Ryanair - 7

[FR-]

Yeh I think i said that yesterday.

[waffler]

Yes I would love to hear The Ryanairs patrollers of the boards
Racedo and Daz211 give their unbiased explanation for this
but I suspect they will attack me instead.

[Sober Lark]

With mother nature spewing her guts up all over the place, don't you feel you're wasting your money offsetting your cardon emissions flying these days? Glad someone found some traces of ash. Well done.

[racedo]

Waffler not sure what you are on.

Ryanair's decision to do all the Technical investigation first and state No when asked allowed them to continue with the assessment and work with engine provider to get to grasp with the issues rather than starting a complete panic.

Which would you prefer a reasoned assessment and evaluation of all the facts or a mega headline on Sky shutting down air travel ?
Confidence already low in the industry so why make it worse when not required.

[daz211]

Any Airline would do the same, what kind of a company would give half a story
to the press that might ground flights for days for all Airlines.

What you need to understand that no company would want to scare passenger
if there is no need to.

[pwalhx]

Then why issue contradictory press releases, why not wait till the investigations have been completed, I think thats the question being asked.

As a passenger I am more concerened that an airline changes its mind in such a way.

before you slate me for being anti Ryanair I have 4 flights booked with them over the next few weeks.

[Rinty]

I'd like to know if there was confirmed ash in the engines of 2 aircraft at BHD then whats happening with all of the other a/c flying in exactly the same air???

[Runway 31]

Other than the BBC News - Ryanair denies ash causing delays (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8671372.stm) , have Ryanair actually said anything about ash. Looks to me that all the information is actually coming from this forum with people stating they phoned here and there and were told this and that.

I cannot see where they have issued any other statements, there is nothing on their ash update part of their website?

Can anyone provide these contradictory information details?.

[DeA320]

Stephen McNamara, RYR Communications, gave an interview on Irish Radio confirming that ash was found and there is also an article in the Irish Indepenent and Irish Times about it.

Levels of ash found 'safe' - Ryanair - The Irish Times - Tue, May 11, 2010 (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0511/breaking12.html)

[Runway 31]

BBC News - Ryanair plane in precautionary landing at Belfast City (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8674226.stm)

A Ryanair plane travelling to London Stansted has made a precautionary landing at Belfast City Airport after taking off on Tuesday.

A Ryanair said: "After take off cabin crew noticed an acrid smell and standard procedure was followed and the aircraft turned back and landed".

All 154 passengers disembarked safely at about 0730 BST.

A spokesperson from Belfast City Airport said emergency services were at the scene as a precaution.

The source of the smell is being investigate

Thanks for the links

[pwalhx]

The contradictory reports are contained in posts #1258 and #1259 where the BBC report first a denail then an admission from Ryanair.

I accept the response will be that it is our national broadcaster alleging what Ryanair says.

[Icare9]

As a previous fairly caustic critic of Ryanair, I have to acknowledge that on Sunday 9th May they performed as well as any other airline in getting us home to Luton from Murcia.
There had been nothing on the English TV channels about ash cloud problems and we drove off on Sunday not knowing of any potential problem.
On arrival the flight was showing as delayed and nothing on the ground.

Shortly thereafter a bmibaby to Cardiff arrived, loaded and departed while we formed a queue out onto the tarmac where our flight awaited. The scrum was busier than usual and instead of what we thought was a partially full flight it turned out to be packed.

On enquiring of our seatmate, we then found that all flights on Saturday had been cancelled through Northern Spain airspace, so any spare seats were made available to any who turned up. He and his family were originally on the Stansted flight but had made it aboard and sensibly had made contingency plans as to who of them were the priority to get home and how..

That seems to encapsulate the problem. Many seem to run around like headless chickens looking for someone to blame and demand compensayshun, rather than thinking through a contingency plan.

We knew about the initial eruption and possibility of further disruption. We did check but no general announcement was on TV news that we saw on the Saturday, nor we were contacted by Ryanair.

We had, however, talked to our car parking company at time of booking about what they would do if we couldn't get back in time, so we knew what costs involved, same with car rental company if we needed to retain the car for longer. We arranged with the apartment as well so if necessary we could return and how long for. We had email and phone contacts in case they were needed.

Had we been asked, we could have therefore given up our seats, but obviously not everyone has contingency plans in place.

As it was, we had no problems, 30 minute delay reduced to 12 by time of landing, and everyone accepted the situation with as good grace as possible.

So, efficiently handled, Ryanair got as many people home as possible. Well done. They might review if there are any improvements they can make, but I'm sure they only have a limited amount of staff and too many people to try and contact.

[Runway 31]

Thanks BFS101 for the links. I didnt see the second reply only the one where you had phoned RYR Ops.

[BFS101]

Further piece regarding the FR return to Belfast. Thankfully only a minor issue.

BBC News - Belfast Ryanair landing due to cleaning chemical (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8675802.stm)

[delyan]

I guess it has been mentioned before but I couldn't find it in this huge forum.
So, to get to the point, Ryanair is supposedly in negotiations with Plovdiv airport to start flights. The bulgarian authorities lower the airport taxes three times. If I remember correctly from older news, people from Ryanair are actually in Plovdiv today.


...ouch, my very first post! :}

[eu01]

Italy's civil aviation authority says it has fined Ryanair some euro 3 million for failing to help passengers stranded last month when flights were canceled due to the Icelandic volcano's ash cloud.

The ENAC agency said in a statement Saturday that it had determined that there were 178 cases of passengers who didn't receive mandatory assistance such as food, drink and lodgings during the flight shutdown in much of Europe from April 17-22ENAC's retaliation after Ryanair refused to accept the fishing cards as travel documents in Italy? :}

[racedo]

Lets see whether it holds up under law and my guess is that it will not as will be seen as arbitrary with no basis for the fine.

They will be faced with proving everybody else was taken care of by every airline as a reason why no one else was fined nor treated in same way.

Think this as you point out is an attempt at revenge based on row earlier and believe its has likely only one outcome with fine being overturned in court on basis they have no legal right to fine anybody based on lack of clear evidence.

[al446]

You could be right Racedo but I doubt it.

ROME - Italy's civil aviation agency says it has fined Ryanair some $3.7 million for failing to help passengers stranded last month when flights were cancelled due to Iceland's volcanic ash cloud.
The ENAC agency said in a statement Saturday it had found 178 cases of Ryanair passengers who didn't receive mandatory assistance such as food, drink and lodgings during the flight shutdown in much of Europe from April 15-22.
Ryanair said the company wasn't aware of any problems.

The figure of 178 seems less than arbitary to me, it suggests that 178 cases have come forward and their cases have been investigated and found accordingly.

Much though it pains me to say so (actually, no it doesn't) this is only the start, there are a heap of cases in Spain on the blocks.

Of all the locos RYR is by far the shoddiest looking to come out of this ash cloud incident and, to my mind, have demonstrated how little trust should be invested in them.

[Airlift21]

Booked a flight from Angouleme to Gatwick on 04/06/10 one way and it cost me 49 Euros. That's all in! That was done after exhausting all possibilities, travelling with Ryanair, from my region in France. ie. Nantes or La Rochelle to S.E England. It would have cost me 3 times the amount! Please don't try to convince me that Ryanair is the best and cheapest, because it isn't, obviously! I haven't flown Ryanair yet, but I really hoped to do so this time, without listening to Ryanair bashers and die hard lovers. Anyway, due to Ryanairs high fare prices + tax etc, etc, I cannot yet comment on how good or bad they are. All I can say is that 15 euros for one hold bag is pretty bad, but 50 euros for 2 hold bags totalling 30kg is awful. Pity really!

[bluebirdjohn]

With this bleeding ash bearing down on us again i'm starting to panic now!
I have to leave this evening to get to BRS airport for my BRS-BTS morning flight. At the moment there isn't a problem at BRS. What crossed my mind was, is the plane used tomorrow the BTS-BRS flight that lands tonight and parks up overnight.

Should i not be able to get away i know all about getting a refund(30 day wait) but i wondered about my return flight. It is a separate booking and comes into STN on Wednesday am. If this flight is not cancelled can i still get a full refund as i can't get out there to use it?

[frfly]

Yes BTS is operated by a based BRS aircraft and shall be parked overnight, as long as it isnt stranded somewhere in Europe. With BRS being a 5 A/C base they should have 1 spare A/C but I know BRS is stand restricted so this might not be the case.

In terms of your BTS - STN sector this is classed as a separate booking and therefore would not be refundable to you.

Hope that helps and fingers crossed!

[bluebirdjohn]

Info is much appreciated. I will indeed have my fingers and everything else crossed!

[sam dilly]

I see on the Ruinair website that the FR2504 Faro to Leeds this afternoon has diverted to stansted " volcanic activity at Leeds" being the reason.
So its not just the ash thats spreading:}

[Gulf Julliet Papa]

I see on the Ruinair website that the FR2504 Faro to Leeds this afternoon has diverted to stansted " volcanic activity at Leeds" being the reason.
So its not just the ash thats spreading

LBIA - Live Flight Arrivals (http://www.leedsbradfordairport.co.uk/arrivals.html)

Seems that its not just Ryanair, be careful not to judge to quickly!

[firstchoice7e7]

i dont think he was having a pop at FR, he just meant the reason ''volcanic activity in Leeds'' as in there are no volcano's in Leeds, perhaps just the ash cloud!

[Runway 31]

From Ryanair website

Ryanair Dismisses Enac’s False Claims of 178 Violations of EU261 and Their €3m Fine

Ryanair, Italy’s favourite airline, today (Tuesday, 18th May) condemned what it believes are the politically motivated actions of ENAC which announced on Friday night that it had fined Ryanair €3m for 178 alleged violations of EU261 between Sat 17th and Thur 22nd April last.

Ryanair confirmed that it will vigorously defend/appeal any such fines if or when it receives any notification of them. Ryanair finds it strange that no such violations (or fines) have even been brought to its attention by ENAC, who appear to have “investigated” and “fined” Ryanair in 178 separate cases without even allowing Ryanair any opportunity to defend or respond to these alleged claims. Ryanair pointed out the following facts:

1. During the disruptions from 17th to 22nd April, all Ryanair passengers in Italy were provided with the EU261 Notice either by Ryanair’s handling agents or through Ryanair’s website, where all passengers were directed for info and/or rebooking.
2. Many disrupted passengers in Italy were offered accommodation at Ryanair’s expense in local hotels, and those that couldn’t be accommodated (because of the extraordinary volumes) were advised to submit a claim for reimbursement of their hotel expenses to Ryanair at the end of their trips. This is the same procedure followed by all airlines in Italy and across Europe during the week of the 17th-22nd April and fully complies with EU261.
3. Ryanair and its handling agents complied with its EU261 obligation and continue to do so. ENAC referred to “investigations” into 178 cases, yet not one investigation or enquiry has been made by ENAC to Ryanair relating to any of these cases. How can ENAC claim to have investigated these cases and fined Ryanair, without seeking any response or defence from Ryanair?
4. ENAC cannot issue fines without first bringing the alleged violations to the attention of the airline, and allowing the airline to respond to such allegations. ENAC’s fines are therefore unlawful and in breach of the EU261 regulations and which Ryanair believes will be reversed.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“It is extraordinary that ENAC would announce on Saturday that Ryanair has been fined €3m for 178 alleged violations of EU261, without ENAC making any attempt to notify Ryanair of any of these cases, or allowing Ryanair an opportunity to explain how it complied with EU261 allegations before ENAC rushed to invent and then announce this unexplained €3m fine.

“At a time when all airlines across Europe were cancelling thousands of flights and disrupting millions of passengers, it is extraordinary that ENAC could investigate and then impose a €3m fine only upon Ryanair, yet not any other airline appeared to have warranted such sanction. This would appear to be the latest in a long series of biased, anti Ryanair rulings by ENAC, an organisation which has repeatedly shown its bias and its lack of impartiality when it comes to cases relating to Ryanair.

