Can anyone name me faster growing airlines in terms of total numbers of new passengers per year than Ryanair and EasyJet? In the last year Ryanair added 7.39 million new passengers:

March 2003 - 15.74m
March 2004 - 23.13m

EasyJet went from 11.4 million in 2002 to 20.3 million in 2003 - an annual increase of nearly 9 million passengers!!

EasyJet and Ryanair have also placed what I believe to be the largest orders in airline history from Boeing and Airbus. Here is a breakdown of their gigantic orders - remember these are orders only - it does not include their current fleets:

Ryanair:
150 x Boeing 737-800s confirmed (50 delivered so far)
100 x Boeing 737-800s on option
250 x Boeing 737s total

EasyJet:
120 x Airbus A319s confirmed
120 x Airbus A319s on option
240 x Airbus A319s total


In the year to March (ie last financial year) Ryanair grew by 47%. :)

Up, up, and away!! :)


EasyJet passenger growth:

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL85/949935/2682391/58210471.jpg


Ryanair passenger growth:

http://www.ryanair.com/investor/paxchart.gif

RyanAir and EasyJet along with a couple of other low costers are the best thing that happened to airline sector in history!

June
Ryanair and EasyJet have both released amazing figures for June 2004. Ryanair's passenger growth has been 24% since June 2003 and EasyJet's an even more impressive 28%!! Ryanair's load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) has risen to an incredible 87% (up from 79% June last year) and EasyJet's has held steady at an equally impressive 86%. Ryanair boast of having carried more passengers than BA in UK/Europe for the 6th month running and of better punctuality and fewer baggage losses than any other airline in Europe. :)

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to June 2004:
EasyJet = 22,877,710
Ryanair = 24,586,768

Percentage increase in passengers since June 2003:
EasyJet = 28%
Ryanair = 24%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in June 2004:
EasyJet = 86%
Ryanair = 87%


July
July 2004 figures - more good news for the world's fastest growing airlines: :)

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to July 2004:
EasyJet = 23,404,812
Ryanair = 25,028,520

Percentage increase in passengers since July 2003:
EasyJet = 19%
Ryanair = 22%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in July 2004:
EasyJet = 84.3%
Ryanair = 90%

Ryanair has also announced a Q1 profit increase of 21%, a net margin of 18%, as traffic grows 28%. From their site:

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 low fares airline, today (Tuesday, 3rd August 2004) announced record profits for Q1 ended 30 June 2004 of €53.1m. Passenger volumes grew by a record 28% to 6.6m passengers whilst yields declined by 6% during the quarter and, as a result, total revenues rose by 23% to €302.8m. Unit costs fell by 4% and in turn the net margin after tax remains stable at an industry leading 18%.


August
Rolling 12 month passenger totals to August 2004:
EasyJet = 23,879,509
Ryanair = 25,452,041

Percentage increase in passengers since August 2003:
EasyJet = 19%
Ryanair = 20%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in August 2004:
EasyJet = 84.4%
Ryanair = 92%

RyanAir and EasyJet along with a couple of other low costers are the best thing that happened to airline sector in history!:yes: You have to give credit to their American model though - Southwest and Herb Kelleher deserve some credit. I notice that the Baltics are opening up in recent months. EasyJet now fly Talinn and Riga and Ryanair have opened Riga too. It's only a matter of time before Vilnius gets hooked up too. :)

The Boeing 747 jumbo jet was another great revolution in civil aviation history - it made long haul travel affordable for the first time.

/\ Authorities of VNO [Vilnius airport] and LAL [Lithuanian AirLines, a state sponsored monopoly] are the biggest and smelliest assholes on this earth. So far they've been blocking any attempt by low costers to get into VNO and they've been succesful. People are furious about it! Just imagine what an influx of tourists we'd have got had the low costers come over! Owners of hotels, pubs, souvenire shops, etc. are even more furious than simple people. There were even plans of protests! But then what do you expect from companies that are run by old stupid retards who know nothing but how to steal money and piss people off with their ludicrously stupid talks and plans. God damn i hate them.

Anyway, the problem hopefully should be solved soon and hopefully both EasyJet and RyanAir, or at least one of them, will eventually come to VNO.

Whew! I sure am glad you got that off your chest, blimey! ;)

I took good old AirBaltic from Hamburg to Vilnius. I hear there's talk about relocating (=building a new) the airport there. Probably not a bad idea, but it will take time. When I left I had the feeling that their passenger screening capabilities were stretched to the maximum. Although I arrived in what I thought was plenty of time ahead of my flight it took AGES to go through the sceening, and as a result I was the last person to board the plane before takeoff.

So even if Vilnius doesn't move on a new airport location immediately, they should at least improve the passenger processing capabilities at the current airport. And I'm sure they'll see the light on low cost carriers eventually. :okay:

@WH: Vilnius airport is the worst in the region. Its Lithuania's shame :)

Btw AirBaltic is a great company. Gotta love 'em.

Agreed, AirBaltic was wonderful! :)

Also, I'm convinced LT will come to its senses as far as the Vilnius airport and low cost airlines are concerned! :angel1:

It sounds like they need some new management at the airport.

Yup. Also they should tie the current management to trees in the centre of Vilnius and allow public to stone them. That would be so awesome.

Note the rapid roll out of new routes to cities in the 10 new EU member states: :)


Ryanair destinations:

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL85/949935/4657456/67423856.jpg


EasyJet destinations:

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL85/949935/4657456/67423870.jpg




The London perspective


Ryanair from London Stansted:

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL85/949935/4657456/67423854.jpg


EasyJet from London Luton:

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL85/949935/4657456/67423863.jpg


EasyJet from London Stansted:

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL85/949935/4657456/67423860.jpg


EasyJet from London Gatwick:

http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL85/949935/4657456/67423866.jpg

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to August 2004:
EasyJet = 23,879,509
Ryanair = 25,452,041

Percentage increase in passengers since August 2003:
EasyJet = 19%
Ryanair = 20%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in August 2004:
EasyJet = 84.4%
Ryanair = 92%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to September 2004:
EasyJet = 24,343,649
Ryanair = 25,758,285

Percentage increase in passengers since September 2003:
EasyJet = 25%
Ryanair = 17%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in September 2004:
EasyJet = 86.9%
Ryanair = 87%

Looks like there's a big niche in the low-cost air travel market around the world and so indicate the numbers. Strange since the repercussions of the 911 events are still felt in the market. On the other hand, I believe that, especially for the European routes there is potential due to the fact that in a space that is half the area of North America you have some 380 million of residents living within max distanses of 5 hours (how long it takes to fly from Athens to Lisbon for instance? I don't know). They can give up the caviar during the flight but not the travel speed that plane travel offers.

Also, it could well be tht these two airlines are looking for market dominance, i.e. they have liquidity, so they take advantage from it to buy many aircraft and position themselves on many destinations from the beginning so that they can set barriers to the entry of new competitors. I mean, imagine a third competitor having to survive against their economies of scale after they fully realise their plans and having all those destinations and routes tied up...

Also, I have to tell you that no airline is really "low cost" - How much you said was the price of oil this week?

^ They are low cost. I have flown to cities around Europe for between £18 and £55 return. That's extremely cheap by any standards. Most of that is taxes. Also remember that the EU has expanded and the low cost airlines have expanded with it. That makes a population of 455 million - and the overwhelming majority of those routes are within 3 hours or less flying time. In spite of EasyJet and Ryanair's dominance there are loads and loads of new small entrants to the market. I think many of them will go out of business. Ryanair chairman Michael O'Leary forecasts a "bloodbath" in the sector in 2005.

I can believe that, it's even worse in the States by the sounds of things, wih companies going into Chapter 11 all the time it means all the companies are doing badly, if one or two merged or went bust they would havea more profitable air industry.

^ It's the major US airlines that are in trouble (American, United, Delta, Continental, US Airways etc....). They are still bankrupt following the repercussions of September 11th. Europe's majors are in a varying state of health. British Airways makes excellent profits whilst Alitalia has just been bailed out yet again. I believe Alitalia has only had one profitable year in the last 12!! I think the big losers in the bloodbath will be small start-up low cost airlines, that cannot compete long term with the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair, and also traditional national flag carriers that are not supported by government bailouts. It's a pity this last group are not allowed to go bankrupt. We really need to clean the dead wood out of Europe's airline industry.

well, the tickets mby cheap, but when u arrive in say London stansted... its so far away from city that it will cost u 4x the plane ticket to get there, when u arrive in tallinn, on the other hand... ur in the city :)

well, the tickets mby cheap, but when u arrive in say London stansted... its so far away from city that it will cost u 4x the plane ticket to get there, when u arrive in tallinn, on the other hand... ur in the city :)

You can get a bus into London from £5, it takes about 1h30m.

Stansted express train is quicker (45m) but more expensive (£13.80). I doubt this is 4x your total plane ticket.

Alternatively you could hire a car and go somewhere else in the UK other than London, there's plenty to see!

well, the tickets mby cheap, but when u arrive in say London stansted... its so far away from city that it will cost u 4x the plane ticket to get there, when u arrive in tallinn, on the other hand... ur in the city :)You can get a bus into London from £5, it takes about 1h30m.

Stansted express train is quicker (45m) but more expensive (£13.80). I doubt this is 4x your total plane ticket.

Alternatively you could hire a car and go somewhere else in the UK other than London, there's plenty to see!Yeah the buses into London are comfortable and frequent. Admittedly they're very expensive but £15 return (£7.50 each way) is not going to break the bank. Stansted's also a very nice airport. I think the bus is £8 return (£4 each way) to Luton. :)

oh, just 15pounds, well... our press was wrong then, they sayd like 20£ one way... ;)

For a distance of 50 km from the new Athens International airport to the centre of the city, the ticket price is 8 Euros for one person or 6 euros for a couple for a 45-min trip (and 4 euros if you are a senior citizen but I'm not there yet...). The trains are brand new, the service is relatively frequent (every 15 mins), but still many people think the price is exorbitant. I don't know how much you pay for a taxi so I cannot say which one is cheaper.

I just booked EasyJet return flights to Budapest for £35.98 (~€52) including taxes. That's a good price given that it's reading week/half term at universities and colleges: :)


Tuesday 15 February, flight 2581
departs London Luton at 06:40, arrives Budapest (terminal 2B) at 10:10

Friday 18 February, flight 2588
departs Budapest (terminal 2B) at 20:55, arrives London Luton at 22:25

Rivals' surcharges boost Ryanair

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3973789.stm

No-frills airline Ryanair has said fuel surcharges at rival airlines helped to push more business its way in the six months to September.

Passenger traffic increased 24%, while profits surged a forecast-beating 18%.

Net income rose to 200.1m euros (£138.9m, $255.1m) in the six months to September, ahead of analysts' expectations of 187.6m euros.

The Dublin-based airline refused to follow its rivals' ticket price rises as oil prices surged in recent months.

But, it added that if oil prices remain above $50 for the rest of the year it would add 55m euros to budgeted costs.


Forecasts revised

Despite high oil prices, the airline has held back from fuel hedging - which is normally used by airlines to protect themselves from rising oil costs.

In its statement Ryanair added the policy would continue until fuel prices returned to "normal".

Meanwhile, the firm also revised its forecasts for a dip in yields - the amount it makes per passenger - to a decline of 5-10% during the second half of the year from its previous estimates of a 10-20% drop. During the first half of the year yields fell 5%.

Ryanair said this was partly due to "the initial impact of the fuel price surcharges imposed by many of our high fare competitors".

