Colonel Klink
21st May 2002, 08:48
I had to laugh the other day when Michael O'Leary, in his usual charitable manner, congratulated easyJet on it's acquisition of Go.
Among his comments:"We wish them well with these acquisitions, and I will be taking lessons in humility ("hardly!!!") now that we are - for the time being - Europe's second largest low fares airline. However since Ryanair's fares and costs are some 60% lower than those of the enlarged easyJet group, we will still be the fastest growing and most profitable low fares airline, and we will continue to grow organically over over time to become Europe's largest scheduled airline."
You would wonder, wouldn't you, how an airline that flies the same equipment, on similar routes, similar or better payscales for it's pilots and pays the same for it's Jet A1 can be so much cheaper than it's competitors. I know my parents did recently, when they arranged to fly from Dublin to Glasgow Airport where they were to pick up a hire car, only to find on arrival at Prestwick that they had a 45 minute taxi ride to the real Glasgow airport which cost them a bundle. Other examples:
Flying to Oslo, you end up in Torp, 65 miles away;
Flying to Stockholm, you end up in Skatvsta 55 miles away;
Paris, you land in Beauvais, some 35 miles away;
Brussels, you land in Charloi, some 37 miles away, and "close to Lille, in Northern France!!"
The best of all is when you fly Ryanair to Copenhagen, and land in Malmo, which is actually in Sweden!
So, Michael, when I land at London/Gatwick and catch the Gatwick Express into London for a tenner and arrive in 30 minutes, I will be thinking of the suckers that fly with your airline. easyJet flies to Paris (Orly and CDG, the real Paris Airports) and with proper connections that is what saves the customer money. They fly into the real Glasgow airport, 10 minutes from the city, the real Geneva, Zurich and so on. The short term savings on a Ryanair flight can cost a fortune..........................................
Among his comments:"We wish them well with these acquisitions, and I will be taking lessons in humility ("hardly!!!") now that we are - for the time being - Europe's second largest low fares airline. However since Ryanair's fares and costs are some 60% lower than those of the enlarged easyJet group, we will still be the fastest growing and most profitable low fares airline, and we will continue to grow organically over over time to become Europe's largest scheduled airline."
You would wonder, wouldn't you, how an airline that flies the same equipment, on similar routes, similar or better payscales for it's pilots and pays the same for it's Jet A1 can be so much cheaper than it's competitors. I know my parents did recently, when they arranged to fly from Dublin to Glasgow Airport where they were to pick up a hire car, only to find on arrival at Prestwick that they had a 45 minute taxi ride to the real Glasgow airport which cost them a bundle. Other examples:
Flying to Oslo, you end up in Torp, 65 miles away;
Flying to Stockholm, you end up in Skatvsta 55 miles away;
Paris, you land in Beauvais, some 35 miles away;
Brussels, you land in Charloi, some 37 miles away, and "close to Lille, in Northern France!!"
The best of all is when you fly Ryanair to Copenhagen, and land in Malmo, which is actually in Sweden!
So, Michael, when I land at London/Gatwick and catch the Gatwick Express into London for a tenner and arrive in 30 minutes, I will be thinking of the suckers that fly with your airline. easyJet flies to Paris (Orly and CDG, the real Paris Airports) and with proper connections that is what saves the customer money. They fly into the real Glasgow airport, 10 minutes from the city, the real Geneva, Zurich and so on. The short term savings on a Ryanair flight can cost a fortune..........................................