“In the meantime Ryanair welcomes the latest injunction secured against ENAC last week in which the Italian Courts have ruled that ENAC cannot prevent Ryanair’s based aircraft landing at Rome Ciampino in the late evening. This latest injunction successfully prevents ENAC from disrupting Ryanair’s flights and passengers or forcing them to divert to Rome Fiumcino, instead of landing at Rome Ciampino.

“Perhaps ENAC’s surprise announcement on Saturday of a €3m fine against Ryanair, for 178 claimed but unidentified breaches of EU261 is not unrelated to the fact that ENAC’s anti Ryanair activities were the subject of yet another successful injunction in the Lazio Courts on Wednesday of last week.

[Based]

The 2010/11 winter schedule is in the process of being released. No particular order that I can see, there's a partial release of a lot of the bases.

[daz211]

I wish they would hurry up and load the STN-LPA :*.

[davidjohnson6]

daz - that's just the approach that the yield management bods in Dublin want to see - someone very keen to buy and possibly willing to pay extra for it. Don't expect any bargains during the initial release period for flights after late October - you'll have to be prepared to wait a few months for the bargains to appear.

[daz211]

Don't you worry I know how to play the game and play the game I do, I just to make sure the days they fly match with the time off I book think it's Sat,Mon and Wed at the moment and if anyone from FR is out there a 1200 dep from STN would be better than the 1415 for so many reasons ...

[pamann]

Don't get me wrong I'm not a Ryanair basher, I use them a fair bit myself on 'short' flights if going away for a few days no more. But why if you have the choice would you want to fly FR to LPA from Stansted when Thomson and Thomas Cook both offer flights from Stansted with a decent baggage allowance, allocated seats and you won't have to listen to that drivvle over the 'PA' "Bulls-eye baggies! 2 for a fiver" rubbish for 4 hours plus. I'd rather stick pins in my eyes. :yuk:

[frfly]

Maybe because he doesnt want to pay a fortune and would like to land ontime.....who knows?

[Charlie Roy]

More on the Plovdiv rumours:

Airport CEO says Hahn, London probable.
Dublin, Italy, Spain possible.

Ryan Air will Fly to Plovdiv airport, near Pamporovo in Bulgaria. Low cost flights to Plovdiv (http://www.visitbulgaria.net/en/plovdiv/news/20100429/ryan_air.html)

[pee]

If booking some 7 weeks before the departure, would you ever pay more than 300 euro for a return flight with Ryanair? Myself I wouldn't, no way.
But look at this:
Regular Fare
Depart Fri, 2 Jul 10:
Tampere 11:55
Arrive: Malaga 15:30
1 x Adult
Fare: 179.99 EUR
Online Check-In: 5.00 EUR
Taxes / Fees: 20.98 EUR
Total Price: 205.97 EUR

Coming Back

Depart Tue, 27 Jul 10:
Malaga 12:30
Arrive: Tampere 18:00
1 x Adult
Fare: 143.99 EUR
Online Check-In: 5.00 EUR
Taxes / Fees: 31.54 EUR
Total Price: 180.53 EUR

Total
386.50 EUR
Optional charges such as administration and checked baggage fees are not included.
Have to say, I'm impressed by these prices. Totally unimpressed by Ryanair's reaction to this demand, however. No conclusions drawn, no action. Typical FR.

[davidjohnson6]

pee - for the same dates, but flying Helsinki-Malaga return, Finnair want
513 euros but with a change in Madrid on the outbound
or
614 euros if you want to fly non-stop in both directions.

[eu01]

Pee's point, I guess: there is more money to earn there, if RYR was able to start similar routes from Spain, Italy, Malta and so on. No action -> being late.

Personally I'm watching at "St. Petersburg West". Apparently pretty good reception by Russians, no new development so far (late again?).

[daz211]

Back to LPA, I always go with Ryanair to LPA, TOM and TCX from STN want
£180-£209 RTN, I never pay more than £50 RTN with FR and even though im not
100% happy with the timings they are better than getting up at in the middle of the night to check-in for at 7am flight.

So that is why I Fly Ryanair to LPA from STN.

[Stanstedeye]

Not this coming winter, TCX have pulled the plug.

[daz211]

Thomas Cook Airlines
Charter Flight Average per person £213.50 Total price £427.00

http://ww7.thomascook.com/ft/images/button_print.gif (http://ww7.thomascook.com/ft/flight_only/results.jsp#)

Departs Arrives Stops Outbound
London Stansted (STN) 13-Nov-2010 09:35
Las Palmas (LPA) 13-Nov-2010 14:00 Direct flight
Return
Las Palmas (LPA) 20-Nov-2010 15:00
London Stansted (STN) 20-Nov-2010 19:45 Direct flight

Total Price
£427.00

[eu01]

Le directeur général de la compagnie à bas coûts irlandaise Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, a menacé jeudi de fermer son unique base en France, à Marseille, si des poursuites judiciaires étaient engagées à son encontre pour travail illégal.MOL has threatened today to shut down Ryanair's only French base in Marseille at the end of the current summer schedule in October if the Prosecutor’s Office in Aix-en-Provence starts the court proceedings challenging carrier’s labour contracts at Marseille. Ce décret "stupide" est le résultat du "lobbying d'Air France", a dénoncé M. O'LearyThis stupid decree is resulting only from the Air France lobbying, complained O'Leary.

[virginblue]

Looks like Mickey's legal department is rather busy these days - today his credit card fee was trashed by the German Surpeme court. In short, the court held that Ryanair must offer a commonly used free method of payment - which a Visa Electron (or Mastercard Prepaid) is not, at least not in Germany.

[Sober Lark]

First Ryanair said they would not compensate (which in this 'act of God' case I agree) then in a press release they said they would 'fully conform to EU261' and no sooner than they had released that statement then the sudden pounce of a €3 million fine.

How did they arrive at an even €3 million figure?

[FR-]

*When i spoke to MOL about all this legal stuff, he gave a short but honest answer.



http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs283.snc3/27832_393833392945_506877945_4271358_3360922_n.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4271359&id=506877945)

*i would like to point out that ive only ever spoke to him once passing at the white house.

[Sober Lark]

Fine by me but wrong gesture. In Italy it is a different V sign. If he learnt about 7 different obscene hand gesture poses he'd get through to most Europeans.

Look on the bright side they got at least €3 million in fee advertising and didn't pay a cent yet.

[Hollymead]

Pee , if you can afford to go on holiday for 25 days im sure the the price of the flight is not a worry .

[Based]

Pee , if you can afford to go on holiday for 25 days im sure the the price of the flight is not a worry .

Firstly, not always true I'm afraid.Secondly, thanks for a pointless post.

So Hahn's to become the next maintenance and crew training base.

[pee]

Pee , if you can afford to go on holiday for 25 days im sure the the price of the flight is not a worry.
Many people from Scandinavia have second homes in Spain, so the duration of their stay could be irrelevant. But anyway, I don't want to cast doubt on prices here, I'm almost happy for FR they can afford to dictate that kind of fares. The only issue is the following one: Why Ryanair prefer to sell 2-3 short flights for 3-9 €/£ each very often indeed and on many routes when the same plane could have been used for 1 longer route (like the mentioned one) with the price tag between 100 and 200 €/£ continuously. Pure economy, nothing else.

[Runway 31]

Thats the thing about a free market Pee, if you dont like a company or its prices, use the alternative.

[pee]

Thats the thing about a free market Pee, ... right
if you dont like a company ... why not? a bit rough, but efficient one
or its prices, ... I do like generally
use the alternative ... I do use, where appropriate.

Once again. "To analyze" is not a synonym of "to criticize". Trying to comprehend the background and reasons of company's decisions does not equal to bashing them.

[Noxegon]

Thats the thing about a free market Pee, if you dont like a company or its prices, use the alternative.

Hard to do when the alternative has been pushed off the route that you want.

[sitigeltfel]

MOL threatening to pull out of Marseilles in October...

Marseille | Ryanair menace de quitter Marseille | La Provence (http://www.laprovence.com/article/economie-a-la-une/ryanair-menace-de-quitter-marseille)

The usual spat about staff contracts :rolleyes:

[Hollymead]

Firstly, not always true I'm afraid.Secondly, thanks for a pointless post.


About as pointless as quoting a duration used by about 0.2% of passengers .

[Based]

OK how about a 4 night break:

Going Out: 26/07/2010 11:55hrs
Tampere - Malaga
1 x Adult 143.99 EUR
Taxes/Fees 20.98 EUR
1 x Web Check in 5.00 EUR

Coming Back: 30/07/2010 06:00hrs
Malaga - Tampere
1 x Adult 143.99 EUR
Taxes/Fees 31.54 EUR
1 x Web Check in 5.00 EUR

Total Cost 350.50 EUR

What percentage of passengers use this duration? Focus on the point.

[barrymah]

"À la mi-mars, à Marignane, les locaux de Ryanair ont été perquisitionnés et plusieurs documents saisis. Air France et deux syndicats de l'aviation civile, l'Unac et le SNPL ont porté plainte contre la compagnie irlandaise."

...staff contracts... yes, but based on what I would call a turf battle and protectionism....

OK, AF and the others are right to moan, but isn;t a bit of tilting at windmills....?

[STN Ramp Rat]

News : Ireland Loses Ryanair Hangar and up to 200 Jobs to Germany and? (http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ireland-loses-ryanair-hangar-and-up-to-200-jobs-to-germany-and-frankfurt-hahn-airport)

Ireland Loses Ryanair Hangar and up to 200 Jobs to Germany and Frankfurt Hahn Airport


Ryanair today (Thursday, 20th May) announced that it had selected Frankfurt Hahn Airport in Germany as the location for its next maintenance hangar and crew training facility. At a press conference in Mainz today, hosted by Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary and Minister for Economics and Transport, Hendrik Hering, Ryanair announced that it would invest €25m in building a new two bay aircraft maintenance hangar including two aircraft simulators and a 16 room cabin crew training centre, in a move which will create up to 200 new Ryanair jobs at Frankfurt Hahn Airport.

This investment which has been supported by Frankfurt Hahn Airport and the Rhineland-Palatinate Government will take Ryanair’s jobs numbers at Frankfurt Hahn up to 600 people. Ryanair will now allocate a substantial proportion of its base maintenance requirements to this new German hangar facility which will be available from the end of 2010.

This new facility and jobs will replace those previously offered to the Irish Government earlier this year in the empty Hangar 6 at Dublin Airport. Ryanair regrets that even today, many months later, Hangar 6 remains unused for base maintenance, while up to 900 SRT Engineers remain unemployed, drawing the dole. Many of these people could have found skilled, well paid work, with Ryanair, had the Irish Government accepted the airline’s offer to buy or lease Hangar 6 and divert a significant proportion of Ryanair’s base maintenance to Dublin Airport.

Speaking today in Germany, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“While we are pleased to announce this new investment in Germany and Frankfurt Hahn Airport, I regret that the Irish Government stood idly by and did nothing to win these new jobs for Ireland. The Irish Government talks a lot about competitiveness, but is short on action.

“At a time when traffic and tourism is collapsing in Ireland, the Irish Government prefers to impose tourist taxes, and order big increases in Dublin Airport’s fees, rather than work with the world’s largest airline to lower access costs, win investment in maintenance or create hundreds of well paid engineering jobs at Dublin Airport.

“Sadly in Ireland, we are stuck with a Government which likes talking about the “smart economy” but prefers implementing “dumb policy”. The sooner they reverse these tourist taxes and slash high costs at the Government owned DAA airports, then the sooner Irish airports and tourism can return to low cost access and traffic growth”.

[Runway 31]

I am sure you cant compare skilled aircraft engineering jobs with work in MacDonalds. The people who will be working in the new 3 bay hanger at Prestwick certainly wont think so and I am sure the Irish lads who will miss out in this investment may get the unfortunate chance to find out.