The surcharges have "increased the price differential, making Ryanair's low fares even more attractive to consumers," the airline said.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to September 2004:
EasyJet = 24,343,649
Ryanair = 25,758,285

Percentage increase in passengers since September 2003:
EasyJet = 25%
Ryanair = 17%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in September 2004:
EasyJet = 86.9%
Ryanair = 87%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to October 2004:
EasyJet = 24,827,915
Ryanair = 26,196,065

Percentage increase in passengers since October 2003:
EasyJet = 25%
Ryanair = 19%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in October 2004:
EasyJet = 87%
Ryanair = 87%

Ryanair profits rise 15% to record €201m, traffic growth of 24%, net margin of 28%

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 low fares airline today (2 Nov 2004) announced record half year profits of €201.3m. Traffic grew by 24% to 14.1m passengers, yields declined by 5% and consequently total revenues rose by 21% to €721.1m. Unit costs (excluding fuel and route charges) fell by 4% and (including fuel and route charges unit costs remained flat) and as a result the profit margin after tax declined by 1% to an industry leading 28%.

Here is an update on EasyJet and Ryanair's ever expanding route networks - note Ryanair's belated expansion into the EU's 10 new member states. However it was EasyJet that moved fastest into this market and scooped up the best destinations:


Ryanair destinations:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/Ryanair-routes.jpg


EasyJet destinations:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/EasyJet-routes.jpg




The London perspective:


Ryanair from London Stansted:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/Ryanair-Stansted-routes.jpg


EasyJet from London Luton:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/EasyJet-Luton-routes.jpg


EasyJet from London Stansted:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/EasyJet-Stansted-routes.jpg


EasyJet from London Gatwick:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/EasyJet-Gatwick-routes.jpg

You can get a bus into London from £5, it takes about 1h30m.

Stansted express train is quicker (45m) but more expensive (£13.80). I doubt this is 4x your total plane ticket.

Alternatively you could hire a car and go somewhere else in the UK other than London, there's plenty to see!


I'm going to london from Bilbao with Easy-jet on saturday and I think I'll arrive to Stansted. So, you think the best option is to get a bus? How come does it take 1h 30mins if Stansted is not even 100km far from london? I've heard that the train is really expensieve.

Well, I'm thinkin aloud, didn't want to bore you with my wonderings!

www.thetrainline.com could give you an idea of ticket prices for trains.

http://www.baa.co.uk/main/airports/stansted/getting_here_frame.html
Gives you info about the possible transport from stanstead - but I suggest it depends on where you are going in London.

@tahk
If you take the bus buy the £15 return ticket to central London when you board the bus. There are some other options here which you read about and then book:
http://www.nationalexpress.com/destinations/airports/stansted/index.cfm

Michael O'Leary's forecast "bloodbath" in the European budget aviation sector seems to have started with Italian budget carrier Volare going bankrupt:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4032903.stm
http://buy.volareweb.com/jsp/web/index.jsp?lang=en

I'm not sure, but can anyone help me with finding information about FlyBosnia? I'm sure that it should have started by now...

^ It wasn't hard to find:
http://www.flybosnia.com/

@tahk
If you take the bus buy the £15 return ticket to central London when you board the bus. There are some other options here which you read about and then book:
http://www.nationalexpress.com/destinations/airports/stansted/index.cfm

thank you! :)

Easyjet rises to twin challenges
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4034341.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40151000/jpg/_40151288_easyjet_free203.jpg

Easyjet predicts a good 2005

Easyjet has thanked the "resilience" of its business model for a 21% rise in annual profits, despite the pressure of high oil prices and tough competition.

The low-cost carrier saw its pre-tax profit increase to £62.2m ($115m) for the 12 months to the end of September, on revenues up 17% to £1.09bn.

Passenger numbers were up one-fifth to 24.4 million for the Luton-based firm.

Easyjet warned that the festive period would be "challenging", but said it was confident of ongoing growth in 2005.

"These are creditable results in challenging market conditions which have affected all airlines," said Easyjet chief executive Ray Webster.

"Both financially and operationally we are stronger than we have ever been before, and despite the high fuel price and degree of competition in the market we are well placed for the coming year."

Easyjet's shares were up 3.5p or 1.9% to 186.75 in early Tuesday trading.


Cost control

The firm, which last month saw Iceland's national carrier Icelandair buy an 10.1% stake, saw its load factor - the percentage by which its planes are full - increase to 84.5% from 84.1%.

Easyjet said that the twin pressures of high oil prices and tough competition from other budget airline rivals such as Ryanair were "beyond its control".

Total revenue per passenger fell 2% to £44.82 due to increased competition, but the increases in passenger numbers and load factors overcame this decline.

Easyjet said it was successfully offsetting negative factors by its strong focus on keeping operational costs as low as possible.

"There are good opportunities for us in 2005," added Mr Webster.

"We expect to grow our sales through further enhancing our network and growing ancillary revenues."


Cautious expansion

During 2004, the company expanded to 92 aircraft, 153 routes and 44 airports.

However the firm announced in September it would cut back its fleet expansion plans to 16% next year, instead of 24% as previously planned.

Easyjet's profits came in just ahead of market expectations.

Mr Webster said he had "no idea" if Icelandair plans to increase its stake in the airline.

"I have no idea, (but) we're delighted that at least someone recognises the underlying value of the airline."

Mike Powell, aviation analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, said Easyjet's results were in line with its expectations.

"Overall our forecast remains unchanged and we are sticking with a hold rating for Easyjet's shares," said Mr Powell.

"A lot hangs on what happens with the Icelandair situation and whether it makes a takeover bid for Easyjet. We don't however think this will happen."

thank you! :)No worries mate! :okay:

Follow the link I gave for the bus and Englishman's for the train. :)

Ryanair says paid in-flight TV popular
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=631121&section=finance

Wed 1 December, 2004 16:46

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's biggest low-cost airline Ryanair says about 30 percent of passengers paid to use its new in-flight entertainment system during initial trials.

Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said the airline needed three percent penetration to recoup its investment in the entertainment system which it introduced to six aircraft last month.

"At the moment, based on initial trials, it looks like the penetration rate will be 30 percent," O'Leary told an Institute of Economic Affairs conference in London on Wednesday.

The system is being introduced across the airline's entire fleet in April to May next year.

Passengers have to pay five pounds or seven euros a flight to access movies, cartoons and television shows on the portable units which look like a small laptop.

Airlines are seeking new sources of non-ticket revenue as they battle high fuel costs and lower fares amid tough competition.

O'Leary reiterated that the airline, which is currently unhedged, did not plan to introduce a fuel surcharge and would not resume hedging until oil prices fell.

He said Ryanair would still turn a profit even if oil hit $75 (39 pounds) a barrel.

"If it goes to $75 a barrel we will be the only break-even airline in Europe. At those prices we will probably be the only airline in Europe flying," he said.

Oil prices hit a record high of $55.67 on October 25, but have since fallen more than $7.

Ryanair, which announced on Tuesday it would set up another European base at Shannon in Ireland, did not plan to expand aggressively in eastern Europe for at least three or four years, he said.

Ryanair shares were trading 4.13 percent firmer at 5.3 euros by afternoon trading.

Also Ryanair's market capitalisation has overtaken BA's again and is also ahead of merged Air France/KLM. By this measure Ryanair is once again Europe's largest airline. From Reuters:

- Ryanair = £2,667.11 million
- Air France/KLM = £2,645.54 million
- British Airways = £2,404.04 million

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to October 2004:
EasyJet = 24,827,915
Ryanair = 26,196,065

Percentage increase in passengers since October 2003:
EasyJet = 25%
Ryanair = 19%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in October 2004:
EasyJet = 87%
Ryanair = 87%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to November 2004:
EasyJet = 25,249,936
Ryanair = 26,392,361

Percentage increase in passengers since November 2003:
EasyJet = 25%
Ryanair = 10%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in November 2004:
EasyJet = 84.6%
Ryanair = 83%

New routes boost Easyjet traffic
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4074743.stm

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40151000/jpg/_40151288_easyjet_free203.jpg

Easyjet has expanded its routes


Passenger numbers at no-frills airline Easyjet hit 2.1 million in November, up 25% on the same point last year.

The low-cost carrier cited the expansion of its network in Europe, with the addition of nine new routes, as the reason for the increase.

Its load factor - how many seats it has filled on flights - was down slightly from a year ago, to 81.2% from 81.5%.

Luton-based Easyjet now flies more than 150 routes, competing with 42 low-cost rivals in the European market.


Fuel pressure

Last month, the airline thanked the "resilience" of its business model for a 21% rise in annual profits, despite the pressure of high oil prices and tough competition.

Easyjet's annual fuel bill has risen by almost 22% in a year, which accounts for 14% of spending.

However, the carrier is seeking to make savings through the use of more fuel-efficient Airbus A319s and its withdrawal from poorly-performing markets or airports which charge high landing fees.

Easyjet said last month it was braced for a challenging winter with continued strong competition leaving "limited visibility" on fares.

Shares in the airline jumped last month after Icelandair built a 10% stake in the company.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to November 2004:
EasyJet = 25,249,936
Ryanair = 26,392,361

Percentage increase in passengers since November 2003:
EasyJet = 25%
Ryanair = 10%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in November 2004:
EasyJet = 84.6%
Ryanair = 83%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to December 2004:
EasyJet = 25,716,329
Ryanair = 26,582,833

Percentage increase in passengers since December 2003:
EasyJet = 28%
Ryanair = 9%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in December 2004:
EasyJet = 81%
Ryanair = 83%

/\ Authorities of VNO [Vilnius airport] and LAL [Lithuanian AirLines, a state sponsored monopoly] are the biggest and smelliest assholes on this earth. So far they've been blocking any attempt by low costers to get into VNO and they've been succesful. People are furious about it! Just imagine what an influx of tourists we'd have got had the low costers come over! Owners of hotels, pubs, souvenire shops, etc. are even more furious than simple people. There were even plans of protests! But then what do you expect from companies that are run by old stupid retards who know nothing but how to steal money and piss people off with their ludicrously stupid talks and plans. God damn i hate them.

Anyway, the problem hopefully should be solved soon and hopefully both EasyJet and RyanAir, or at least one of them, will eventually come to VNO.
I don't believe that such a stupid people still exist. The worst thing that I've read in the news was that Lithuania is going to get a new airport only in 20 years :evil: :ohno:

:rofl: Yup. Also they should tie the current management to trees in the centre of Vilnius and allow public to stone them. That would be so awesome.
:hilarious That's the good one.

Both of these airlines are trying to enter the growing Croatian travel market.

Both of these airlines are trying to enter the growing Croatian travel market.

Some of low costers are alredy in Croatia, like Germanwings and Skyeurope.

Both of these airlines are trying to enter the growing Croatian travel market.Croatia would be a good move. It will do wonders for Croatian property values. Invest now!! Ryanair already fly to nearby Venice and EasyJet to Ljubljana.

Croatia would be a good move. It will do wonders for Croatian property values. Invest now!! Ryanair already fly to nearby Venice and EasyJet to Ljubljana.

Ryanair also flys to Trieste which is even nearer.

^ Groovy! :yes:

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to December 2004:
EasyJet = 25,716,329
Ryanair = 26,582,833

Percentage increase in passengers since December 2003:
EasyJet = 28%
Ryanair = 9%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in December 2004:
EasyJet = 81%
Ryanair = 83%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to January 2005:
EasyJet = 26,116,482
Ryanair = 26,918,454

Percentage increase in passengers since January 2004:
EasyJet = 22.8%
Ryanair = 20%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in January 2005:
EasyJet = 84.4%
Ryanair = 74%

Low-cost founding fathers
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=3598896

Jan 27th 2005
From The Economist print edition

How cheap air flights are bringing Europeans together

BRUSSELS is full of monuments to the “builders of Europe”. There is the Schuman district, the Monnet circle, the Spinelli building. It may now be time for a Stelios Square or a Boulevard O'Leary. For in recent years, Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Michael O'Leary, the two pioneers of Europe's low-cost airlines, have done more to integrate Europe than any numbers of diplomats and ministers. They have helped to create a new generation for whom travelling to another European country is no longer exotic or expensive, but utterly commonplace.

