plane subsidises the back. This will help explin why there are really low fares to destinations such as New York. They are much harder to find to leisure destinations. Neither BA or BD is seemingly having much success with long haul routes from regional airports. Load factors are fine but yields low.

The only routes that charter airlines thrive on are leisure, such as MCO/Sanford and VFR such as Canada.

There is no way that Ryanair long haul would work from London except for a few leisure destinations. It is just possible that it would work from the provinces. Even then, the thought of FR's service standards on a long haul route doesn't inspire!

[Seat62K]

"FR's service standards"? Have you actually flown Ryanair?

[AircraftOperations]

I do worry about the likes of Ryanair's policy when an aircraft is heavily delayed. If the next flight is not untilt the next day, or later in the week, and they decide to cancel the flight then you could be in trouble.
My own experiences lead me to think that "non-budget" carriers often care a little bit more about their passengers when flights suffer problems... vouchers, hotels, re-booking flights with other airlines, spare aircraft etc etc.
This is where the difference in your ticket cost can be justified. Not that this is how it should be, though.

[philbky]

"This is where the difference in your ticket cost can be justified."

Only partly as airlines have discount deals with hotels and caterers which would cost them nowhere near the massive prices demanded.

In any case a wise traveller buys travel insurance which covers delays and disruption.

[AircraftOperations]

Fair point. But does insurance get you home if RYR cancel your flight? Or does it just pay for your hotel bills if you decide to wait until the next available RYR flight?
If you then walked over to another airline's ticket desk and purchased a ticket on the same or a similar route, would your insurance definitely cover that? Or only cover the cost of the cancelled RYR flight? Don't know the answer, as it's never been an issue for me. (touch wood)

[philbky]

I have comprehensive travel insurance which gives €250 per person to cover food, accommodation or alternative travel if there is a delay of more than 12 hours and the carrier does not provide. If I decide to cancel the trip at that point I am covered for up to €4,000 cancellation plus up to €650 for cancelling prebooked excursions.

If after a delay of 12 hours on the homeward trip I decide to use another carrier/use hotels and buy food I am covered to a maximum of €4,000 if the carrier does not provide. An excess of €50 applies to all claims.

This is a worldwide travel policy covering health, accident, delays (inc breakdown of connecting private or public transport), baggage, legal expenses and public liability.

It costs €140 p.a. for my wife and I and is issued by a major international insurer.