[FR-]

Just goes to show how little you actually know about ryanair.. . . your a joker mate.

I know many people who have been in ryanair for over 6 years. Ryanair is starting to keep crew longer and longer and it really depends on what base you go. The local bases like PIK/EMA/MAD/RUE have crews who are from that area, and stay within the company. And pay, how do you know. It just takes time for crews to move to home bases. I mean if you look at the transfer list for MAD and mmany other spanish/italian its can take upto two years. Im very happy with my pay, I must admit the two years pay freeze :ugh: :ugh::ugh: . . . .

I dont know why people come on here to ryanair bash, i know i wouldnt get away, calling other airlines. And comments like yours with no information to back it just shows how very little you know.

On a final note, 73 million pax, and making a profit.

[Cymmon]

Yep, year on year high %age profit, fed by lower and lower fares, lower aircraft leases and wages frozen for 2 years.........

I smell coffee.....

[davidjohnson6]

I've noticed sometimes with Ryanair, that assuming the inbound arrives early (and thus the bulk of passengers for the outbound are boarded early as well), that the doors of the plane are often closed up to 20 minutes before scheduled departure. Pushback from the gate doesn't however occur until the scheduled time of departure.

I can understand that if a plane lands particularly early at the destination airport simply because it took off early (and not because of tailwinds), then there may be penalty payments involved for making ATC rearrange a landing slot at short notice. I understand also, that no pilot wishes to spend time circling in the air burning fuel just to avoid paying penalties to ATC. Thus, the likelihood of departing significantly earlier than planned is unlikely.

What does puzzle me, is as to why a dispatcher / handling agent would close boarding (and withdraw the steps / buses) so early that it's completed far in advance of the anticipated schedule, even if the 2 pilots can't benefit from the time saving. The only things I can think of are
1) Dispatcher fancies going home early / spend more time chatting with colleagues in the office
2) Handling agent staff are on significant commission on the passengers who arrive at the gate only 20 mins before departure and end up paying a hefty fee to get rebooked on the next flight.

Can anyone more knowledgable than me provide the rationale behind this ?

[FA10]

davidjohnson, it will always remain the captains decision and the cabin crews action to close the forward entry of the aircraft.
If they are really able to finish the boarding process with all the associated paperwork 20 minutes early (lucky them!) they are free to go.
Any delays thereafter can have various reasons (slot, finishing checks or briefings) - and are totally random.
FA10

[FR-]

We tend to close doors early if possible to so that we can be pushed back at -5 or before. Today I was actually in the air on or before the SDT ;). But the gate will not close before -20.

[eastern wiseguy]

I understand also, that no pilot wishes to spend time circling in the air burning fuel just to avoid paying penalties to ATC

What on earth are you on?

[frfly]

Boarding should start from -40 (assembly, PB Q, Hand Luggage check). Preboard into secure area once aircraft is on stand. Board immeadiatly. Gate can shut from -20 if possible (remembering the boarding pass clearly states the gate CLOSING time as -30mins STD) and the minimum any flight deck can push back if passengers missing is -10. This is to ensure aircraft rotation remains punctual throughout the aircraft's 6-10 sector day.

Normal FR turnaround would see doors shut -5 STD for an ontime pushback from the gate.

Its actually all to add to the highly efficient business model of remaining one of the most punctual airlines in Europe rather then someone fancies to clock off early!! Nice idea though.

[LPFR]

I've been on one Ryanair flight to Charleroi that closed the doors 20 mins early, pushed back 5 minutes later and went airborne still 10 minutes before STD. Was surprised to see such an efficient turn-around, but captain said flight would take longer than expected, so it was really nice to be able to leave earlier. Landed only 5 mins early.

[cesare.caldi]

Any rumors about next Ryanair base?

[Sober Lark]

No. But haven't you noticed PR puppets seem to be assigning Leo closer to the exit these days?

[jimworcs]

Aviation Herald...

Incident: Ryanair B738 at Alicante and Valencia on May 14th 2010, fuel emergency

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800, registration EI-DYX performing flight FR-8384 from London Stansted,EN (UK) to Alicante,SP (Spain), was on approach to Alicante's runway 10 but went around due to weather conditions. The crew subsequently attempted an approach to runway 28 but went around again due to winds and decided to divert to Valencia (72nm north of Alicante) declaring PAN being below the final fuel reserve. While on approach to Valencia the crew declared MAYDAY and performed a safe landing on Valencia's runway 12.

The Spanish CIAIAC reported, that following the landing in Valencia remaining fuel was measured: 440kg of fuel were found in tank 1, 470kg in tank2 and 0kg in center tank. The airplane was refueled and continued to Alicante. An investigation has been initiated.

The airplane reached Alicante with a delay of 2:25 hours.

[Charlie Roy]

For how long can an average loaded 737-800 at an average altitude in average weather conditions fly with 900kg fuel?

[Herc708]

This Mayday / Fuel Event referred to above should be on the Rumours and News forum - not here. This is operational failure rather than business related

[Seljuk22]

Rumours about new routes from OPO to BRE, SXF, FMM, MST, NTE, RAK and Vatry.

[cesare.caldi]

New plane add to OPO base?

[jferreira20]

Unless they change the timetables, a new plane in Oporto is necessary, because in some days thre will be 4 flights departing at about 6:30 a.m: Paris, London, Karlsruhe and Madrid. Plus, a new daily flight to Madrid is already confirmed.

[pee]

Expect BCN (El Prat) to be announced today as Ryanair's new airport. 10 domestic routes, 10 international, all to be launched from 31st of October.

No Finland route :ugh:, instead there will be many destinations similar to these already flown from GRO and REU.

[toledoashley]

from ryr website:



Barcelona El Prat announced as Ryanair's 42nd base

RYANAIR ANNOUNCES 42nd BASE AT BARCELONA EL PRAT WHICH WILL REVERSE AIRPORT’S COLLAPSING TRAFFIC

5 aircraft, 20 routes and 2M passengerS P.A. from SEPT

1MILLION SUMMER SEATS FROM €5

Ryanair, the world’s favourite airline, today (26th May) announced it would open its 42nd base at Barcelona El Prat in September 2010 with 5 based aircraft and 20 low fare routes, which will help reverse declining traffic numbers at El Prat airport which fell by 3m passengers in 2009. Ryanair’s El Prat routes will sustain over 2,000 local jobs as well as 250 direct Ryanair jobs among pilots, cabin crew and engineers.

Ryanair will operate 270 weekly low fare flights to/from Barcelona El Prat in an investment of over $350 million in the airport. Ryanair’s 20 new routes will be the first low fares routes to/from Barcelona El Prat and will allow the airport to tap into the low fares market, which continues to grow, and which has so far been absent from the airport.

Ryanair celebrated its new Barcelona El Prat base by releasing 1million summer seats from €5 for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on over 500 routes across its European network in June. These summer sale seats are available for booking on www.ryanair.com (http://www.ryanair.com/) until midnight Thursday (27th May).

In Barcelona today, Ryanair’s Michael Cawley said:

“Ryanair is delighted to announce Barcelona El Prat as our 42nd base with 20 new routes from September 2010 which go on sale on www.ryanair.com (http://www.ryanair.com/) tomorrow. Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fare routes from Barcelona El Prat will allow the airport to tap into the low fares market, which is the only market which continues to grow – thanks to Ryanair’s low fares. Barcelona consumers and visitors can beat the recession by choosing Ryanair’s low fares on 20 exciting routes from El Prat to destinations all over Europe including France, Italy and Germany among others. Ryanair’s 2m passengers p.a. will sustain 2,000 jobs locally at Barcelona El Prat Airport.”

20 New Barcelona El Prat routes in 2010 to:
To
Freq
To
Freq
Brussels (Charleroi)
7pw
Oslo (Rygge)
3pw
Cagliari
3pw
Palma
14pw
Dublin
7pw
Paris (Beauvais)
7pw
Dusseldorf (Weeze)
4pw
Rome (Ciampino)
7pw
Edinburgh
3pw
Santander
7pw
Gran Canaria
2pw
Santiago
11pw
Ibiza
7pw
Seville
14pw
Lanzarote
3pw
Tenerife
2pw
Malaga
14pw
Valencia
7pw
Milan (Bergamo)
7pw
Venice (Treviso)
6pw

[MUFC_fan]

Good luck to Spanair, Iberia et al is all I can say!

[BFS101]

Are reductions forcast at Gerona or Reus in relation to the El Prat expansion?? Passengers using Gerona or Reus for a city-break / cruise connection in Barcelona, now able to fly directly to El Prat. Are numbers on these established flights expected to drop, and will capacity be then reduced accordingly??

[MUFC_fan]

A substantial number of passengers do connect into Barcelona for those reasons mentioned but also remember that both Reus and Girona are resorts in their own right during the summer and the latter is also a great access point to the Pyrenees and Andorra.

Their BCN operation initially seems very domestic based therefore assuming that they want to gain more of the Spanish domestic market compared to Girona which has a majority international set up.

I wouldn't bet against Ryanair expanding more into Europe though from it's BCN base.

One destination not mentioned in the launch and that stands out like a sore thumb is STN which I am sure will be one of the second wave expansion announcements along with DUB and HHN.

[positive]

Dub is there on the first wave!

[eu01]

Although creating the base at BCN is not a bad idea, parallel flying to the same destinations has some symptoms of self-cannibalism.

True, during the summer season the routes like CRL to Gerona and CRL to Reus could be almost as attractive as CRL to El Prat, but in winter... I doubt it. Kind of competition FR versus FR. Well, unless some GRO planes are to be redirected to, say, Nantes, St. Etienne, Trieste, Lodz or Lappeenranta. In fact not so many FR airports will be still unconnected to Catalonia.

[davidjohnson6]

MUFC - why would Ryanair want to fly Barcelona-Stansted ?
They already fly from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted to Girona 25 times per week and Luton + Stansted to Reus 8 times per week.
Easyjet fly from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted to Barcelona 8 times per *day* !
Not forgetting BA who fly an additional 8 times per day to Heathrow + City

Yes, Barcelona is a nice place, but at some point, the London-Barcelona route must surely reach saturation point.

Comparing the routes from Barcelona El Prat on Easyjet and Ryanair, the only one with any competition is to Milan Malpensa / Bergamo, and if you stretch the interpretation a bit maybe Dortmund / Weeze.

[MUFC_fan]

MUFC - why would Ryanair want to fly Barcelona-Stansted ?
They already fly from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted to Girona 25 times per week and Luton + Stansted to Reus 8 times per week.
Easyjet fly from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted to Barcelona 8 times per *day* !
Not forgetting BA who fly an additional 8 times per day to Heathrow + City

Yes, Barcelona is a nice place, but at some point, the London-Barcelona route must surely reach saturation point.


I don't understand your point? Since when did Ryanair ever pay attention to capacity and competition? The foundations of the airline are to pile them high, sell them low.

LON-DUB. Enough said.

[davidjohnson6]

MUFC - my point is that there is already a lot of capacity on the London-Barcelona route. Yes, FR does the pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap model well, but they are not immune to basic economics - there's only so many people who will want to fly this route on a given day.

An alternative strategy might be to pick routes where the existing competitors are weaker and have fewer resources (Vueling in this case, which has huge overlap with Ryanair's chosen Barcelona routes) and more likely to cede ground after a year or two of competing with Ryanair.

Setting up a base in BCN also signals to Easyjet that if fares on the UK-Barcelona route get too profitable, Ryanair will get involved (thus destroying some of the profits Easyjet makes at BCN), without it turning into a damaging full-scale fare war.

[airnoc]

Where is ryanair 13th base?

[MUFC_fan]

there's only so many people who will want to fly this route on a given day.


Quite correct, and they are mainly driven by price. Could you see U2 on Bristol-Poznan, Weeze-Gdansk etc?

Ryanair create demand and take away competition from it's competitors because they can offer it cheaper than anybody else.

Simple economics.