On a recent Friday night at Stansted airport, near London, it was easy to see how people's lives have changed. There was Ettore Thermes, an Italian financier, who commutes every week between his home in Rome and his office in London and says “I use the plane like a bus.” Or Suzy Romer, a Scottish student visiting her boyfriend in Bilbao, who noted that “what these airlines do is let you live in two countries at once.” Then there was a group of middle-aged men and women, who schedule weekends away in Europe around the fixtures of Leicester rugby club: that particular weekend they were heading for Bergamo in northern Italy. And there were American backpackers marvelling at the fact that their flights to Barcelona had cost the same as their train tickets from London to Stansted.

None of these people had paid more than £50 ($95) for their flights. All agreed that they were taking journeys, and indeed making choices about their lives, that would have been quite impossible before the low-cost revolution. Indeed Europeans are now so blasé about hopping on a plane that confusion can easily result. Last summer your correspondent got chatting to a British traveller still hanging around the airport in Rodez, in France's Massif Central, more than an hour after the arrival of her Ryanair flight. “My friends will be arriving by boat soon,” she asserted confidently. On further questioning, it emerged that she thought she was on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Confusion, if not perhaps on this scale, is understandable. The network of low-cost routes around Europe is huge. From Stansted that Friday, Ryanair alone was flying to some 70 different destinations, as far apart as Aarhus in Denmark and Zaragoza in Spain. EasyJet was flying to 25 cities, with a further 25 served from Luton. And although the low-cost revolution began in Britain and Ireland, and is still best-established in these two countries, it has now spread right across the continent.

The new EU members in Central Europe are the latest to catch the bug: they have a favourable combination of low labour costs, interesting new destinations and populations eager to taste the new freedom of travelling west without a visa. Wizz is based in Hungary and Poland; SkyEurope flies from Slovakia and Poland. In Germany Lufthansa now has 12 low-cost competitors on domestic routes. Some newcomers such as Air Polonia and Italy's Volare have gone bust, but other new carriers seem to pop up almost every week. The industry is still expanding rapidly. Low-cost airlines carried 80m passengers in Europe in 2004, up from 47m in 2003. They have over 20% of the European market today and may reach 40% by 2010.

The inspiration for the low-cost revolution came from America, and particularly from the success of Southwest Airlines. The British and Irish were the first to pick up on the trend, in the early 1990s. As Anglophone countries, they are often quicker to copy ideas from the United States; and their relatively flexible labour markets, affluent consumers and island geographies also encouraged low-cost carriers. The surge in British holidaymakers buying houses in France is closely linked to the rise of low-cost airlines. And it is not just travellers who feel the benefits. Entire regional economies have felt the impact. The city of Carcassonne in south-west France reckons that the 235,000 passengers who arrive every year on low-cost airlines have created over €270m ($360m) of extra economic activity.


On the downside

Inevitably, there are grumblers. Many believe that rising oil prices and increasing competition must lead to a big shake-out in the industry. Even Mr O'Leary has warned of an impending “bloodbath”. Some of the prices on offer are so low that one wonders wickedly whether some of the airlines might not have a more profitable sideline: smuggling? piracy? But even if a bloodbath did take place, it seems safe to say that the low-cost habit is now so firmly established in Europe that the days of rip-off airfares will never return.

So much the worse, groan environmentalists, who complain that the spread of low-cost airlines is hugely polluting and a prime contributor to global warming. The European Commission in Brussels is looking into raising “aircraft emissions charges” to take account of their environmental costs. The commission is already unpopular with Mr O'Leary for ruling that Ryanair received illegal state-aid from the local government in Charleroi, its Belgian base. The low-cost airlines are also angry about new EU regulations passed last year that could increase compensation for passengers whose flights are cancelled.

Yet nobody should lose sight of the fact that the Eurocrats and the low-cost carriers are natural allies. The conditions for Europe's airline upheaval were created by EU legislation. Through a succession of liberalisation packages, the commission broke the power of national flag-carriers to monopolise routes between and within European countries. It is EU law that allows a low-cost British upstart such as easyJet to compete with Air France on such lucrative domestic routes as Paris-Toulouse. By allowing newcomers to enter the market, Brussels has achieved that rare thing: an unambiguous triumph both for European consumers and for the ideal of “ever closer union” in Europe. When they have stopped arguing with Mr O'Leary, the Eurocrats might consider putting up a statue to him.

I would put my very modest savings on Ryan Air going bust within the next few years.

I would put my very modest savings on Ryan Air going bust within the next few years.

Really? Ryanair is one of the most profitable airlines around.

Ryanair in $4bn Boeing plane deal
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4293531.stm

Budget airline Ryanair has placed an order for 70 Boeing 737-800 planes, in a deal valued at $4bn (£2.1bn) which should lead to 2,500 new Ryanair jobs.

It also has an option for a further 70 aircraft, a move which brings the Ryanair/Boeing order book up to 225 firm orders and options on 193 more.

Ryanair said the new planes would help it to cut operating costs further.

The carrier reported a drop in quarterly profit earlier this year after it was hit by higher fuel costs.

However, when it reported the results, the airline was upbeat about prospects for 2005, despite tough competition in the budget airline market.


Saving cash

Ryanair chairman David Bonderman said that the 737-800 had "significantly reduced our unit operating costs and allowed us to reduce air fares each year for the last five years".

"With this new order and new pricing in place, Ryanair expects that unit operating costs (excluding fuel) will continue to fall each year for the next five years," he added.

At the end of this year, Ryanair will have taken delivery of about 100 new planes, while the 70 new orders are due for delivery between 2008 and 2012.

The airline said that when all these planes have been delivered, it will be able to carry more than 70 million passengers a year, making it Europe's largest airline. About 2,500 new jobs should be created in the next seven years, it added.

The order can be seen as good news for Boeing, which in recent years has been overtaken by European plane maker Airbus as the world's biggest-selling plane maker.

I would put my very modest savings on Ryan Air going bust within the next few years.I'll take your bet and then your savings. The only one going bust will be you! Do you realise that Ryanair is the most profitable airline in Europe (the world?) and is the largest European airline by market capitalisation? The analysts and markets obviously disagree with you!!

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to January 2005:
EasyJet = 26,116,482
Ryanair = 26,918,454

Percentage increase in passengers since January 2004:
EasyJet = 22.8%
Ryanair = 20%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in January 2005:
EasyJet = 84.4%
Ryanair = 74%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to February 2005:
EasyJet = 26,420,497
Ryanair = 27,165,404

Percentage increase in passengers since February 2004:
EasyJet = 16.3%
Ryanair = 13%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in February 2005:
EasyJet = 85.9%
Ryanair = 79%

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to February 2005:
EasyJet = 26,420,497
Ryanair = 27,165,404

Percentage increase in passengers since February 2004:
EasyJet = 16.3%
Ryanair = 13%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in February 2005:
EasyJet = 85.9%
Ryanair = 79%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to March 2005:
EasyJet = 26,996,777
Ryanair = 27,593,923

Percentage increase in passengers since March 2004:
EasyJet = 28.9%
Ryanair = 20%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in March 2005:
EasyJet = 91.2%
Ryanair = 80%

I would put my very modest savings on Ryan Air going bust within the next few years.

Me thinks so too. There seems to be opposition growing among the tax payers (at least here in Gemany) to continue financing the likes of Ryanair. Alot of politicians in backwater towns are paying millions per year to budget airlines so that they fly into their backwater airports. However once arrived the passengers don't stay to spent their money in backwater town as Ryanair had promised them - no, they enter the next bus and drive to "the city". And as soon as povincial politicians wake up and the flow of easy money from state-owned airports to the budget airlines stops they will be in deep trouble.

^ Rubbish Mike. Ryanair is the most profitable airline in Europe and Europe's largest airline by market capitalisation. As you can see Ryanair and EasyJet's load factors (ie percentage bums on seats) are through the roof - figures that Lufthansa or BA can only dream about. Public airports are a minority of the total and most never provided any subsidies at all. Indeed public airports have already been banned from providing subsidies to Ryanair after the appalling EU decision at Charleroi (appalling because it just means the public airports are unable to compete with private airports). Budget airlines are not some kind of bubble. The largest and best (ie EasyJet and Ryanair) are not financially vulnerable. They're the future of short-haul aviation and the sceptics who have doubted that have been consistently proven wrong by the hard statistics for the last few years. It was in response to that kind of reactionary bullshit that I started this thread over at the UK skybar in the first place.

Germanwings is not bad also (by talking about low cost companies), The FIFA world cup 2006 will help it I hope :)

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to March 2005:
EasyJet = 26,996,777
Ryanair = 27,593,923

Percentage increase in passengers since March 2004:
EasyJet = 28.9%
Ryanair = 20%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in March 2005:
EasyJet = 91.2%
Ryanair = 80%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to April 2005:
EasyJet = 27,487,296
Ryanair = 28,108,233

Percentage increase in passengers since April 2004:
EasyJet = 25.2%
Ryanair = 24%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in April 2005:
EasyJet = 85.2%
Ryanair = 81%

Indeed public airports have already been banned from providing subsidies to Ryanair after the appalling EU decision at Charleroi (appalling because it just means the public airports are unable to compete with private airports).

At least in Germany this EU sentence didn't have any immidiate effect. Rynair still continues to get financed by tax payers. Air Berlin is for instance currently suing the Lubeck airport (which is the 2nd biggest base of Ryanair in Germany after Hahn) for paying Ryanair subsidies. It can take years before a sentence will be spoken. Until then this scheme continues.

Ryanair invades Poland
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=05&month=may&story=rte-en-180505

60 YEARS AFTER VE DAY:
RYANAIR LIBERATES POLAND

5 NEW ROUTES TO POLAND & SLOVAKIA AT FARES FROM £3.99*

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 low fares airline, today (Wednesday, 18th May 2005) announced 5 new routes to Poland and Slovakia. From October 30th, 2005 Ryanair will operate daily flights from London-Stansted to Gdansk, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, Rzeszow (Poland) and a twice-daily route to Bratislava (Slovakia). Bookings can be made on Ryanair.com today from just £3.99*.

Announcing Ryanair’s new routes in London today, Michael Cawley, Deputy CEO said:

“In 2004 Michael O’Leary said: “Who wants to go to Gdansk? There ain’t a lot there after you’ve seen the shipyard wall”. There he goes – wrong again. A big piece of humble pie later and it’s RE (Ryanair in Europe) Day as Ryanair liberates Poland from the tyranny of high fares. British Tourists can now discover Poland and decide for themselves what Gdansk, Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, and Rzeszow have to offer without paying the high fares of LOT and Easyjet.

“Today, we also add a new route to Bratislava in Slovakia, which has the added appeal of its proximity to Vienna, a destination which until today could only be accessed at prohibitively high fares.

“These five new routes mean British passengers will save over £60M on the high fares of other airlines and will benefit from Ryanair’s unbeatable punctuality and customer service”.

I wonder if Monkey works for Ryanair :D

btw, your title could as well be:

THE IRISH HAVE LIBERATED THE BRITISH FROM BRITISH AIRWAYS! :D

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to April 2005:
EasyJet = 27,487,296
Ryanair = 28,108,233

Percentage increase in passengers since April 2004:
EasyJet = 25.2%
Ryanair = 24%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in April 2005:
EasyJet = 85.2%
Ryanair = 81%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to May 2005:
EasyJet = 27,946,206
Ryanair = 28,842,791

Percentage increase in passengers since May 2004:
EasyJet = 24.8%
Ryanair = 34%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in May 2005:
EasyJet = 84.1%
Ryanair = 82%



OMG!! Ryanair grew by 34% since May 2004!! :eek2:

Good news!