[racedo]

Strategy is clearly focused on Internal Spain routes with 80 plus out of 130 flights internal ones.

It makes sense to add on some International routes as that keeps Aena happy and makes a statement on intent.

In relation to Lon - BCN well BA and Easyjet previously had 6-8 flights day from LGW now down to 4 since BA walked away.

Pretty likely some of these routes will drop off but given what Michael Cawley (?) stated that they launch routes without analysing them to death and some will never work but many do.

I don't envisage a pull out from Girona and Reus as all the aiports managed by same group so it will be a matching of routes over time.

[johnnychips]

Just from my own experience (about 8 flights), I would guess at least a quarter, if not a third of FR flight pasengers landing in Girona actually want to go to Barcelona. This doesn't seem good for winter routes from GRO at all, though I do appreciate racedo's point that a lot of flights are internal.

[frfly]

I expect both REU and GRO to go seasonal bases with a massive expansion at BCN if all works out....with up to 20 A/C based there and the biggest FR base after STN. FR will test the waters this winter with 5. As the company is now maturing and rapid growth slows, subsidies on routes will come to an end and we will see FR move to higher yielding routes which will deliver long term profitability and load factors.

Its a shame for GRO more than REU, who have become a major FR base. This cannot be sustained with the expansion of BCN and I expect GRO in the winter will suffer hard.

[james170969]

Does anyone know anything about the routes to and from Ostend? Are they going to happen or not?

[pwalhx]

I wonder given the comments about the airline maturing and subsidies dyeing, which I believe is correct, do you think athe airline will re evaluate the stance it took with some airports such as Manchester and Valencia.

[frfly]

Maybe..however remember that for now the deal still has to be right. MAD and BCN have become FR bases purely due to over capacity new terminal developments have created. Therefore FR are in the driving seat to get fantastic discounts, giving enough time to build up a passenger base.

The deal at MAN and VLC weren't right, although VLC is slowly seeing a build up of routes again with non based A/C.

[racedo]

I wonder given the comments about the airline maturing and subsidies dyeing, which I believe is correct, do you think athe airline will re evaluate the stance it took with some airports such as Manchester and Valencia.

I would say no chance in short term circa 5 years.

If FR went back in and restarted routes up as a base then you give the idea to existing airports that if they did something similar then its only a very short term hit in which cases many airports would do the same thing. The net result would be total chaos.

Never say never as it just business and not personal.

[Facelookbovvered]

When Ryanair say we want X or else then the airport company have to know that they are not bluffing, the first time Ryanair publicly roll over then the business model is down the drain, i suspect most airports would love to tell them to stick it but need the revenue and pax numbers that Ryanair bring in.

I suspect that this in part behind the deal to bring Jet2 in to EMA (owned by Manchester Airport Group) saying no to Ryanair at Manchester is one thing saying it to them at EMA when (if) they upped sticks would leave them with bmibaby, who date have never delivered to any airport the number of aircraft that they said they would wouldn't be clever.

[mickyman]

ASFKAP

Could you enlighten us as to who you are referring too (Airport wise) seeing as you 'know' so much........

MM

[Fancy Navigator]

Interesting and surprising choice for FR to launch a base at BCN.

A bit sad for REU and GRO where FR have done very well (maybe too well indeed). GRO, in particular, has changed so much in the last few years and has seen a dramatic increase in traffic. I am not too sure how the airport authorities there are feeling at the moment.

It seems a bit unclear at this stage whether GRO and REU will be reduced in the future. It looks though as if some "reorganisation" is bound to happen at some point. I personnally can't see GRO and REU compete directly with BCN on some of the internal or italian routes, for example. The only advantage GRO and REU have over BCN is that they are a touch closer to the various resorts, so we might assume these two airports will see more seasonal traffic in the future. As was previously mentioned, GRO is also closer to the Pyrenees, Andorra and Southern France (Perpignan area in particular).

However, we might not know the whole story...Interesting times ahead for these Catalonian airports.

[EI-BUD]

I wouldnt be so concerned for the position of GRO or REU. Barcelona in its own right is a big market and it is fair to say that Ryanair will get after some of its competitors routes to a greater extent. It will probably want to cause some pain to Vueling as the low cost arm of Iberia, in its usual attack on state carriers.

Besides all of that, I would be surprised if Ryanair would not make an entry onto Europes busiest air corridor between Madrid and Barcelona, which both are bases, it would be a big shout for them, 'Ryanair brings low fares to Europes busiest route etc'.

This is yet another EI destination served from Dublin also, and there are not a huge amount of EI destinations served in EU where Ryanair do not compete head to head. I am not sure of the incentives that the spanish airports are offering to Ryanair, but MOL had stated that they significantly reduced charges and in many cases cancelled same to drive tourism, but what happens when this fees holiday comes? Will Ryanair start axing Spanish bases?

EI-BUD

[mickyman]

ASFKAP

Still the same old pontifications without the back-up.....

MM

[racedo]

BBC News - Ryanair swings back into profit (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10201057.stm)

Excellent set of full year results for the airline with overall profits at £289M.

Also plans have been set out to pay a one off Dividend of €500M in October subject to shareholder approval.

I await the doom merchants who forecasting Ryanair results would be horrendous and they would be on verge of going bust.

[dublin_eire]

I can only see things go up for Ryanair as they fine tune the machine. But, for future fleet maintenance/growth and expansion will a deal with Boeing be made eventually do you think? Will they have the balls to make big developments in future?

[befree]

this year they face an extra 300 million euro fuel cost. their average ticket price is now 35 euros so they need an extra 9 million passengers to just pay the extra fuel cost.

the only way FR made more money was the big fall in the fuel cost last year.

They are likly to see less profit this year and long term will get hit by reduced value of the planes. they have to take a loss on teh reduced value when they sell them. last year they sold 3 and expect to sell 10 this year.

[racedo]

this year they face an extra 300 million euro fuel cost. their average ticket price is now 35 euros so they need an extra 9 million passengers to just pay the extra fuel cost.

the only way FR made more money was the big fall in the fuel cost last year.

They are likly to see less profit this year and long term will get hit by reduced value of the planes. they have to take a loss on teh reduced value when they sell them. last year they sold 3 and expect to sell 10 this year.Really against what comparable is this fuel cost increase occuring ?

How will their profit be hurt by reduced value of their planes as they will holding onto them longer thereby freeing up cash to pay dividends.

Each set of results bring out your forecast of doom and its funny reading them.

Still waiting how airline will be 50% of what it was last years.

[Sikpupi]

...giving back €500m in dividends!!!! Why now...????

[davidjohnson6]

Sikpupi - Ryanair go on at length in investor presentations about how much cash they have stored up for a rainy day. If they were to order 100+ new planes, then that money will be used. If Ryanair are not going to order a substantial number of new planes, then it is difficult to see why they need a big pile of cash sitting in a bank account earning next to nothing in interest.

Sure, keep some money in case the company has a bad year and needs to draw on its reserves, but the money ultimately belongs to shareholders not company management and the shareholders other than MOL will find other ways to invest the dividend money more productively than diddly squat annual interest - perhaps some entrepreneur is looking for people to invest some cash to start a low-cost airline in China ?

[Sikpupi]

David Johnson......to me it looks like a good way to get the Share price up - especially if you have a fistful of shares you want to offload soon!!!! Or if you have some Share Options to avail of..it would be handy of shares are rocketing!!

How come they are playing the poor mouth with the Airports over reduced charges and at the same time is dishing out €500m back to shareholders??? They can't expect the usual suspects to pay for this PR excercise....

[davidjohnson6]

Sikpupi - paying a dividend to shareholders is a way of showing that management believe "If we cannot find a good way to invest the money and earn a healthy return, then we will hand it back rather than just keeping it under the matrress".

When a company that previously did not pay a dividend begins doing so, it's showing that this is the way management think. Investors become more confident because it implies that management will only invest money in expansion if they think it will be highly profitable. If management can't make a good profit from expansion, then it is usually better not to expand at all.

Tight cost control is a mark of many a succesful business. Airports all over Europe know that Ryanair is highly profitable and any airport that flirts with Ryanair will likely do their sums very carefully before making any sort of commitment.

[Sikpupi]

David.... putting €1billion money on deposit at minimum 3% is a decent Revenue source and is alot better 'than giving it away to shareholders as we can't get a healthy return on it"!!! C'mon now!!!

There is something in this for 'the lads' and Ryanair DO NOT GIVE THINGS AWAY!! The Airports / Staff / Handlers / Fuellers etc will have to pay for this in the end.

Why not dish some of this 'no good money' to the staff??? The Cabin Crew??? Even €3m of it .... that still leave €497 for shareholders!! Why not drop a waft of 'dumb' charges like Gate Bags etc.

Trust me .... they will be'going to the well' of the airports again soon looking for further deals ..or else!!

[apaul]

'Why not dish some of this 'no good money' to the staff??? The Cabin Crew???'

This is Ryanair we are discussing, not John Lewis.

[pee]

Any competitor acquisitions? Other than Aer Lingus I mean? I know it's not quite what Ryanair likes, but it already happened at least once (Buzz)...

[befree]

Really against what comparable is this fuel cost increase occuring ?

The 300 million euro is a estimate from FRs slides show with their full year results (available as pdf in investor section of website).

part of it is due to 11% rise in operation and part from higher fuel costs (730 euro per tonne from 610 to 630 euros per tonne in year hust gone.

To get their forecast profit they need 11% more pax and 5-10% higher fares.

The value of the airframes is important. They need to sell airframes to manage their rate of growth. This year they get 50 new planes - 23% increase but are only going to grow by 11%. Selling 10 planes reduced the increase in planes to 17%. If they have to sell each plane at 5m euro less then thats 50 million less profit.

Ryanair expects to have 299 planes in 3 years time. It will then have most of its assets tied up in assets that need more maintenance and devalue very quickly.

Ryanair seem to be cutting avergare wages even more.
Staff costs increased by 8% to €335.0m. This reflects a 10% increase in average headcount to 7,032, offset by the impact of, a company wide pay freeze, the higher portion of contract crew operating during the year, and the rise in cabin crew numbers during the year who earn lower than the average salary.

[racedo]

The 300 million euro is a estimate from FRs slides show with their full year results (available as pdf in investor section of website).

part of it is due to 11% rise in operation and part from higher fuel costs (730 euro per tonne from 610 to 630 euros per tonne in year hust gone.

To get their forecast profit they need 11% more pax and 5-10% higher fares.

The value of the airframes is important. They need to sell airframes to manage their rate of growth. This year they get 50 new planes - 23% increase but are only going to grow by 11%. Selling 10 planes reduced the increase in planes to 17%. If they have to sell each plane at 5m euro less then thats 50 million less profit.

Ryanair expects to have 299 planes in 3 years time. It will then have most of its assets tied up in assets that need more maintenance and devalue very quickly.

Ryanair seem to be cutting avergare wages even more.

Per usual you have half read the presentation and ignore everything else.

Like the RBS leased aircraft that are to return this year and early next year, like hedging its currency at a better rate than is currently available so making fuel and aircraft purchases even better.

You quote a 5-10% fare increase ?
Which is it ? 5 or 10% ?

As for cutting average wages did you ignore the bit about the rise in cabin crew numbers who are of course paid less than flight crew.

As for needing to sell aircraft well lets see they have bought them at a really good Euro - Dollar exchange rate and given the weak underlying performance of the Euro then future sales which primarily in aircraft sales are denominted in $$$ will be better.

Think I will avoid your predictions as you keep forecasting Ryanair's demise and guess what it ain't happening.

[Random Flyer]

Do Ryanair still offer free wifi on flights? If so, how many aircraft are currently wifi enabled? Thanks.

[aidoair]

As far as I am aware Ryanair have never offered wifi on flights, yet alone 'free'! It is ryanair we are talking about here yes? Why would Ryanair offer a free service? It's just not their business model...

They do have a small number of aircraft equipt with 'onAir' mobile phone usuage technology where you are able to make voice calls and texts only when permitted to do so. Though even this has had a set back as a new provider was to be found, not sure if they have sorted that now.

[Random Flyer]

They do have a small number of aircraft equipt with 'onAir' mobile phone usuage technology where you are able to make voice calls and texts only when permitted to do so. Though even this has had a set back as a new provider was to be found, not sure if they have sorted that now.


Maybe it was this?! I just remember cabin announcments about being able to use mobiles onboard.

[FR-]

Guys you really to check ryanair.com for news. The OnAir phone system was stopped over a month ago, due to on air not being able to work with ryanair. It was on however about 30 a/c. The service did really well on italian based a/c.

[befree]

racedo said
You quote a 5-10% fare increase ?
Which is it ? 5 or 10% ?

you will find this is what ryanair said. It is there estimate and needed for them to make the estimated profits.

While you are correct that a strong $ against the Euro helps when they sell planes it hurts big time when they buy fuel.

I am not forecasting Ryanair's demise as it can operate at a loss for many years on its asset base. What I am expecting is that it will make less profit this year and go into losses or only tiny profits in later years. Its average fare is too low to make a profit at higher oil prices. The only way oil price is going down is if we have a big downturn.

[mickyman]

ASFKAP

Oh dear me Ryanair continue to buck the trend - one Irishman
that can run an airline and make a profit at the same time -whatever
next......

Befree:

The optimism of your negative view is nearly as sarcastic as ASFKAP´s -
beware of´playing the airline game´with a pre-determined outcome!

MM

[racedo]

you will find this is what ryanair said. It is there estimate and needed for them to make the estimated profits.

While you are correct that a strong $ against the Euro helps when they sell planes it hurts big time when they buy fuel.

I am not forecasting Ryanair's demise as it can operate at a loss for many years on its asset base. What I am expecting is that it will make less profit this year and go into losses or only tiny profits in later years. Its average fare is too low to make a profit at higher oil prices. The only way oil price is going down is if we have a big downturn.


You start of the premise that management do nothing which is why time and again your attempt at forecasting Ryanair's demise is such a crock of sugar.

Ryanair has shown itself again and again to have people quickly willing and able to grasp at ideas and plans which years ago were unthought about. Not all of them work but then again nobody would expect that.

One only has to look at post 9/11 where they got people back on planes quickly when the industry faced meltdown or talking to boeing when everybody else was cancelling orders.

LUCK doesn't just happen which is why your forecasts are laughable as there is such a negativity that you fail to grasp that management can actually manage. They make mistakes but then again their recovery makes up for it. Keep providing the humourous forecasts.

[befree]

Ryanair need to fill 11% extra seats and rise seat prices to cope with higher fuel costs. They also face a big drop in pax at Dublin. Spending cuts around Europe will mean a lot less state or council aid to regional airports. The more FR have to pull out of airports that need to charge real landing fees the more planes they need to find new homes.

Ryanair putting up revenue per pax by 5-10% will be a big change for the airline. It will lead to a few less people flying and a few going with better airlines. The ash problems showed many that it was better to pay a bit more and get looked after when airspace was closed.

While BA is in self harm mode, ryanair will do ok but we will then have a hard winter for the industry.

[rouelan]

Quote :
This year they get 50 new planes - 23% increase but are only going to grow by 11%.

Beware, Ryanair are growing much more than that in terms of seat kilometers because there is a huge increase of average stage length. Which is also a good reason to increase average fares per pax.

[Jamezon]

Apologies if this is a noob question. Have all Ryanair's winter 10/11 schedules been loaded? I ask as there is nothing on for STN-PIK, yet there are other STN routes available after Oct 30th? Thanks. Seems an unlikely route for the chop. :confused:

[daz211]

I would say no, I'm still waiting for STN-LPA to be loaded, Easyjet have has LGW-LPA loaded for ages, Someone at Ryanair needs to sort this out because people are more than ready to start booking there winter sun holidays, I have been tempted to book with Easyjet out of LGW but live very close to STN but I'm sure other people would have gone and booked elsewhere. I would have thought that the winter sun destinations should be the first to be loaded at the very latest 01 May. Come on Ryanair sort it out.

[james170969]

I received a message from someone yesterday to say that he couldn't book a flight from Prestwick to Charleroi in November. I hope that some routes are still to be loaded on to the booking system. I can't see Ryanair dropping this and the Stansted routes.

[Jamezon]

One would think that it would make sense to open for bookings at the start of the previous season... i.e. winter bookings 10/11 opening around the start of summer 10...or maybe that's just me hoping! I get different airlines/seasons/routes/years are all different but is a basic commuter route. I only ask as I am flying on (the last) PIK-BUD flight on 27/10 and ideally would prefer to return to PIK for the car, so EJ/BA/BMI to GLA are out. :) Returning to my previous point, are there any negatives to releasing a schedule 5-6 months in advance, seems to me it could only be positive re. advance bookings and an opportunity to weed out any potential weak links in that regard? If anyone has the inside track on FR scheduling, feel free to share! (esp. re. PIK 10/11 flights haha)

[Charlie Roy]

I'm still waiting for STN-LPA to be loaded

It's loaded ;)

[daz211]

Thanks Charlie Roy.
Looks like someone at Ryanair was reading this thread ;).
More than likely it happened by chance...

[FR-]

trust me someone does read this forum daz, but not to listen to the crap which 90% of it is, but to check if someone is giving out company information.

[daz211]

O good, well if they are still reading, forget about more B738's and get some
newish 777's or something that can take me to the US of A or Asia...:}.
Ooops guess thats me into the 90% ...:{.

[Sober Lark]

It's all PR FR- isn't it?

What time does FR clock off at? But, Leo, seriously great job on that €20m. Hope you'll top up and enjoy that cellar of wonder pretty soon.

[Carmoisine]

During a court case commonly known as the REPA court case the judge had the following to say about two Ryanair executives, a Base Captain and the Director of Flight Ops respectively:

On some of Eddie Wilson's evidence: "baseless and false"

and on some of Warwick Brady's: “I find this to be false evidence”

and on Jack Bagnall: “supercilious attitude” in the witness box

and of course David O'Brien: his "professed delicacy of feeling" was found to be "less than sincere"

You can come to your own conclusions about the company culture at the Whitehouse.

Over to you Leo.

[Callsign Kilo]

Stories about FR being 'economical' with the truth are hardly anything new on this forum, let alone the wider media. A leopard won't change it's spots and all that...People prefer reading about MOL and his pals getting up to no good

[OliWW]

Frankfurt - Kos
Frankfurt - Volos
Milan - Kos
Milan - Volos
Milan - Rhodes
Pisa - Rhodes

now appearing on the website

[FR-]

Old news oliww. . . i wonder what will be the next flights to greece and where from.

[racedo]

Ryanair need to fill 11% extra seats and rise seat prices to cope with higher fuel costs. They also face a big drop in pax at Dublin. Spending cuts around Europe will mean a lot less state or council aid to regional airports. The more FR have to pull out of airports that need to charge real landing fees the more planes they need to find new homes.

Ryanair putting up revenue per pax by 5-10% will be a big change for the airline. It will lead to a few less people flying and a few going with better airlines. The ash problems showed many that it was better to pay a bit more and get looked after when airspace was closed.
Nope they don't need to rise at all. Reduction in level of deep discounted promotions has been occuring for some time and its pretty obvious that the 1p promotions of last year haven't been occuring this year.

You ignore completely load factor where the impact of a 0.5% increase massively increases revenue and of course try to suggest that fares will rise where as they state that in flying longer sectors it occurs naturally.

As for you comment about Dublin:ugh:, you really are out of touch when suggesting they face a big drop in Dublin as it has happened over last 12 months with all airlines and been noted as such a long long time ago.

The attempt to claim that reduced state spending will harm them is not borne out by increased passenger numbers up by 4.5% since beginning of the year to 68.3 Million or year on year up by 14.6% but then again no doubt you subscribe to the Air France claim with pretty much little proof.

Using Easyjet as a comparison for same time period the figure are up by 6.2% year on year to 47.2 Million and up 2.5% since December.

[befree]

Ryanair in their own outlook comments say they expect revenue per pax to rise 5 to 10% this year. That is part of how they expect to make a simular profit when they expect fuel costs to rise 300 million euros.

Ryanair state what there average revenue per pax and average fare each time the bring out results. These have been falling for years and the reduction in 1p fares has been balanced out by far longer periods of lower fares. They are also not able to charge the peak seasion fares they once managed. Ryanair have been moving down market.

They pay so little tax that increased in airport departure taxes look likely.

[racedo]

Ryanair in their own outlook comments say they expect revenue per pax to rise 5 to 10% this year. That is part of how they expect to make a simular profit when they expect fuel costs to rise 300 million euros.

Ryanair state what there average revenue per pax and average fare each time the bring out results. These have been falling for years and the reduction in 1p fares has been balanced out by far longer periods of lower fares. They are also not able to charge the peak seasion fares they once managed. Ryanair have been moving down market.

They pay so little tax that increased in airport departure taxes look likely.

I see the now clutching of straws going on.

Companies who invest in Capital Equipment pay little if any tax as they get substantial allowances for investing................thats always being the way so the idea that its related to Airport departure tax is nonsensical.

As for being unable to charge the previously did during peak periods well given that you have provided nothing to support that i willput it there with the forecasts you keep making.

Perhaps you need to overcome your desire for FR to lose money with the reality as again and again your forecast their demise like a latter day Cassandra and none come to pass.

[racedo]

Who said they are not spending on capital for the next couple of years ?

[pee]

At least this analysis says: Ryanair Will Be Back For More Boeing 737s (http://www.glgroup.com/News/Ryanair-Will-Be-Back-For-More-Boeing-737s-48754.html)

[potash]

Even moll is not that stupid to buy from the yanks at the present rate of exchange unless another globle melt down lets fr puchase at half price again :=

[boeing767]

It seems that Ryanair is to open a base at Copenhagen as we have some slots allocated in Eindhoven:
13:55-14:20 FR8414/8415 CPH/CPH 1234567

Slots don't confirm that it will happen, but the chance is there I guess.

[tro2906]

Tomorrow is a press conference at Weeze airport. Has anyone an idea which new routes will be announced. The invitation says that FR has some surprises ???

[Jippie]

A few months ago there was a rumour that Weeze would get 4 extra planes.
It wouldn´t surprise me if they announce them tomorrow.

[pee]

Today the talks are being hold between Ryanair and the Kharkiv airport authorities, according to the Ukrainian press (http://dozor.kharkov.ua/city/dorogi-transport/1068909.html) (it's great to be able to understand some Russian, btw ;)). There is a vast potential in the region, Kharkiv alone has a 1,5 million population. But, as Ryanair's Mairead Dooley-Byrne has stressed, Ukraine needs to lower its airport charges and has yet to implement the Open Skies agreement.
An other newspaper (http://most-kharkov.info/week/news/23462.html) publishes the short interview with Mike Howarth, founder of Routes Development Group (RDG). In his opinion "contracts could be signed in the coming months, even tomorrow - it's not clear."

Here in Finland, flights from Lappeenranta to NRN depart (still just twice a week) with LF's up to 100%. Russians are also buying FR tickets from Tampere to Malaga, despite pretty high fares there. The first flight on June 25th has only two free seats left. Amazing, isn't it?

Why on Earth didn't FR get it to sell Russians any of their Catalonian destinations? Just wondering...

[virginblue]

Tomorrow is a press conference at Weeze airport. Has anyone an idea which new routes will be announced. The invitation says that FR has some surprises ???

Maybe that they will axe all German bases if the new aviation tax that was just announced will be implemented?

[EKCH2730]

It seems that Ryanair is to open a base at Copenhagen as we have some slots allocated in Eindhoven:
13:55-14:20 FR8414/8415 CPH/CPH 1234567

Slots don't confirm that it will happen, but the chance is there I guess.