Hopefully those guys will eventually start flying to Kaunas as well. The decision is to be announced in a couple of weeks. This would do so much good for the city.

Gotta love 'em low costers.

Finally :okay: :banana:

Ryanair strikes deal to fly to Lithuania - Kaunas airport

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/06/20/afx2100348.html

06.20.2005, 06:32 AM

VILNIUS (AFX) - Lithuania's Kaunas airport said it has concluded negotiations with Ryanair Holdings PLC to begin flying to the Baltic state.

'The negotiations are finished, but all the details are to be announced by representatives of the Irish company,' Kestutis Cucenas, head of Kaunas airport said.

'Representatives of Ryanair will hold a briefing in Kaunas on Tuesday,' he added.

In February, the Baltic state in February sent letters to eight low-cost European airlines inviting them to begin service to the Baltic state, but only received a reply from Ryanair.

Ryanair had expressed interest earlier in serving the Baltic state and had been in negotiations with Lithuanian officials.

But the talks failed because, according to Lithuanian officials, Ryanair was asking for a disguised fee to enter the Lithuanian market.

The transport ministry earlier said that it was ready to provide the necessary infrastructure for Kaunas airport and would organize public transport from Vilnius to the second-largest city, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.

Lithuania, which joined the European Union last last year saw a boost to airline passenger traffic this year.

Passenger numbers at Vilnius International Airport surged by 43 pct to 443,700 between January and May compared to the same period in 2004 and is expected to reach between 1.2 and 1.25 mln for the whole of 2005.

The number of flights served by the airport in January to May soared by 47 pct to reach 11,700 compared to the same period a year ago.

Kaunas airport to date mainly served cargo flights.

Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved.


http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/06/20/afx2100348.html

New routes for Ryanair

TUESDAY 21/06/2005 10:51:14

Budget airline Ryanair today announced four new routes and an increase in frequency on other services.

The low-fare Irish carrier will be starting flights this autumn from Stansted airport in Essex to Grenoble in France, Kaunas in Lithuania and to the Polish towns of Lodz and Poznan.

The flights to these new destinations will begin between September 22 and October 30, with fares starting at 99p.

Ryanair is also increasing to twice a day the frequency on its existing routes from Stansted to Londonderry, to Riga in Latvia, to Tampere in Finland and to the Spanish cities of Seville and Granada.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O`Leary said today: "We launched our first route in Poland just three months ago from Stansted to Wroclaw and with these two new routes to Lodz and Poznan, Ryanair will serve more Polish airports (seven) directly from London than any other airline.

"We are delighted also to announce our first new route to Kaunas. This route will operate daily and we expect to carry in excess of 100,000 passengers in our first year of operation."

-----------

http://www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=61670&pt=n

:okay:

^ Yeah I saw that on the website. It finally happened. :)

Here's an update of EasyJet and Ryanair's route maps. Note the new Ryanair routes in Poland and Lithuania:


EasyJet

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/EasyJet.jpg


Ryanair

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/Ryanair_map.jpg


Ryanair from London Stansted

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/Ryanair_Stansted_map.jpg

Bloody hell that map has changed since I last saw it. I think it only had like 2 EE destinations at the time. Anyway I'm flying to Girona next month with Ryanair. I've never tried Spain with Ryanair for some reason but I have used Easyjet a few times. Spain is always slightly more expensive then elsewhere.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to May 2005:
EasyJet = 27,946,206
Ryanair = 28,842,791

Percentage increase in passengers since May 2004:
EasyJet = 24.8%
Ryanair = 34%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in May 2005:
EasyJet = 84.1%
Ryanair = 82%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to June 2005:
EasyJet = 28,291,843
Ryanair = 29,557,476

Percentage increase in passengers since June 2004:
EasyJet = 15.4%
Ryanair = 31%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in June 2005:
EasyJet = 85.6%
Ryanair = 87%

It's so great that Ryanair is finally starting flights to Lithuania, it was kinda freaky to see this country as a black hole on Lowcost flight maps :crazy:
Can't wait to order my first flight with Ryanair or Easyjet, yet haven't decided which destination it's gonna be, most likely Frankfurt :okay:

Ryanair finally coming to Krakow :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Ryanair unveils eight new UK winter routes

July 13, 2005 11:31


Ryanair has announced eight new routes for this winter's schedule, including two new destinations with daily flights from London Stansted to Toulon in the south of France and Krakow in Poland.

The low fares airline also unveiled four new routes from its Liverpool base to Oslo, Riga, Carcassonne and Bergerac, as well as a new route from Newcastle to Oslo and from Glasgow Prestwick to Krakow.

The new routes will start in September and October.

Ryanair said late last year that it was in talks on establishing new routes with over 100 airports to which it does not already fly in central and western Europe.

^ So EasyJet and Ryanair will soon be competing on the Krakow route! That makes sense. Krakow is a very pretty city and for British tourists it's being talked of as the new Prague. It should generate enough traffic for both airlines.

^ So EasyJet and Ryanair will soon be competing on the Krakow route! That makes sense. Krakow is a very pretty city and for British tourists it's being talked of as the new Prague. It should generate enough traffic for both airlines.

Yes - goon news for passangers.

In this momemnt Krakow has such lowcost airlines:

SkyEurope
Centralwings
EasyJet
+ Ryanair (starting in September)


As for Warsaw :

SkyEurope
Centalwings
EasyJet
Wizzair
Germanwings
Norwegian.no

map showing Warsaw lowcost routes
(from April 2005 ) :

http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/6/2674/m2674816.jpg

Ryanair Launches 8 New Routes to Britain
4 to Liverpool, 2 to London, 1 to Newcastle & Glasgow
Corporate Press Release
July 13, 2005

In London today Ryanair, the largest passenger airline in the UK-European market and the number one carrier of overseas visitors into London unveiled 8 new routes for this Winter’s schedule including two new destinations with daily flights from London Stansted to Toulon in the South of France and Krakow in Poland. Ryanair also unveiled four new routes from its Liverpool base to Oslo, Riga, Carcassonne and Bergerac, as well as a new route from Newcastle to Oslo and from Glasgow Prestwick to Krakow. As part of this expansion a fifth aircraft will now be based in Liverpool from 27th September next.

Ryanair also announced this morning that it would launch a major tourism drive to encourage visitors to come to London by releasing 3 million seats at a price of just £1 or €1 plus taxes which have gone on sale on Ryanair’s website at www.ryanair.com for travel during August, September and October. This seat sale will be backed up with a Pan European £5 million advertising campaign over the next 3 months featuring London and a range of other great British cities.

Speaking this morning in London, Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair decided to bring forward these route launches and this seat sale from September to the middle of July because we believe the best response to last week’s terrorist attacks is for ordinary people to continue to live their lives as normal, and to continue to travel as before. It is more important than ever that the leading players in London and British tourism such as Ryanair make it even more attractive for visitors to come to London this Autumn and show the terrorists that we will not be put off by their atrocities.”

“We are delighted with our two new routes to London from Krakow in Poland and Toulon in the South of France and we are particularly pleased with the continued expansion of our successful Liverpool base which is growing rapidly. We expect that traffic at Liverpool will continue to grow, particularly as the city becomes Europe’s capital of culture in 2008.”

“These 3 million seats went on sale on our website at Ryanair.com this week and will remain available for booking until midnight on Monday next for travel during the months of August, September and October. However since seats at these low prices during the peak Summer period are a rarity, we would encourage all visitors to London to snap them up quickly as there will be huge demand for them.”

Ryanair CEO: Saw Drop Off In Bookings After London Blasts
13 July 2005

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Irish budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) saw a drop off in bookings in the four days immediately following last Thursday's terrorist attacks on London, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said Wednesday.

Compared with bookings over the preceding few weeks, bookings from Friday to Monday were down between 5% and 10%, O'Leary said at a press conference. He added that the drop was in the single digits.

Ryanair typically takes about 100,000 bookings a day and O'Leary said he's hopeful that systemwide bookings will be back to normal by this weekend.

O'Leary added that the airline is practically fully sold out for bookings at the end of July and the first two weeks of August.

The drop off in bookings hasn't led to any change in the company's financial guidance for the year ending March 31, 2006, he said.

O'Leary said average fares -or yields -may fall by up to 5% in the current financial year and the airline is still on track to carry over 35 million passengers during the year.

Ryanair previously said that yields were likely to be flat in its first quarter to June 30, but O'Leary declined to comment further on yield development over these three months.

The Irish airline earlier Wednesday announced 8 new routes to the U.K. including four from its base in Liverpool It also said it's offering 3 million seats at reduced prices for travel during August, September and October.

O'Leary said the seat sale is likely to have a negative impact on yields.

Looking ahead, Ryanair is likely to announce a new base over the next few weeks, O'Leary said. He added that the carrier is also planning to announce the closure of three or four underperforming routes towards the end of August.

At 1212 GMT, Ryanair shares were up EUR0.005 at EUR6.555 in London.

EasyJet a good investment says Icelandair
ALASTAIR DALTON
13 July 2005
The Scotsman

ICELANDAIR chief executive Jon Karl Olafsson said yesterday its stake in EasyJet was already paying off, days after the airline again upped its shareholding in the no-frills carrier.

Olafsson, in Glasgow to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Icelandair flights to Scotland, said its 11.5 per cent holding in EasyJet had been a good investment and suggested the door remained open on further share buying. FL Group, the Icelandic flag-carrier's parent company, spent some GBP 5 million to increase its stake by a further 0.5 per cent last week following its original 8.4 per cent acquisition last October. It has also bought shares in various other companies.

However, the spending spree has caused early turbulence for the new chief executive, who took over last month after predecessor Sigurdur Helgason's two decades in the cockpit.

Six of FL's seven directors have resigned, reportedly in protest over "corporate governance issues" and the company's future direction.

Olafsson told The Scotsman: "We think it [EasyJet] is a well-run business, but there is not a lot in common between Icelandair and EasyJet and we are not looking to be in a merger. It has been a good investment that has been paying off already."

As for increasing its stake, he said: "We look for opportunities as they arise, but there is nothing going on at the moment."

Olafsson said it was too early to say when the Glasgow-Reykjavik service - Iceland's oldest international air link - would resume daily flights from the current five a week.

However, he said the airline - which flies to six US cities - had seen no downturn in passenger demand since last Thursday's London bombings.

He said: "The world is determined not to allow these guys to get away with it. The threat has been going on for a number of years and will remain."

easyJet adds six new European routes
14 July 2005

LONDON (AFX) - easyJet PLC, the Luton-based no-frills airline, said it is adding six new routes to its network.

New daily services from London Gatwick to Murcia, Spain, and Grenoble, France, will start Sept 23 and Dec 16 respectively.

Services from Dortmund to Barcelona and Milan (Malpensa) will both start on Oct 30, as will a service from Geneva to Lisbon.

A service from Geneva to Malaga will start on Nov 1.

The flights will connect currently served destinations, with the exception of Lisbon, which is a new city to be added to easyJet's network.

The additions increase the airline's total number of routes to 216 and the total number of key airports served to 64.

At 11.50 am shares in easyJet were up 1-3/4 pence at 257-1/2.

Ryanair flight from Rome to Paris forced to return twice

ROME, July 16 (AFP) - A flight from Rome to Paris operated by the low-cost operator Ryanair had to return twice Saturday to Rome's Ciampino airport because of problems with its landing gear, airport officials said.