Very interesting! There has for a while been rumours about the possibility of a Ryanair base at CPH. Most likely when the new CPH SWIFT LCC terminal opens in October this year.

From what I have heard CPH and Ryanair have already agreed on the economical terms of using the airport - the problem for Ryanair is to get a handling contract as the Danish unions tries to block the entry of Ryanair as much as they can...

When are the slots they have requested for the CPH flights at EIN valid from - end of October 2010?

Has anyone else heard anything about a CPH base? There must be slots requested at other airports besides EIN for flights to CPH. It will be interesting to follow the development of this in the coming months...

[GnRdL]

Two new routes from NRN to MAD & MRS and more frequencies to BGY and TSF.

Source: Airport Weeze (http://www.airport-weeze.de/pressemeldungen/2010-09-06.php?lang=en)

[befree]

Maybe that they will axe all German bases if the new aviation tax that was just announced will be implemented?

If the germans are to take a billion euros in aviation tax then the rest of the EU will follow. Unless you are an island it is very hard to be the only country to add a departure tax. A ten euro tax per pax seems likely aroudn most of EU. It will hit Ryanair harder than most as its average revenue per pax is about 45 euros.

Ryanair may pay almost no tax at home but would be good source for funding governemnts.

[eu01]

Less than a month ago Ryanair started a new route, its first ever connection to a very new and built on a grand scale airport in Central Spain, Ciudad Real. Well, it will possibly become a benchmark for short-lastingness in the FR network. Namely, Ryanair is axing the route as of 22nd June and abandoning this airport completely. Its brand new 4,000 m (13,123 ft) long runway and mid-sized modern terminal will be left empty. Over 1 bln € budget, the bills yet to be paid. Is our European economy even more sick than we are able to realize?

[racedo]

If the germans are to take a billion euros in aviation tax then the rest of the EU will follow. Unless you are an island it is very hard to be the only country to add a departure tax. A ten euro tax per pax seems likely aroudn most of EU. It will hit Ryanair harder than most as its average revenue per pax is about 45 euros.

Ryanair may pay almost no tax at home but would be good source for funding governemnts.


"A €10 air travel tax, which will come into effect from 30 March {2009}, will apply to all Irish airports. "

Ireland delivers gloomy budget - Times Online (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article4944427.ece)

[boyzinblue]

Ciudad Real - I believe that airport company has gone into liquidation - thats probably the resaon FR are leaving

[Nakata77]

Rumour on BOH thread that due to FR not releasing schedules from there, it is unlikely that any winter flights will operate

this is a 2 aircraft base

any foundation to this rumour and if so why? BOH has performed well since 1996 - how can it now be suffering more than any other base/uk airport?

Is it more political between MAG and FR management?

[Charlie Roy]

Bologna to Fez, Lanzarote, Marrakesh, Tenerife and Zaragoza.

[EuroWings]

A €10 travel tax looks small change when compared with some of the "optional charges" and fines that Ryanair gouge from the hapless punters.....

These 'punters' are certainly not 'hapless' if they have agreed to all the conditions on the website. I am not a massive fan of FR but that is unfair. FR is always a special case with their fees but with a bit of nous you can avoid them. While I don't agree with some fees particularly the online check-in, basically they are still cheaper on a lot of occasions (not all) if you follow the rules..:cool:

Rumour on BOH thread that due to FR not releasing schedules from there, it is unlikely that any winter flights will operate

I think they have messed about with BOH quite a lot. Changing routes, frequencies. However if it is a dispute with MAG (Man. Airport group) then surely EMA would also be in the firing line...

[h&s]

BOH has performed well since 1996


good one lol

[Justin Cyder-Belvoir]

Airport charges, whether it is FR, U2 or BA, are negotiable. That is life in our "free economy"

If any airline can agree free, or subsidised, charges I can't see the problem: no airlines, no revenue...see DSA.

If airline X is bringing A million passengers per year and airline Y is bringing A million less 900,000 do you really believe that they would receive similar discounts?

If I bring 1.2 million passengers to your airport, and the next airline brings brings 200 000, do you really think that I have no leverage? Economic reality, dear boy.

[james170969]

Well said ASFKAP!
btw "United States of Europe" - what a vile thought!

[Amelia Earhart]

These 'punters' are certainly not 'hapless' if they have agreed to all the conditions on the website.

And can I purchase a flight without agreeing to all the conditions? No! So therefore I have no more "agreed" to the conditions than a bank clerk "agrees" to hand money to an armed robber.

(For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not saying Ryanair rob their customers, I'm just saying duress is not agreement).

[shamrock7seal]

Ryanair Please Stop Messing With Boh

We Need Firm Schedules
We Need More Routes
We Need More Than Just Spain/canaries
There Are Boundless Opportunities
You Could Make 5 Aircraft Base Work, So Whats The Problem!?

I Need To Book My Winter Flights But Nothing Is Available! If Not Loaded Soon I Have To Book Via A Different Airport

[Skipness One Echo]

There Are Boundless Opportunities
You Could Make 5 Aircraft Base Work, So Whats The Problem!?


Perhaps there are more profitable opportunities abroad? easyJet seem to be doing the same. Filling aircraft can be radically different from making any money.

[mickyman]

ASFKAP

Yet again you tell the airline what they are doing wrong and
what they should change - as an ex-employee you should be
able to come to terms with your departure and stop knocking
the airline - makes you out to be a sore person.

MM

[EuroWings]

And can I purchase a flight without agreeing to all the conditions? No! So therefore I have no more "agreed" to the conditions than a bank clerk "agrees" to hand money to an armed robber.

Yes, that is true, but if you don't like what you see in the conditions no one is forcing you to book with FR! If a robber is demanding money then that is a different story entirely...:E

[EuroWings]

And five euros per person per sector credit card handling charge although its only one CC transaction, or €40 to reprint a boarding card, isn't robbery.....?

Prepaid Mastercard. Print Boarding Pass. No Fines, no fees.
It's a business model, to extract as much money through 'ancillary revenues' from each customer possible. Whether you agree with it or not, they will still do it and frankly I don't think they care. However if you are wise, you can still get really low fares.

When people ask me about FR, I always say it's a special case, unlike any other airline. Treat with caution and make sure you stick to the rules. If you don't want the 'stress', fly with someone else.......:E

[EGAC_Ramper]

Choices exist......... unlike burglars who give you NO choice....!!

[45989]

Perhaps a certain south based commentator on this site would like to expound or elaborate on why ryr's mouthpiece disposed of 1,000,000 shares last week (June 11)?
Holding now only a mere 240,588 shares
A vote of confidence in his leader's direction or style perhaps?

[Noxegon]

Prepaid Mastercard.

...which costs a few percent on the transaction. Probably less than €5 for most FR flights, but not exactly non-existent.

[positive]

Why can I book Dublin to Malaga up until end of march 2011 but can only book Malaga to Dublin for a 5 day period over Xmas no other dates are available either side of this 5 day period other routes from Malaga are available to book till March 2011

[dombeaumont]

Has anybody experienced this before:

My friend and his family booked on to the lpl - szz flight tomorrow afternoon with ryanair. The money was taken from their account and got theyre booking reference, but then refunded one month later back into their account with no explanation or information given by ryanair, now they tried to check-in online this weekend and the boof ref is not recognised.

They dont understand what happened, any body has a similar situation happen before? any advice would be very appreciated.

[ara01jbb]

...which costs a few percent on the transaction. Probably less than €5 for most FR flights, but not exactly non-existent.

Without advertising the name, there is at least one online payment service that offers Prepaid Mastercards that free to join, free to deposit (by bank transfer), free to use online. Drop me a line and I might even send you a referral to get 10% bonus on your first deposit :ok:

[EuroWings]

...which costs a few percent on the transaction. Probably less than €5 for most FR flights, but not exactly non-existent.

I don't pay any additional fees with mine. Refer to the post above. :ok:

[jferreira20]

New routes from Porto:

Barcelona (14pw)
Maastricht and Bremen (2pw)
Marrakesh, Valencia, Memmingen and Bologna (3pw)

[Sober Lark]

ASFKAP, that you tube video you posted really shows why we should encourage the building of separate and preferably remote low cost terminals.

[Tom the Tenor]

Tuppence ha'penny looking down on tuppence.

[Charlie Roy]

Charleroi to Gothenburg
Charleroi to Lappeenranta
Charleroi Verona
Verona to Cagliari
Verona to Stansted

[airhumberside]

Are those Verona routes replacing or supplementing Brescia flights. Rather odd that the two FR routes from VBS are Cagliari and Stansted

[jdcg]

Only the Charleroi route is in the booking engine and route map so far...

[Charlie Roy]

Are those Verona routes replacing or supplementing Brescia flights. Rather odd that the two FR routes from VBS are Cagliari and Stansted

Caglaria - Verona will definately replace Cagliari - Brescia:
Al Catullo inizia l’era Ryanair A Parigi e Londra per pochi euro - Corriere del Veneto (http://corrieredelveneto.corriere.it/veneto/notizie/cronaca/2010/16-giugno-2010/ryanair-cambia-tratta-cagliari-brescia-ottobre-si-sbarchera-verona-1703212219601.shtml)

I'm guessing Stansted - Verona will also replace Stansted - Brescia and that Brescia will disappear from the Ryanair route map come winter :ouch:

[jdcg]

A bit of a shame for the good folk of Brescia who've supported the route for so long. But my understanding is that both Verona and Brescia airports are under the same ownership so I suppose they're gtting a bit more desperate for business at the former and are willing to focus on just cargo at the latter.

[anna_list]

This link lists the destinations for which Ryanair have allegedly requested slots at CPH for this winter. Please note that applying for a slot does not necessarily mean that an airline has any intention of operating the route.
Ryanair har kurs mod København (http://www.boarding.dk/newselement.cfm?nNewsArticleID=28651)

Belgium: Charleroi
Finland: Lappeenranta, Tampere
France: Montpellier
Netherlands: Eindhoven
Italy: Brindisi, Pisa, Rome-Ciampino
Morocco: Fez
Norway: Haugesund
Spain: Alicante, Jerez de la Frontera, Madrid, Malaga, Reus, Santander
UK: Edinburgh, Liverpool, Prestwick
Ireland: Dublin, Shannon
Germany: Dresden (?) and Leipzig

[Telstar]

There was a strong persistant rumour amongst crews that Valencia was to reopen and this seems to be quite likely as Cabin Crew who were previously based there have been contacted to express an interest in returning possibly in October should the base reopen.

Apparently the fuel and handling companies in CPH are trying to resist supplying any services to Ryanair as a non union/anti union airline. This may or may not be legal under Danish law and is I believe one if not more of the major barriers to this base happening.

[GnRdL]

rumours, crews... all is the same

[dublinaviator]

This link lists the destinations for which Ryanair have allegedly requested slots at CPH for this winter. Please note that applying for a slot does not necessarily mean that an airline has any intention of operating the route.
Ryanair har kurs mod København (http://www.boarding.dk/newselement.cfm?nNewsArticleID=28651)

Belgium: Charleroi
Finland: Lappeenranta, Tampere
France: Montpellier
Netherlands: Eindhoven
Italy: Brindisi, Pisa, Rome-Ciampino
Morocco: Fez
Norway: Haugesund
Spain: Alicante, Jerez de la Frontera, Madrid, Malaga, Reus, Santander
Britain and Ireland: Dublin, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Prestwick, Shannon
Germany: Dresden (?) and Leipzig

Funny how you list every other country separately, but for some reason group Britain & Ireland together?

[Based]

Funny how you list every other country separately, but for some reason group Britain & Ireland together?

Not anna_list, that's how the linked article was written.

[dublinaviator]

Fair enough. Just bad reporting so.

[wowzz]

dublinaviator - you seem a bit sensitive!

[shamrock7seal]

Ryanair not operating anything this winter.

time for easyJet to step in

[INKJET]

It would appear that Ryanair are increasingly focusing on profitability than growth, the number of Ryanair aircraft parked up for a large part of the day (June is a slow month) at airport around Europe is the most i have ever seen.

I have no doubt that they will be flying their socks of in July/Aug/September but with more and more paid by the block hour pilots it must be of concern about income levels in the shoulder and winter periods.

I spoke with one pilot who had lost 7 sectors to training requirement in one month at a cost of over £1500.00 with no compensation (what did he expect?)

I think that they will be very profitable this year maybe as much $1.5bn so it shows you can make money in aviation if you think outside the box

[davidjohnson6]

June is a slow month

June is usually Ryanair's 5th busiest month of the year

[commencenowdescend]

Come on Ryanair! someone get us out of our misery!! please!
Is Ryanair pulling out of Bournemouth all together? What the h.. is going on?

[bigdaviet]

In response to the question re mortgages etc...

Personally I have never had any problems. At the initial application stage the 'self employed' status has caused concerns, but Brookfield have been happy to provide references as to the nature of my employment and following this I have never had any problems.

[Skipness One Echo]

Funny how you list every other country separately, but for some reason group Britain & Ireland together?

Well we like to call 'em the British Isles so kinda makes sense. (lights blue touch paper and backs away ever so slowly....)

It seems that PIK is about to lose it's last UK Domestic as the STN route is being dumped at the end of the summer season. From ten flights daily to squawt in a few years. What a shame.

[ryanair1]

we are having problems filling the B738 on routes that traditionally are domestic or short-hops.

currently evaluating two options: 1) total withdrawal from short hop/domestic routes apart from IRE-GBR in favour of longer sectors in the short terms and 2) an additional fleet type such as Emb 195 or the MRJ90 but that would not be overnight for the shorter hops and to take over the IRE-GBR market eventually.

sorry for poorly written english, busy working lunch!

[MARKEYD]

Ryanair 1

Just wondered on your views of the problem down at Bournemouth at the moment ?

What started as a big leap in faith by Ryanair with the airport placing CAT 3 landing in , and a new terminal at the airport and to have 2 based aircraft this summer with good loads to a range of popular sunny destinations in the med , to now possibly being prepared for a possible with drawl of the operation completely ?

Thanks in advance

[BFS101]

It seems that PIK is about to lose it's last UK Domestic

PIK - BHD still operating for winter

[sawtooth]

Ryanair1: currently evaluating two options:
If true this is the first time I've seen mention of FR evaluation new aircraft type, makes sense as they transition out of the high growth phase and look to more traditional commuter airports.

I would have thought the C Series 100/300 to be a great fit for a FR sub-fleet and arriving at the right time in need of a large backer.

[danielmellor]

Prestwick - City of Derry will also be operating :8

[Stevek]

Well we like to call 'em the British Isles so kinda makes sense.

Who likes to call it the British Isles exactly? I think you'll find that terms use is greatly discouraged.:ok:

[dwlpl]

People such as teachers of Geography with it being a Geographical term.

[Stevek]

Britain includes England, Scotland and Wales. Britain does not include any part of the island of Ireland. The United Kingdom, however, includes the six counties of Northern Ireland.

Therefore to be geographically correct it should be refereed to as Britain and Ireland. Simple really.

[pwalhx]

Incorrect the British isles are the Island containing England, Wales and Scotland, thes island of Ireland and assorted smaller islands (apologies to them I just dont want to type a long list)

[Stevek]

Jayzus, I didn't know we were invaded again. Good work lads. :rolleyes:

The I've heard a few reliable rumblings from DAA that the Copenhagen base will be announced shortly. :ok: Ryanair will also be offering a few other new winter routes in DUB for a change this year.

[dublin_eire]

Dil ireann - Volume 606 - 28 September, 2005 - Written Answers - Official Terms. (http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/D/0606/D.0606.200509280360.html)

The British Isles is not an officially recognised term in any legal or inter-governmental sense. It is without any official status. The Government, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, does not use this term. as said by Minister Dermot Ahern

Ireland is a country now in its own right. If you'd like to use antiquated terms that is for you to decide but that's the official line on it and indeed the line of its citizens.

[en2r]

Dil ireann - Volume 606 - 28 September, 2005 - Written Answers - Official Terms. (http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/D/0606/D.0606.200509280360.html)

Quote:
The British Isles is not an officially recognised term in any legal or inter-governmental sense. It is without any official status. The Government, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, does not use this term.
as said by Minister Dermot Ahern

Ireland is a country now in its own right. If you'd like to use antiquated terms that is for you to decide but that's the official line on it and indeed the line of its citizens.
Well said!!!

[racedo]

Ah the good old British Isles remark designed to enflame the situation.

2 minor islands off the coast of Europe.

[Sober Lark]

I think we have a situational awareness crisis here. Apparently pilots don't even have to know a great deal about geography these days but don't tell the PAX.

If you really want to wind up the four or five previous posters here, refer to Great Britain as the mainland. But, it could be worse. I heard a recent French TV presenter comment that Ryanair was French. Brilliant marketing all the same.

[Tom the Tenor]

Domestic and short hops and the option of trying out smaller frames as the 189 seaters are too big for these kinds of routes.

Let us tease out this idea a little more - so would it be 99 seaters or 130 seaters?

[dwlpl]

I take it there has been a reciprocal name change to the Irish Sea and its now known as Greater Liverpool Bay. :ok:

[LPFR]

They will not evaluate another ac type, but they could take the 737-700 for those domestic and thiner routes. Same thing as 737-800 just smaller, with 148 seats...

[FA10]

As long as the -800 is available they will never take any other airframe into the operation:
The whole FR-system depends on flexibility. If one aircraft at base A needs to go into maintenance, it is simply changed out at a 25min turnaround at base B. The same thing happens if an aircraft goes tech - spare is shuffled in within a couple of hours.

In short term planning a -700 might be an option - but what happens, when economy in Europe starts to go up again? The just-arriving -700 will be too small and they exactly have the problem as described in line 3.

FA10

[Jippie]

Today the so called 'alderstafel' published their advice about the future of Eindhoven Airport. Although it is an advice it is more or less the future.
They mention Eindhoven will be allowed to have 4 based planes flying between 07:00 and 24:00. 4 is the minimum number needed for a carrier to start a base at Eindhoven; this can only be Ryanair. I expect a 4 A/C Ryanair base at EIN when those plans are all reality. Probably S11 or W11. Furthermore; Ryanair requested for this winter more slots then Eindhoven has to offer (because of noise constraints), so I expect some significant growth at Eindhoven once there are more flights allowed.

[airhumberside]

What about Transavia's existing base. Is it 4 extra aircraft in addition to what they already base at Eindhoven? And surely there is the chance they would want to expand, giving FR some competition for this 'based aircraft allowance'

[Jippie]

Well, it is always allowed to base your plane at Eindhoven. Cityjet does so for their LCY flights and Transavia as well in the winter.
However at the moment the opening hours of Eindhoven are fairly restricted thus it does not allow to base an airplane and fly it efficient. That's why Transavia only does it in the winter, they've got more then enough planes then so it doesn't matter when it's parked up for hours at Eindhoven everyday.

The advice of Alders specifically mentions a 'home carrier', I can not imagine this is Transavia. They can't really compete with Ryanair and are in a different segment, for Ryanair however 4 based planes seems nice to start with.

[EI-BUD]

With regard to comments that Ryanair will never consider another type I would strongly disagree. Many would say it is conventional thinking that loco's typically dont operate more than 1 type. However, in these times the rules book is out the window. No other LOCO at the scale of Ryanair operate a complete fleet of 189 seats, eg Southwest who have variety of variants, Easyjet also who have a mix of sizes of airbus.

What would be to stop Ryanair from setting up a separate entity operating say C series, or another 100 seat aircraft. This would allow Ryanair to profitably compete with companies such as Flybe or Aer Arann (yes Ryanair can compete with these but on thinner routes they will lose money when faced with multi daily frequencies) eg Cork Dublin.

A separate entity which if it had the operational flexibility in the areas of Staff cost and flexibility, low cost in terms of airport deals, and the same focus on cost base as Ryanair, use of the existing Ryanair systems for IT reservations, offices and management combined with a strong deal on aircraft cost eg big deal for C Series, Embraer etc would mean effectively they could open up a whole new market for themselves that hitherto they could not operate at an adequate return.

Any level of success on short routes by Aer Lingus Regional may be an additional motivator as succeeding on some of the existing routes may drive Ryanair to come up with a smaller type to compete more effectively.

Eg of Routes where good passenger numbers existed but were not sustainable due to 738 being too big;
Blackpool- London Stansted (100k pax per annum)
Prestwick- Belfast City (not sustainable at x2 daily on 738)
Prestwick- London Stansted (rumoured to be being axed) (some months in excess of 25k passnegers?)


Dublin - many UK regional routes were axed for various reasons
eg Dublin Humberside ... not sustainable yet loads of 50%, would smaller type make the yield management sys more sustainable?
Dublin Cardiff... a dispute with the airport about fees but big part of the issue was the profitability of the route 738 too big
there are many many examples.

How many extra passengers could Ryanair deliver per annum profitably on a smaller type?

EI-BUD

[WHBM]

With regard to comments that Ryanair will never consider another type I would strongly disagree. Many would say it is conventional thinking that loco's typically dont operate more than 1 type.
Not so, certainly among the larger ones.

Southwest have a fleet of smaller and fully depreciated 737-500s that get used on startup routes or where there is a high business demand which needs frequency. AirTran have both 717s and 737-700s. Easy have had a range of types but are now building A320s to add to their smaller A319s.

Ryanair, having gone for a larger aircraft than any of these (so not following the "conventional" thinking) now need to fill them, which leads to lower frequency and that in turn puts off business travellers. An aircraft 2/3 the size would serve them well. There's not a huge scope left across Europe now for 189 seaters.

[jferreira20]

Spanish press is announcing that Ryanair wants to expand in Andalucia, after the opening of Malaga's base. Next objective: Sevilla.

[jferreira20]

New base: Valencia

Market News (http://www.ise.ie/app/announcementDetails.asp?ID=10544267)

[toledoashley]

I wonder if this means that non-based aircraft flying into Valencia will increase as well?

[jferreira20]

About Valencia. The answer is no. Actually Valencia has more routes that it had when it was a base.

They announced just 10 new routes.

________________

Michael Cawley promised today in Valencia 4 big announcements for the next weeks. He also said that there are important airports that aren't yet used by Ryanair, like Lisbon and Amsterdam.

I would bet in four new bases: Copenhagen, Eindhoven, Las Palmas or Tenerife and Berlin.

[toledoashley]

I agree with Eindhoven and Copenhagen. It would be interesting to see a Canaries base, but I would really have doubts on entering Berlin.

[jferreira20]

Yes, Berlin is the airport that I'm less sure.

[toledoashley]

Would Memmingen be more attreactive as a base at the moment as nearly every route annoucement involves 'Munich West'. It seems certain that Seville will also become a base as well.

[WallyWumpus]

Las Palmas, Palma Mallorca and Seville would be my guess for the coming few weeks.

[Skipness One Echo]

Just trying to make sense of the numbers. How many do they have in total? The website is greatly confusing as it's Ryanair PR and we see Valencia as the 43rd base even though it was also the 22nd before they shut it. Malta and Barcelona are both claimed as number 42, so.....how many do they have today?

Aside from VLC how many confirmed upcoming? And was VLC the only one to close?

[Jamie2k9]

Germany recently interduced a Travel Tax of between 8 - 14 euro's. Ryanair have said they will cut routes from countries with travel taxs but not yet with Germany. Ryanair did not expect Germany to impose a tax and since that Ryanair have been very quiet about the tax.

There issuei is with Irish and DAA and there charges.

For summer Ryanair stated they would have 15 bases ac in Dublin but they have 18 ac based so the cuts which they announce are never as bad as they state.