The company's Boeing 737 first took off at 7:00 am (0500GMT) with 130 passengers on board but 10 minutes later the pilot reported a problem with the landing gear's hydraulic system and asked permission for an emergency landing back at the airport.

The plane landed without any problem and technical staff inspected it in a hangar.

It took off again at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) but the same problem occurred and the plane again returned to Ciampino.

Some passengers went to the airport police station to register complaints and about half refused to reboard the aircraft, which took off for a third time at about 3:30 pm (1330 GMT).

Ryanair to fight Dublin terminal decision in court

DUBLIN, July 19 (Reuters) - Ryanair upped the stakes in a long running campaign against Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on Tuesday, saying it would take the government to court over its plans for a second terminal at Dublin airport.

"Bertie Ahern's government is breaking EU competition rules by awarding the second terminal to the Dublin Airport Monopoly," Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in a statement.

Ryanair, which placed newspaper adverts depicting Ahern as a tortoise and an "April Fool" during its campaign for an independent terminal, is unhappy with a decision that it will be built by the state-owned Dublin Airport Authority.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen said in May that, as part of his aviation action plan, there would be an open tender competition to select the terminal's operator but that has not been enough to satisfy Europe's largest low-fares airline.

"There are 13 other parties who could build the terminal cheaper, more efficiently and provide passengers with competition and choice," the head of Dublin-based Ryanair said, calling for an end to semi-state monopolies.

A spokeswoman for the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) declined to comment on Ryanair's decision.

The airport operator has also been fending off criticism in recent months after delays due to a tightening of security in the wake of an inspection. It has increased staff levels to try to address the problem.

"The experience of passengers departing from and arriving at Dublin Airport is truly awful," O'Leary said. "Queues are getting longer, and overcrowding in the terminals is now the norm."

Ryanair action over terminal adjourned
20 July 2005
Irish Times

A High Court action in which Ryanair is seeking to overturn the decision to award ownership of the planned second terminal at Dublin airport to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has been adjourned until October.

Ryanair is seeking declarations that the failure to consider independent ownership of Terminal 2 breaches the EU Treaty and parts of the Competition Act 2002. A further order is being sought to stop the conferring of ownership of Terminal 2 on the DAA.

Ryanair's proceedings are against the Taoiseach, the Minister for Transport, DAA, Ireland and the Attorney General. The action was mentioned before Mr Justice Liam McKechnie yesterday. He adjourned it to October 11th for mention. A date for the full hearing is unlikely to be set until the autumn.

Ryanair contends that it and Aer Lingus are the two biggest users of Dublin airport.

The DAA owns, operates and manages the existing terminal.

In August 2002, the then minister announced a decision to invite proposals for an independent terminal or terminals at Dublin airport. Advertisements invited expressions of interest and Ryanair submitted such an _expression of interest.

Ryanair claims the Taoiseach, in June 2004, entered an arrangement or agreement with the trade union movement, in particular Ictu, in relation to the imposition of union work practices and recognition on any party involved with or engaged in the construction, operation or administration of Terminal 2.

The agreement would allegedly involve the imposition of similar if not identical work practices to Terminal 2 as applied to the existing terminal.

It is claimed that the Taoiseach wrongfully and in breach of duty imposed the agreement on the transport minister in the knowledge that it would be a term of the involvement of DAA in Terminal 2. Alternatively, it is alleged the minister, in concert with the Taoiseach, imposed the agreement or intended to impose it upon any operator of Terminal 2.

The imposition of the agreement is anti-competitive and in breach of the provisions of the EU Treaty and in particular Articles 10, 82 and 86, and also a breach of the State Airports Act 2004, it is claimed.

A decision in May 2005 to award ownership of Terminal 2 to the DAA was taken without any proper, full or appropriate consideration as to the merits of private ownership as distinct from semi-state ownership, in the context of Competition Rules, Ryanair claims. It was also made without any independent, objective or proper assessment as to the competing merits of monopoly State ownership as distinct from a truly independent and separate terminal ownership and operation.

If Ryanair wishes to fly in or out of Dublin airport it has no choice other than to use Terminal 1 or, when open, Terminal 2, it pleads. Irrespective of which terminal Ryanair uses, DAA will impose a fee to cover its debts and the costs of what Ryanair alleges are "these inefficient work practices".

Ryanair says it is concerned the DAA will build "over-specified facilities" which will increase debts and airport charges, imposing additional costs on Ryanair and other airport users.

Ryanair makes up 80pc of all Shannon flights
Tom McEnaney
23 July 2005
Irish Independent

RYANAIR now accounts for approximately four out of every five short-haul flights taking off or landing at Shannon Airport, according to an analysis by Goodbody Stockbrokers.

And according to Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, the airline is only just beginning.

He said Ryanair plans to double the number of passengers passing through Shannon from 2m today to 4m in two/three years' time.

Mr O'Leary said: "Traffic at Shannon is growing strongly. We're tied into a five-year deal with Shannon Airport which requires us to grow traffic year-on-year.

"But we are beating all of the projections set for us by the airport."

While this is good news for the airport, this growth has not come without cost to Ryanair.

According to Mr O'Leary, fares on the Shannon routes are "a little below our expectations".

He added, however, that the airline, which earlier this month announced new routes from Shannon to Bristol and the French city of Nantes, plans to add more routes from the airport.

He said: "I would be surprised if Shannon is not linked up to one or two new bases we plan to announce in Europe over the next 12 months."

Goodbody arrived at its figures for Ryanair's Shannon traffic by stripping out Aer Lingus transatlantic flights forced to land at Shannon because of the compulsory stopover.

That stopover is currently being renegotiated ahead of its abolition in coming years.

The stockbroker's note says: "From a thin service to London and Frankfurt just two years ago, Ryanair is today providing flights to fourteen destinations from Shannon Airport.

"We estimate there are now over 60,000 short-haul seats per week being provided at Shannon. Ryanair provides over 55pc of these.

"If you strip out the seats Aer Lingus supply on Dublin-Shannon (effectively the transatlantic flights hopping up and down), the Ryanair share is more like 80pc."

Mr Gill attributes the growth to the management of Shannon Airport, which is the process of establishing Shannon as an independent airport.

He said that Ryanair's success will pose a serious challEnge to other airlines operating from Shannon.

"Ryanair's competitors on short-haul (EU Jet, HLX, ThomsonFly, EasyJet, Aer Lingus, BA regional and FlyBe) out of Shannon will struggle in the face of such a massive step-change in services. They either get bigger or dwindle.

"EasyJet, in particular, must make a strategic decision around Cork, Shannon and Knock, where their February launches have encountered a huge Ryanair response at each airport."

German setback as Ryanair eyes Pisa.
By KEVIN DONE
21 July 2005
Financial Times

Ryanair, Europe's leading low-cost carrier, is accelerating its expansion into the Italian market by establishing a base at Pisa.

The group already has bases at Rome Ciampino and at Milan Bergamo airports and is mounting an increasing challenge to Alitalia, the lossmaking Italian state owned carrier, on short-haul routes to and from Italy.

Its plans to establish a second base in Germany at Lubeck have run into legal problems as a local court has issued an interim judgment blocking plans to extend the runway at Lubeck airport.

Italy is already the second- most important source of originating traffic for Ryanair with a share of 13 per cent, behind only the UK at 41 per cent and ahead of Germany and Ireland, which each account for 11 per cent.

Ryanair has established the broadest presence across Europe of any airline, with four operating bases in the UK at London Stansted, London Luton, Glasgow Prestwick and Liverpool, two in Ireland at Dublin and Shannon, and further bases at Stockholm Skavsta, Frankfurt Hahn, Brussels Charleroi and Barcelona Girona.

In Germany, the airline is having to reconsider its expansion strategy, however.

It had announced that it would establish a base at Lubeck but the deal was conditional on its partner, Infratil, the New Zealand-listed infrastructure fund, being successful in its plan to acquire a 90 per cent stake in the airport and to win approval to extend the runway.

Infratil announced yesterday that the German court had declined to give planning approval for the project.

It said: "It is now unlikely that the conditional (take-over) agreement will be confirmed in its present terms."

Tuesday August 2, 6:23 PM
Ryanair Posts Record First-Quarter Profit

AP - Budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC shrugged off the escalating cost of aviation fuel and posted a record first-quarter net profit Tuesday of 69.6 million euros ($84.8 million).

The rapidly growing European carrier said its profit rose 31 percent from the 53.1 million euros it earned in the previous April-June quarter, much higher than analysts' expectations of around 55 million euros ($67 million).

Revenue rose 35 percent to 404.6 million euros ($495.2 million), while the number of passengers rose 30 percent, roughly in line with Ryanair's expansion in routes over the past year.

The airline's average "yield," meaning the average cost of each ticket purchased, grew 3 percent.

Chief Executive Michael O'Leary warned that the Dublin-based airline, which operates its major hub at London's Stansted Airport, could be vulnerable to the effects of more terrorist attacks in the British capital. He said bookings did drop immediately following the four bombings on July 7 and attempted bombings on July 21, but quickly recovered.

"If there are no further such attacks in London, then we expect that our forward bookings will not be materially impacted," O'Leary said. "However, if there are further incidents in London, both bookings and yields could be adversely impacted."

Ryanair shares rose 1 euro cent (1 U.S. cent) to 6.81 euros ($8.34) in midmorning trade on the Irish Stock Exchange.

Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley said Ryanair was well positioned to keep wooing customers from rivals that have slapped extra charges on tickets because of the soaring cost of oil. Ryanair hasn't imposed a fuel surcharge.

Ryanair said its fuel costs rose 112 percent from first-quarter 2004, driving up overall costs 6 percent. Excluding fuel, the company's costs fell 9 percent.

The company has tried to combat the rising cost of oil by buying contracts months in advance. Cawley said Ryanair had secured most of its September fuel needs at $57 a barrel, compared with the current price around $62, but had no hedging contracts for the summer.

"July and August are a problem. We'll just have to take that on the chin," Cawley said. "But for the rest of the year we're hedged at what are now very good rates."

Ryanair's faith in the Polish market rises along with passenger numbers

4th August 2005

Ryanair, the Irish low cost air carrier, is convinced of its success on the Polish market.

"Twelve months ago I was of an opinion that flying to Poland does not make sense. I have changed my mind - in 2006 we will fly one million passengers on routes to Poland, while over the next five years another five million," said Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's managing director.

In order to fulfill this target the company is already in negotiations with another six airports across the country. According to unofficial information these might include Katowice, Dęblin, Lublin-Niedźwiada, Szczytno or Białystok.

"Still this year we will introduce 2-3 new connections, later we will plan to increase the frequency of flights to two to three per day on the best routes, then we will enter new airports," added O'Leary, who went on to say that the company will not withdraw from Poland if the number of passengers drop. The company president added that the idea to form Ryanair's main base in Poland is still being considered. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 5) A.K.

http://www.wbj.pl/?command=article&id=27821&

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to June 2005:
EasyJet = 28,291,843
Ryanair = 29,557,476

Percentage increase in passengers since June 2004:
EasyJet = 15.4%
Ryanair = 31%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in June 2005:
EasyJet = 85.6%
Ryanair = 87%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to July 2005:
EasyJet = 28,725,408
Ryanair = 30,275,805

Percentage increase in passengers since July 2004:
EasyJet = 22.7%
Ryanair = 29%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in July 2005:
EasyJet = 85.2%
Ryanair = 90%



Ryanair's figures are absolutely amazing. 29% growth, 90% load factor, and an annual total punching through the 30 million barrier!! And EasyJet is never far behind....

easyJet slumps as Icelandair plays down bid talk
BNP downgrades
12 August 2005

LONDON (AFX) - Shares in easyJet PLC slumped in morning deals as Icelandair played down speculation it is poised to make an imminent bid for the no-frills airline, dealers said.

Sentiment in the stock was further hit as Exane BNB downgraded its rating to 'neutral' from 'outperform' on valuation following 7 pct gains yesterday on the back of the takeover speculation.

Today's Financial Times quoted Hannes Smarason, chairman of FL Group, the parent company of Icelandair, as saying there is 'no statement coming' today as he denied his company was behind yesterday's heavy buying.

Furthermore, easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Iannou told the same newspaper that he was not a seller at current levels, saying the stock is undervalued.

In response, UBS reiterated its 'neutral' stance and said any FL bid would face issues, as easyJet articles of association prevent non-UK parties from holding more than 40 pct.

The broker also argued that launching a bid after FL-related speculation has bid up the price to an additional 150 pct above the initial 120 pence level would be 'an odd strategy'.

UBS believes there's at least 40 pence of bid speculation in the price, so if FL does not bid, it looks to be a longish way down from here.

Meanwhile, BNP said this year, the stock has been re-rated by the market due to the improvement in both unit revenues and unit costs and, more recently, as a result of bid speculation.

It advised investors to continue to hold the stock but buying in at this price is speculative.

In a note to clients, the broker said the outperformance of the share in the past week was triggered by Icelandair lifting its stake from 11.5 pct to 13 pct last Friday.

BNP said the takeover is looking increasingly likely given the increased stake and the developments at easyJet board level.

It added Stelios Haji-Iannou, who alongside his family hold 40.5 pct of the company, would be prepared to sell at the right price given his need to fund his other easyGroup ventures, such as easyCruise and easyHotel.

At 10.12 am, shares in easyJet were 5-1/4 pence lower at 299-1/4.

Ryanair refuses to make payments to clients
23 August 2005
Irish Times

Ryanair is among a group of airlines refusing to pay new EU passenger compensation payments.

Since February, when new EU compensation rules for airline passengers came into force, the number of complaints and queries received by airlines has increased fourfold.

But the EU legislation has also created an unprecedented legal quagmire, according to several airline executives and aviation authorities that are challenging the rules in court.

Some airlines also say the rules have left them with an unsustainable financial risk. Low-cost carriers in particular insist they could be forced to reimburse many times the actual price of a ticket.

The EU compensation scheme is not based on the actual ticket price but instead uses a complex rising scale for what passengers can claim for events such as flight delays.

Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, is among the airlines that have so far resisted paying the new compensation claims. Jim Callaghan, its head of regulatory affairs, says the new rules are "a complete mess".

Ryanair, he says, recently had a family of five that paid a total of €168 for their flights but were asking for compensation of €1,980 following a cancellation due to weather. In another case a woman who paid €46 for her flight was asking for €400. "This is how insane the situation is," he said.

Early next month, the advocate general of the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, is expected to give an opinion on the rules, following challenges by the International Air Transport Association and the European Low Fares Airlines Association.

(Financial Times Service)

Ryanair Holdings: Cuts 12 Flights A Week At Newquay
31 August 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair said Wednesday it will withdraw 12 flights per week or 100,000 passengers per annum at Newquay airport following the decision by Cornwall County Council to impose a GBP5 surcharge on passengers and visitors to the region.

Speaking this morning, Michael Cawley, Deputy CEO of Ryanair, said: "Ryanair has always made it very clear to Cornwall County Council that their airport and region is part of a competitive price sensitive market that must compete with 84 other low fare destinations from London Stansted. Under the right conditions this market is capable of delivering huge economic benefits to the region and in excess of 200,000 passengers per annum.

"Cornwall County Council's ridiculous decision to introduce a GBP5 tax per departing passenger would result in increased revenue of GBP250,000 for the Council and a reduced income for the region of GBP10.5M leaving Cornwall worse off to the effect of GBP10M per annum in terms of expenditure by visitors brought by Ryanair from London.

"With this type of misguided economics is it any wonder that regional tourism in the U.K. is suffering. The benefits which incoming flights can deliver to regions such as Cornwall are incalculable and far exceed the derisory income, which will be derived by the Council as a result of this tax.

"In the light of the inevitable reduction in demand, which will ensue from this increase in the cost of travel, Ryanair has decided to reduce its schedule to a daily flight and will obviously keep this under review with the possibility of further reductions in the future if demand deteriorates further".

EasyJet appoints ex-RAC boss as new CEO
By Michael Smith

LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - British low-cost airline easyJet selected Andrew Harrison, the former boss of UK motor services firm RAC, as its new chief executive on Thursday.

Harrison, 48, will replace the airline's long-serving boss Ray Webster, who is retiring in December.

EasyJet has been searching for a successor since Webster announced in May he would be stepping down earlier than scheduled to spend more time in his native New Zealand.

"It is a good choice. He ticks all the boxes. He has financial experience and, crucially, big company experience. It is going to give the company a new lease of life," BNP Paribas analyst Geoff Van Klaveren said.

Shares in the airline rose 1.1 percent to 295 pence by 0934 GMT. The stock is trading near 15-month highs despite record high fuel costs and stiff competition.

Harrison left RAC after the group was taken over by insurance giant Aviva earlier this year for 1.1 billion pounds ($2 billion).

Analysts pointed to Harrison's track record and experience in a consumer-focused company as a positive signal for easyJet.

He joined Lex Service in 1996 as chief executive and oversaw its transformation from a vehicle distribution company into RAC plc, a well-known UK services company.

"In addition, Andrew has delivered strong top and bottom line growth, improved cash generation, introduced cost efficiencies and inspired employees in a service industry," easyJet Chairman Colin Chandler said.

Webster has been with easyJet since it was launched in 1995 with two leased aircraft and flew only from its base at Luton Airport near London to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

EasyJet, which has since expanded aggressively on short-haul European routes, raised earnings forecasts last month after demand for flights and cost cuts helped it offset higher fuel costs.

Businessman and easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou owns 41 percent of easyJet along with his family.

Analysts had expected an external candidate, though Harrison had not been widely tipped. EasyJet non-executive Colin Day resigned from the airline after failing to agree on terms to take on the role, local newspapers reported.

The company is still searching for a new commercial director.

Ryanair Aug Passengers +27%
5 September 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair Holdings Monday said the airline carried over 3.26 million passengers in August, an increase of 27% on the same period last year.

The August load factor was 91% compared with 92% a year ago, while the Internet sales percentage was 98% from 97% last year.

The airline carried 3,257,009 passengers in August 2005, compared with 2,565,185 a year ago.

AUGUST PASSENGER STATS BLOW BRITISH AIRWAYS AWAY
Ryanair Press Release

Ryanair, Europe's No. 1 low fares airline, today (Monday, 5th September 2005) celebrated carrying more passengers in one month than British Airways on its worldwide network for the first ever time. The statistics for August published by both Ryanair and BA show that Ryanair carried 156,000 more passengers than BA's entire network figure. Ryanair currently operates 250 routes across 21 countries and this year will carry 35 million passengers.

Speaking this afternoon, Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary said:

"It's official - RYANAIR has today become the WORLD'S FAVOURITE AIRLINE! Last month Ryanair's traffic exceeded BA's worldwide passengers across its entire network. Ryanair carried over 3.26 million passengers an increase of 27% on the same period last year, while BA carried 3.10 million passengers on its entire worldwide network, as sales slumped by 4% from BA's August 2004 traffic in the face of multiple fuel surcharges. (BA suffered flight disruptions in August 2004 as well as 2005)

"Ryanair's passenger volumes are growing rapidly thanks to new destinations, lowest ever fares, industry leading punctuality and customer service and Ryanair's guarantee of NO fuel surcharges, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. BA keep turning passengers away with fuel surcharge after fuel surcharge, high fares, poor punctuality, flight cancellations and no catering. At least on Ryanair, customers can buy a sandwich with £100 they have saved over BA's high fares.

"That is why RYANAIR is now the WORLD'S FAVOURITE AIRLINE, and BA are now officially just the second choice".

easyJet Carried 2.9M Passengers In August
7 September 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- easyJet said Wednesday that for the month ending August 2005 it carried 2,903,404 passengers, a load factor of 88.4%.

This compares with 2,459,735 for August 2004, a load factor of 88.6%.

For the rolling 12 months ending July 2005 the company carried 29,169,743 passengers (load factor 85.2%) earning it revenue of GBP1,319 million compared with 23,879,509 passengers (load factor 84.4%) for the 12 months to July 2004 which earned it revenue of GBP1,071 million.

Chief Executive, Ray Webster said: "August was another strong month for easyJet: load factor and passenger growth were both virtually unchanged from last month. Unit revenue (total revenue per seat flown) continued to increase year-on-year. We maintain the revenue and profits guidance issued with our third quarter statistics last month."

Budget airline arrivals up 33 percent in Spain in 2004

MADRID, Sept 5 (AFP) - The number of arrivals to Spain on low-cost airlines surged 33.3 percent to 14 million passengers in 2004 from the previous year, according to a report by the Institute of Tourism Studies obtained by AFP on Monday.

Traditional airlines meanwhile saw their passenger arrivals shrink by one percent during the same period, said the institute, which is an arm of the ministry of industry, tourism and commerce.

Passengers arriving to Spain by a budget airline made up 29.2 percent of all arrivals into the country.

"In 2004, there were 104,000 low-cost flights, a 32.6-percent increase from the previous year," the report said.

"They maintained strong occupancy rates of 81.7 percent, higher, as was the case already in 2003, than the 76.1 percent rate of traditional airlines," the study said.

Low-cost airlines made the biggest inroads in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, with 23 and 22.4 percent of all budget arrivals to the country respectively.

In Catalonia, 69.2 percent of the low-cost passengers arrived from Britain, Italy and Germany with more British now flying there on budget airlines than on traditional ones, the study noted.

Easyjet has the largest share of the low-cost flight market in Spain with 20.3 percent, followed by Air Berlin and Ryanair which managed to increase its passenger traffic by 120 percent last year.

Also Monday, Air Berlin's general director for Spain and Portugal, Alvaro Middelmann, said the company was planning to extend its services from Palma, Mallorca to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain and Amsterdam from November.

Air Berlin, which unveiled a 32-percent rise in passengers from Palma to 2.5 million from July to July, also plans to begin operating twice-daily services between Palma and Lisbon and also Porto in Portugal.

Spain, the second most-visited country in the world in 2004 after France, welcomed a record 53.6 million foreign visitors, according to government statistics.

British citizens topped arrivals with 16.38 million visiting in 2004, followed by the 10.2 million Germans and 7.49 million French tourists.

Tourism is the biggest source of income for the Spanish economy, accounting for 12 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to July 2005:
EasyJet = 28,725,408
Ryanair = 30,275,805

Percentage increase in passengers since July 2004:
EasyJet = 22.7%
Ryanair = 29%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in July 2005:
EasyJet = 85.2%
Ryanair = 90%



Ryanair's figures are absolutely amazing. 29% growth, 90% load factor, and an annual total punching through the 30 million barrier!! And EasyJet is never far behind....Rolling 12 month passenger totals to August 2005:
EasyJet = 29,169,743
Ryanair = 30,967,629

Percentage increase in passengers since August 2004:
EasyJet = 22.2%
Ryanair = 27%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in August 2005:
EasyJet = 88.4%
Ryanair = 98%

Ryanair passengers are forced to hire bus to get home after their flight is cancelled
BY JUSTIN STARES in Brussels
11 September 2005
The Sunday Telegraph

STRANDED RYANAIR passengers were forced to hire a bus and drive 600 miles home after their flight was cancelled and they were told that the next aircraft out of a small French airport would be in 10 days time.