[wind check]

what's going on with the potential frnech bases? are they gonna get some more french bases or are the gonna close Marseil eventualy?

What bases is the most difficult to get as a pilot? the most desired one I mean.

[Callsign Kilo]

What bases is the most difficult to get as a pilot? the most desired one I mean.

Dublin if you are Irish
Stansted if you are from London
Skavska if you are a Swede
Madrid if you are from Madrid....................get the picture?

[Charlie Roy]

Just trying to make sense of the numbers. How many do they have in total? The website is greatly confusing as it's Ryanair PR and we see Valencia as the 43rd base even though it was also the 22nd before they shut it.

Indeed, it would be nice to see the list from 1 to 43 sometime. Lübeck was once announced as the 13th base or something like that, but then never went ahead...

[racedo]

Does anybody look at the Ryanair website and look at Route Map icon where it highlights the bases in RED.

[johnnychips]

After 12 attempts and squinting, I finally made it 42 racedo - is that right? :bored:

[apaul]

Apparently the police provided water and some food to passengers stuck on a Ryanair plane at Prestwick for 6 hours yesterday. Chocs away! Police bring cheer to passengers stuck on jet at Prestwick Airport - Scotsman.com News (http://news.scotsman.com/transport-news/Chocs-away-Police-bring-cheer.6383857.jp)

Obviously, it would be totally unreasonable to expect an airline like Ryanair to look after its passengers.

[toledoashley]

I think that is correct as I think the only base to close is Valencia (now reopened and 43). Was Lubeck ever classed as a base?

[boyzinblue]

I think Lübeck was announced as a base, then retracted and the next announced base got Lübecks "base number".

[airnoc]

13 th Ryanair base

The 13 th Ryanair base is PSA (Pisa) and it's announced at 2005-07-20 and starts 2005-1010

[Tom the Tenor]

If today's Irish Examiner story is anything to go by there were some lively scenes at Cork last evening after Ryanair cancelled the service to Alicante due to the French ATC strike. Not Ryanair's fault, of course, but if they are to have an increased summer time presence at Cork in the years ahead they may need to have their own local representative there to handle such matters rather than this kind of stuff being dumped on handling companies and airport staff and passengers being told to go to the company's website to book another flight.

Anyway, anyone have any idea how FR are doing on their summer routes ex Cork to France and Spain? Some of my family members were on four ORK-STN-ORK-STN flights in the last week - only one had a load anywhere near full so I am in agreement they should be looking at a small sub-fleet of airframes in the 100-130 seater size for what Ryanair1 calls domestic and short hop sectors.

[Skipness One Echo]

Apparently the police provided water and some food to passengers stuck on a Ryanair plane at Prestwick for 6 hours yesterday. Chocs away! Police bring cheer to passengers stuck on jet at Prestwick Airport - Scotsman.com News


Given they were on a plane for six hours, it it really beyond the wit of man to deplane them into the lounge for a few hours? Was it *honestly* a case of "the slot might come through any time?"

I would have gotten off and gone home.

[Jamie2k9]

Over 100 ryanair passengers due to fly to Alicante at 17:25 were told there flight had been delayed as an imbound flight from Faro had been delayed because of french air traffic strick. The Faro flight landed at 21:00 and at 21:05 passengers were told there flight had been cancelled and passengers had to rebook online at home. Passengers refused to leave the airport until Ryanair made alternative arrangements for the passengers but they wouldn't. Staff at the boarding gate had to call airport security to esscort passengers out of the airport as very angery seens were emerging

[lfc84]

so i bet there's a few hundred people in Glasgow and Cork areas who wont travel FR in future

[daz211]

Yer Yer ... until the next time they want a cheap flight :oh:.

[100above]

Just been reading this story about the Prestwick passengers stuck on board for 6 hours without food or anything to drink. Somebody somewhere needs to tackle this lot. The US DoT are clamping down on passengers being stuck on aircraft in the US and its time the UK authorities did likewise. I know Ryanair are Irish registered but they are flying UK passengers from UK airports. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be stuck on board a hot aircraft with kids for 6 hours being refused water or the opportunity to go in to the terminal to buy refreshments. Passengers report that there was no aircon either - please dont tell me they were on GPU for the entire 6 hours to save APU fuel burn depriving pax of some bleed air.

I feel for the crew if this is Ryanair policy. My company has strict rules on timings before we can authorise light refreshment vouchers and I know the difficulties in accessing duty free bars before departure but that doesn't mean you do nothing and let conditions worsen to the point where the police are called. Most Captains with any other airline would have the ability to intervene to prevent such a scenario, even if it means using the company credit card to buy bottled water in the terminal for those that need it. In a similar situation recently (3 hours rather than 6 mind you), our passengers were kept fully informed throughout in an air-conditioned cabin with drinks and snacks being bought from the terminal by ground staff. Yes it cost a few quid, but you have a duty of care to look after your passengers, even if it means thinking outside the box. The RSPCA would likely take you to court if you left a dog in a hot car with no air or water for 6 hours, yet Ryanair think you can do the same to passengers - they are dragging this industry in to the toilet.

[caja]

Ryanair Bases

You can see all the Ryanair bases here (http://www.lowcostportugal.net/aeroportos/bases-ryanair/2010/06/)

[racedo]

Just been reading this story about the Prestwick passengers stuck on board for 6 hours without food or anything to drink. Somebody somewhere needs to tackle this lot. The US DoT are clamping down on passengers being stuck on aircraft in the US and its time the UK authorities did likewise. I know Ryanair are Irish registered but they are flying UK passengers from UK airports. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be stuck on board a hot aircraft with kids for 6 hours being refused water or the opportunity to go in to the terminal to buy refreshments. Passengers report that there was no aircon either - please dont tell me they were on GPU for the entire 6 hours to save APU fuel burn depriving pax of some bleed air.

I feel for the crew if this is Ryanair policy. My company has strict rules on timings before we can authorise light refreshment vouchers and I know the difficulties in accessing duty free bars before departure but that doesn't mean you do nothing and let conditions worsen to the point where the police are called. Most Captains with any other airline would have the ability to intervene to prevent such a scenario, even if it means using the company credit card to buy bottled water in the terminal for those that need it. In a similar situation recently (3 hours rather than 6 mind you), our passengers were kept fully informed throughout in an air-conditioned cabin with drinks and snacks being bought from the terminal by ground staff. Yes it cost a few quid, but you have a duty of care to look after your passengers, even if it means thinking outside the box. The RSPCA would likely take you to court if you left a dog in a hot car with no air or water for 6 hours, yet Ryanair think you can do the same to passengers - they are dragging this industry in to the toilet.

Passenger hysteria as Virgin Atlantic plane stuck on US tarmac for hours | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1288974/Passenger-hysteria-Virgin-Atlantic-plane-stuck-US-tarmac-hours.html)

So your comment on Virgin will be what ?

Wonder what you posted on the Virgin thread.

[TSR2]

So your comment on Virgin will be what ?

Irrelevant in my opinion. Two wrongs don't make a right.

[cesare.caldi]

Apparently the fuel and handling companies in CPH are trying to resist supplying any services to Ryanair as a non union/anti union airline. This may or may not be legal under Danish law and is I believe one if not more of the major barriers to this base happening.Ryanair can not open a base in CPH due to these problem, but can operate a lot of route from others european base.

[racedo]

Irrelevant in my opinion. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Ah so Ryanair is dragging Industry into the toilet because of Prestwick but Virgin who do the same is ok............Funny that

[racedo]

Ryanair can not open a base in CPH due to these problem, but can operate a lot of route from others european base.

Any attempt to block an airline on the basis of Union / Non Union is illegal under restraint of trade and pretty much would fall at the that first hurdle, even not falling at that would have a Cartel investigation with high potential fines,I doubt fuel handling companies management would refuse the opportunity to make money.

[pwalhx]

No Ryanair and Virgin in these cases are dragging the industry down, neither can take any credit from the incidents,

[crewmeal]

I thought the problem was immigration and customs not being available, hence the authroities wouldn't allow them off after landing.

It seems Ryanair's policy is keep people onboard whatever the cost ''just in case a slot becomes available''

Completely different situations.

[racedo]

I thought the problem was immigration and customs not being available, hence the authroities wouldn't allow them off after landing.

It seems Ryanair's policy is keep people onboard whatever the cost ''just in case a slot becomes available''

Completely different situations.

Not to a passenger sitting in 100 degrees after landing waiting to get off it isn't.

Its the standard on here if its Ryanair they are a disgrcae but actions by any other airline well its bad but not a disgrace as its not Ryanair.

[Facelookbovvered]

Sir you do your self no credit for trying to defend the indefensible (Ryanair) i do not know the circumstances surrounding the Virgin event, suffice to say i suspect it is an event, rather than Ryanairs modus operandi. Ryanair are a very successful airline who have no need to behave in this manner and it sadly reflect on the Irish as a nation and the Low cost airlines in general.

You are jugging by your posts clearly a well informed intelligent individual, but you must realize that by continuing to treat passengers in this manner you (Ryanair,one and the same it seems) are inviting the authorities to legislate against Ryanair.

The Irish civil aviation authorities have proved many times that they are inept to deal with Ryanair which can and does out gun them at every turn.

Ryanair flout employment rules in nearly every country they have a base (not many French ones!!) they evade/avoid paying NI in the UK despite the fact that their contract pilots work for them alone, the tax people grind slowly but they do grind.

Re Virgin, they should be held to account over any short comings as should any airline, all customer, not just Ryanair's should complain to trading standards on each and every flight that does not do what it says on the ticket!!

[racedo]

Face

Sadly you seem quite happy to accept a newspaper version on one event and don't seem to be willing to read it for another one.

I haven't even tried to defend keeping passengers on the plane for hours by anybody so not sure where the idea that I am defending Ryanair is this case come from.

Rather I am highlighting the hypocrisy in posters claiming that Ryanair are dragging the industry into the toilet when people keep quiet about BA abandoning thousands of people at airports, dumping bags at airports and their staff seemingly on a mission to see how many days they can be on strike.

Virgin with latest incident or questions on quality of its food or its collusion in ripping people off in fuel surcharges or seemingly members of its crew colluding in getting a passenger arrested by making complaints of physsical abuse in 1997 in the US.

Do these merit or bringing an industry into the toilet.

As for the issue of contract staff not paying NI well that is for contract staff.

Many companies use contractor staff and often for long periods of time, the fact the law is written a particular way and people use it is what exactly ? Number of people it affects at FR V everyone following this legal method is I believe tiny.

[Charlie Roy]

Ryanair bases, 1 to 43:

Bases Ryanair | Low Cost Portugal (http://www.lowcostportugal.net/aeroportos/bases-ryanair/2010/06/)

[Jamie2k9]

For winter Ryanair are not operating there flights to Frankfurt-Hahn or Weeze.

Faro wiill be operated from the Faro Base so the Kerry ac will only serve Dublin and Luton 3 weekly in the evening and Standsted 4 weekly in the evening so the aircraft will be doing nothing between 8:30 and 2:00 every day.

[mathers_wales_uk]

Ryanair's friend EC Regulation 261/2004 it states that if a flight travelling to or from any EU country is over 2 hours delayed Meals and refreshments in relation to waiting
time. Two free telephone calls, emails, telexes or faxes.

Source (http://walesairnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/denied-boarding-advice.pdf)

If you were to be sceptical you could say that this was done purpously in order to attempt to evade paying out the cost for refreshments.

But was the Captain forced to make the decision on holding all passengers on board based on fear of backlash from the management? Had he previously made a request for late boarding but been told strictyl to board on time?

Did the flight pick up the slot before or after they had started to board the passengers?

The one thing that is definite that if they were going to hold the passengers on board for that length of time then they should have been provided refreshments. Unless there is a loophole which Ryanair has found which is the reason they boarded on time.

Yes slots can come forward but if it was due to ATC strike then there is little chance it was going to jump forward 5 hours in an instant.