The 51 holidaymakers, led by a Belgian window cleaner, clubbed together to rent a vehicle for euros4,000 ( pounds 2,700) after the no-frills airline announced that their flight from Carcassone to Charleroi airport, Brussels, would not be replaced.

The passengers, mostly Belgians but including five Britons and 15 Germans, were told upon arriving at the airport last week that their flight to Charleroi, Ryanair's European hub, had been cancelled due to bad weather.

Their aircraft had been diverted to nearby Perpignan during a storm and there was no time to transfer them to that airport before the plane made the return journey, empty, the company said.

"They abandoned us there as if we were dogs,'' said Gauthier Renders, the 28-year-old window cleaner from Brussels. "There were children there and even an old woman with a walking stick. They didn't even give us a glass of water.''

He continued: "At the Ryanair desk they said there were no available flights before September 15. Everything was fully booked. They said that some of us could get home via Gerone in Spain but that was 200 miles away and there were only 15 places available.

"They also said they wouldn't pay for us to get there. So I looked for a bus in the Yellow Pages and we were on the road by 9pm.'' The bus company provided two drivers and after a 16-hour drive the coach arrived in Belgium, on Tuesday.

"That's a long trip and everyone was pretty frustrated when we got there. Ryanair said they would refund our return flight - half the price of the original ticket - but said that it would take three weeks for the money to arrive,'' Mr Renders said. "They don't care about the bad publicity; they know they are a cheap airline and that people will use them again just because they are cheap. But not me: my wife and I will never fly Ryanair again.'' Mr Renders and his wife paid euros220 each for the return trip to Carcassone, where they were attending a wedding. "I collected the names and numbers of the other passengers and as soon as I got back I phoned my lawyer. I thought we could take them to court, but he said there was not much point as some people only paid euros5 and the legal fees would be much higher than that.''

David Gering, Ryanair's commercial director in Belgium, said: "Ryanair is the company which cancels the fewest flights in Europe, though we do occasionally have to due to technical problems or bad weather. In the case of a cancellation our policy is to reimburse or offer a seat on the next available flight.''

A spokesman for Charleroi airport said: "The subsequent flights were all fully booked and Ryanair did not want to spend the money sending a replacement aircraft.''

The incident came in the week that Ryanair suffered a setback in its fight to overturn a European Union law that raises compensation for stranded travellers.

An advocate general at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said that the 2004 law, which took effect in February, should be upheld.

The legislation entitles passengers left stranded by overbookings or cancelled flights to compensation of between euros250 and euros600. The law sets out how passengers should either be re-routed, or looked after while awaiting a new flight - including the circumstances in which they must be provided with food, hotels and access to a telephone. Ryanair admits that it has been "inundated with claims'' following the posting of the new rules on notice boards at airports all over the EU.

Ryanair and nine other airlines represented by the European Low Fares Airline Association want the legislation scrapped on the grounds that it contravenes an international agreement protecting airlines when delays are beyond their control. They claim that the rules are unfair because compensation may exceed what customers pay for their tickets.

"The regulation on compensation and assistance to air passengers is valid,'' advocate general Leendert Geelhoed said. The full court usually follows the advocate general's advice.

Ryanair Holdings Names Cork As Its 15th European Base
13 September 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair, a European low-cost airline,announced Tuesday Cork as its 15th European base.

The company said: "From Nov. 24, 2005, Ryanair will base a brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth $60M in Cork and add two new routes to Dublin and London Gatwick that will deliver more than 1 million passengers per annum on Ryanair's four routes to and from Cork." Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, said: "Ryanair's new Cork base will deliver 1 million passengers per annum, sustain 1,000 jobs in the region and allow the people of Cork and Munster to travel internationally and domestically for a fraction of existing prices.

"More than 1,000 low fare seats will be available daily between Cork and Dublin acting as a major stimulus to the tourism and business life of Cork."

Ryanair Names Nottingham East Midlands New Base Airport
14 September 2005
Dow Jones International News
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair, on Wednesday named Nottingham East Midlands as its 15th European base.

From Mar. 7, Ryanair will base 2 brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth $120M at Nottingham East Midlands Airport and add 10 new routes to its existing 5 routes.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said: "From the 7th of March, Ryanair will operate 15 routes through Nottingham East Midlands delivering 1.2 million passengers per annum, sustaining 1,200 jobs in the East Midlands area."

Ryanair Hldgs Carried 3.0M Passengers In Sep
4 October 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair Holding PLC said Tuesday that its passenger numbers grew 27% in September, and added that current trading continue to be in line with expectations.

In its passenger statistics for September, the airline said it flew 3,023,819 passengers in September, compared with 2,373,522 in September 2004.

In the rolling 12 months to the end of September, the airline flew 31,617,926 passengers. September 2005 load factor was unchanged at 87%. Load factor for the rolling 12 months to the end of September 2005 was 84%.

Ryanair also confirmed the exercise of 9 further Boeing 737-800 options for delivery in 2007 along with the planned sale (in 2007) of 5 Boeing 737-800's purchased in 1999.

"Current trading continues to be in line with expectations," said Chief Executive Officer Michael O'Leary.

Speaking at an Investor Day in London he added: "Higher fuel prices over the summer months have been partly offset by a combination of other cost reductions and slightly more benign yield environment.

"Passenger volumes and load factors have been strong over the summer and in August we achieved a significant milestone by carrying more passengers on our short haul European network than British Airways (now just the worlds 2nd favourite airline) did on their entire worldwide network.

"Looking forward to the winter we remain cautious. We expect yields to benefit from the multiple fuel surcharges imposed by the high fare carriers across Europe.

"However, we anticipate that the fare differential between Ryanair and the flag carriers will be partially eroded as the fuel surchargers are forced to lower their underlying fares to compete with Ryanair's lower prices.

"We therefore remain cautious but comfortable with our previous guidance for the remainder of this fiscal year as we anticipate strong load factors and passenger volumes but as expected, at slightly lower yields.

"The recent announcement of the cessation of the Boeing strike will in turn enable our aircraft deliveries to be "back on track" by the end of December 2005. We anticipate there will be no material adverse impact on the company's financial performance or passengers carried arising from the strike.

"I am also pleased to announce that we have exercised options to purchase 9 Boeing 737-800's with a value of over $500 million dollars for delivery in late 2007, (3 in September, 2 in October and 4 in November).

"We also plan in late 2007 to sell on the first 5 of our older Boeing 737-800's, which were delivered in 1999. This is a continuation of Ryanair's strategy of operating the youngest fleet in Europe, with the lowest unit operating costs and best technical reliability, thereby ensuring that Ryanair remains the number 1 on-time major airline in Europe. These 4 incremental option aircraft will in turn enable Ryanair to develop even more new routes while we continue to lead the low fare revolution across Europe".

The company currently operates a fleet of 83 Boeing 737-800's and 9 Boeings 737-200's.

The exercise of these 9 options and the planned sale during late 2007 of the 5 aircraft acquired in 1999, combined with the existing firm Boeing commitments will in turn lead to Ryanair's fleet increasing by 151 aircraft to 234 aircraft by 2012.

In addition the company has options over a further 179 aircraft for delivery between 2008 and 2014.

Ryanair orders 9 more Boeing 737-800 planes

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (AFP) - Budget airline Ryanair Holdings has exercised options for nine additional 737-800 airplanes from Boeing, in a deal worth more than 500 million dollars at list prices, the two companies said Wednesday.

The companies said five of these airplanes will replace 737-800s in Ryanair's current fleet that were delivered in 1999.

Deliveries of the new airplanes will begin in September 2007, they added.

Irish-based Ryanair operates 92 Boeing 737s. With the latest announcement, it now has 239 737s on firm order with an additional 179 options.

"The 737 continues to be the airplane of choice for successful, established low-cost carriers like Ryanair," said Marlin Dailey, vice president of sales for Europe and Central Asia at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

"You simply can't beat its economics, efficiency and reliability. It's a key ingredient in the recipe for success among carriers around the world," he said.

The new 737-800s will be fitted with blended winglets, which will improve fuel efficiency and reduce takeoff noise.

EasyJet Carried 2.7M Passengers In Sep
7 October 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--EasyJet PLC said Friday that it carried 2.7 million passengers in September, up 16.5% from the same period a year ago.

The group reported a load factor of 86.4% in September, down 0.5 percentage points from 86.9%.

For the rolling 12 months ending September, the company carried 29.6 passengers (load factor 85.2%) earning it revenue of GBP1.34 billion compared with 24.3 million passengers (load factor 84.5%) for the 12 months to Sep. 2004 which earned it revenue of GBP1.09 billion.

Chief Executive Ray Webster said: "September passenger growth was in line with expectations."

"On top of double digit volume growth, unit revenue (total revenue per seat flown) for the full year has increased by 2.1% vs. last year.

"We re-iterate our guidance from August: that we expect reported pre-tax profit for the year ended September 2005 to be broadly in line with last year," Webster said in a statement.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to August 2005:
EasyJet = 29,169,743
Ryanair = 30,967,629

Percentage increase in passengers since August 2004:
EasyJet = 22.2%
Ryanair = 27%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in August 2005:
EasyJet = 88.4%
Ryanair = 98%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to September 2005:
EasyJet = 29,557,640
Ryanair = 31,617,926

Percentage increase in passengers since September 2004:
EasyJet = 21.4%
Ryanair = 27%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in September 2005:
EasyJet = 86.4%
Ryanair = 87%

EU probes Ryanair deal at Shannon
16 October 2005
The Sunday Independent (Ireland)
CONOR SWEENEY
European Editor EXCLUSIVE

IRELAND faces an embarrassing battle with Brussels over the discount deals given to Ryanair so it would develop a hub at Shannon Airport.

The European Commission has complained to the Government that it was never notified of special fees the State-owned airport offered the budget airline.

The intervention from the EU is just the latest major problem to confront Transport Minister Martin Cullen. His office is responsible for informing the Commission of any aviation developments.

Last night, the Commission revealed that it is also conducting a widespread investigation across Europe into Ryanair's airport contracts.

If these are found to be in breach of EU law, then it could have severe repercussions for the airline's low-cost strategy.

When contacted, Mr Cullen's officials acknowledged they had received the correspondence.

"We can confirm we received the letter. We now have roughly two months to respond," said a spokesman for the Transport Minister.

Taxpayers could also have to foot the bill if the deal is found to be illegal. The EU could fine the Government millions if it feels Shannon's terms amount to an illegal subsidy for Ryanair.

The airline also faces being forced to hand back money too. It could either withdraw from the nine new routes it established or end up paying higher fees.

In a letter received by the Government in the past few days, the director general of the Transport directorate, Francois Lamoureux, has demanded answers on the deal.

He warns that the reduced passenger and landing fees for Ryanair should have been first cleared in Brussels. The airline also received €500,000 in marketing assistance from Shannon Airport to base four new Boeing 737 planes there.

The case closely resembles another row with the European Commission, which Ryanair lost, over the special deal it received to develop operations at Charleroi Airport in Belgium.

It led to the airline's chief executive, Michael O'Leary branding the Commission "the evil empire".

The long-running row continues in the European Courts, but Ryanair was ordered to pay back around €4m and rewrite its contract at Charleroi.

Last night the European Commission refused to comment on the Shannon case directly. But instead revealed that there is a widespread review of the special rates Ryanair has negotiated around Europe.

"We're investigating complaints against Ryanair and other low-fare airlines at a number of airports," said the Commission's Transport spokesman. "But just because we're looking into them, doesn't mean the airline's are doing something wrong."

Usually, complaints about Ryanair stem from other airlines being squeezed by the tough competition. Just days ago, another investigation was launched at Tampere airport in Finland. Authorities there insist it is completely legal since Ryanair uses an older terminal than the other airlines at Tampere.

It is unclear how, following the tremendous publicity the Charleroi row attracted, the Government did not think to clear the deal with the Commission. EU rules stipulate that taxpayers' money must not be used to subsidise airlines in a manner that enables them to establish an unfair advantage over competitors.

According to recently published guidelines, the Commission does allow some discount incentives, so the Shannon deal may be legal.

Shortly after Aer Rianta was split into three semi-autonomous airport authorities last year, Ryanair negotiated the special terms at Shannon in November.

It announced it would base new planes there, expand to 14 routes connecting with Britain and continental Europe, and create 200 new jobs delivering two million passengers per year to the West.

Since May this year it opened routes to Luton, Gatwick, Nottingham, Barcelona, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Milan, Malaga and Stockholm. For the first year, it only has to pay a fee of €1.50 per departing passenger and nothing on arrivals. The airline gets charged around €2.50 per passenger on existing routes.

Strategically, European expansion by Ryanair was intended to cushion the shake-up at the airport, should it lose the compulsory Shannon stopover on US-bound flights.

Minister Cullen has become one of the EU's most enthusiastic supporters in favour of quickly concluding a deal with the US that would liberalise the entire trans-Atlantic aviation sector.

He argues that the benefits of better tourism links to the US and more routes for Aer Lingus that would stem from an 'open-skies' deal, outweigh the eventual loss to Shannon Airport of the current compulsory stopovers.

Letters chart Ryanair's frustration with Ahern
22 October 2005
Irish Times

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary wrote a flurry of private letters to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern over a period of 15 months in which he strongly criticised Mr Ahern's refusal to sanction a competing second terminal at Dublin Airport. John Downes reports

The correspondence also documents a meeting set up by the Taoiseach on April 5th last year, at which Mr O'Leary says Mr Ahern's representatives were "fully briefed" on the low-cost carrier's plans for a second competing terminal.

It is not clear if Mr Ahern was present at this meeting. However, two days after the meeting, Mr O'Leary sent another letter to the Taoiseach's constituency office thanking Mr Ahern for his "time and hospitality".

The letters, which are marked "strictly private and confidential", were released under the Freedom of Information Act. Some were sent to Mr Ahern's constituency office while other went to Government Buildings.

They indicate that the very public pressure exerted by Mr O'Leary on the Government over its preferred option for a second terminal was mirrored in private correspondence with the Taoiseach between December 2003 and March of this year.

Mr Ahern has in the past accused Mr O'Leary of attempting to "bully" him by taking out a full-page newspaper advertisements calling for the break-up of the former Aer Rianta.

The advertisements - which appeared less than two months after Mr O'Leary's April 2004 meeting with Mr Ahern's officials - contained an unflattering cartoon image of the Taoiseach. They also listed a series of promises on the issue, about which it was claimed nothing had been done.

In his letter sent after the April meeting, Mr O'Leary expressed the hope that "now your people are fully briefed", progress could be made to have a new facility ready by summer 2007.

According to an earlier letter from Mr O'Leary, the meeting in April followed a previous encounter between the two men on January 20th of 2004, in which Mr Ahern had agreed to such a meeting.

In this letter, dated March 26th, Mr O'Leary warned that if a meeting was not set up "within the next two weeks . . . then we will take it that your Government has no interest in competition or job creation, and we will act accordingly".

The six letters make a number of references to Mr O'Leary's belief that a second competing terminal at Dublin airport would generate five million additional passengers and 5,000 new jobs.

But in the most recent of these, dated March 21st of this year, Mr O'Leary says Ryanair is "deeply concerned at the Government leaks over the weekend which suggest that the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) [ the successor to Aer Rianta] will be allowed to build a second terminal".

"This will represent a breach of the agreed Programme for Government," he writes. He also attaches a copy of the Government's agreed programme for Government, with an "X" next to the relevant section relating to Dublin airport. The Government announced last May that it had decided to allow the DAA to own the proposed second terminal.

A spokeswoman for Mr O'Leary yesterday said that, since there will be no competing second terminal at Dublin airport, "not a whole lot" happened at the April 5th meeting. The motivation for the letters was "self-explanatory", she added.

A Government spokesman declined to comment.

Dear Bertie... Michael O'Leary's letters to the Taoiseach on the second terminal (selected extracts)

12th December 2003: "In the first half of next year Ryanair will open two new bases in Rome and Barcelona. Why does Ireland continue to mismanage its airport policy so that it forces all of this rapid traffic growth to other lower cost airports in Continental Europe? Why are Ireland's airports so uncompetitive?" Isn't it time for change?"

26th March 2004: "We met on the evening of the 20th of January last, and you agreed to set up a meeting with the relevant interest groups at which we would present/explain the details of the second competing terminal."

"I would appreciate this meeting being set up within the next two weeks. If it is delayed beyond this, then we will take it that your Government has no interest in competition or job creation, and we will act accordingly."

"I have no intention of remaining mute on this important national issue whilst your Government delays and dithers..As Churchill exhorted his officials "action this day!"

7th April 2004: "Thank you for your time and hospitality on Monday the 5th last. I hope now that your people are fully briefed that we can move forward with urgency.This will be the single largest investment by any company in Irish tourism ever."

"....it is imperative that the Government moves the legislation for the splitting up of Aer Rianta and proceeding with the second terminal before the summer recess (sic).To put it in perspective this project has more economic potential and will leave a more lasting legacy in this country than even the IFSC does today."

"If I can help to push this forward in any way over the coming weeks, please call me."

21st March 2005: "As the largest airline in Ireland, we are deeply concerned at the Government leaks over the weekend which suggest that the Dublin Airport Authority will be allowed to build a second terminal..

"Competition has already proven effective in forcing improved services and lower prices out of other State monopolies such as the ESB, Eircom and indeed Aer Lingus. Two terminals run by the DAA will not be competition."

Ryanair cuts another €10 off Dublin return trips
Charlie Weston
22 October 2005
Irish Independent

RYANAIR yesterday cut €10 from the return price of some 60 different routes out of Ireland, in a move brokers said would prompt other airlines to cut seat prices over the winter.

The Ryanair move comes as Aer Lingus is currently offering a huge number of seats for just €1, excluding taxes and other charges.

Davy airline analyst Stephen Furlong said yesterday the prospect of a winter fares war meant Ryanair was being cautious about the development of its Irish routes, despite the use of new 737-200 Boeings on Irish routes which will cut costs by 45pc per seat.

Ryanair's head of communications, Peter Sherrard, said: "We are offering €10 off all return tickets and €5 off all one-way tickets. This applies to all seats on any of our 60 Irish routes, and is available for booking immediately on ryanair.com"

The new fares cover routes out of Ireland to the likes of Paris, Hamburg, Pisa and Eindhoven.

Aer Lingus said it had no specific plans to cut its prices in response to what Ryanair was doing, but would continue to present special promotions.

It is currently offering seats for €1 on flights to Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester. A range of European routes are on sale on aerlingus.com from €5, with others just €10. These fares exclude taxes and other charges.

Davy's Stephen Furlong said the likelihood of discounting by airlines like British Airways over the winter was holding Ryanair back from significantly increasing capacity out of Dublin.

Meanwhile, the Belgian government has referred Ryanair and low-cost competitor Virgin Express Holdings to the public prosecutor, accusing them of breaking consumer laws in the way they advertise ticket prices.

The carriers were among seven airlines that flouted laws requiring that the price advertised must be the final price the consumer has to pay. In some cases, the final price was almost double, the government said.

Ryanair said it had not received any complaints from customers on the matter and had not received any complaints from the Belgian authorities.

Ryanair will continue to respect the law with regard to its advertisements, the company said.

Easyjet flies into Alitalia's territory
Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
12 October 2005
Financial Times

EasyJet, the UK low cost airline, is moving aggressively into the Italian market with the opening of its first Italian base at Milan Malpensa airport, where it will pose a growing competitive threat to Alitalia, the heavily loss-making Italian majority state-owned carrier.

EasyJet is rapidly developing its strategy to establish a pan-European presence, and the move into Milan follows the previous opening of bases in Berlin and Dortmund in Germany, at Geneva and Basel in Switzerland and at Paris.

The airline also has ten operating bases in the UK led by the three London airports Gatwick, Luton and Stansted, but already 27 per cent of its network is outside the UK.

The move by EasyJet into Italy will also challenge Ireland's Ryanair, the leading European low cost airline, which already has three bases in the country at Milan Bergamo, Rome Ciampino and Pisa as part of a system of 15 bases in seven countries.

EasyJet and Ryanair are challenging Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways for leadership of the European short-haul airline sector with EasyJet carrying 29.6m passengers in the 12 months to the end of September compared with 31.6m at Ryanair.

EasyJet said that initially it would base three Airbus 319s at Malpensa with the first two starting operations at the end of March and the third in summer next year.

The airline, which already flies between Milan Malpensa and Berlin and Dortmund, will start operations at the Malpensa base with routes to Athens, London Gatwick, Madrid, Malaga and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

EasyJet said it expected to carry 1.2m passengers on the seven Malpensa routes in the first 12 months of operations. It would also maintain its two routes from Milan Linate to Gatwick and Paris Orly.

It said Italy had been its fastest growing market in the last 12 months, and it had increased its capacity to the country by 78 per cent in the period.

It chose Milan for its next significant expansion in Europe because of its attractiveness as a destination for both business and leisure travellers as well as for the potential for outbound passengers from the wealthy Lombardy region.

Ray Webster, EasyJet chief executive, said the airline believed there were excellent opportunities for growth in Italy, because air travel was still dominated by Alitalia, "one of Europe's most inefficient airlines."

EasyJet currently has 222 routes between 67 airports in Europe with a fleet of 109 aircraft. The fleet is planned to grow to 164 aircraft comprising 120 Airbus A319s and 44 Boeing 737-700s by the end of 2007.

Iceland's FL Group raises easyJet stake to 16.2 pct
By Michael Smith

LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Iceland's FL Group said on Wednesday it had raised its stake in UK budget airline easyJet Plc to 16.2 percent from 15 percent, the second increase in the space of a day.

The increase revived speculation FL Group, the owner of airline Icelandair , may be planning a takeover bid despite assurances from easyJet's founder that his and his family's stakes were not for sale.

EasyJet shares were down 1.3 percent at 296-1/2 pence at 1101 GMT, while the FTSE Mid 250 Index <.FTMC> was up 0.5 percent. The company has a market value around 1.2 billion pounds ($2.1 billion).

FL Group snapped up its latest stake in the carrier after shares in easyJet and other airlines fell last week on concerns about the spread of bird flu.

The owner of Icelandair said in a statement it had increased its stake to 16.18 percent after buying additional easyJet stock on Tuesday.

This followed easyJet's confirmation earlier in the day that FL's stake rose to 15 percent from 14 percent after buying shares on Monday.

EasyJet stock jumped 6.3 percent on Tuesday, with traders citing speculation that FL was raising its stake after FL agreed to acquire Nordic low-cost airline Sterling.

A spokesman for easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou said the businessman and his family had no intention of selling down their stake in the airline.

"His position has not changed," the spokesman said.

Haji-Ioannou owns 16.6 percent of easyJet and his brother and sister own about 12 percent each, giving the family a total stake of 41 percent.

An easyJet spokesman said he was not aware of FL Group buying any more stock in the airline on Wednesday.

Ryanair protests about Swedish flight tax

STOCKHOLM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary complained on Tuesday about Sweden's plan for a new environmental tax on flights, saying it would discourage his airline from adding flights to the Nordic country.

The Social Democrat government of Prime Minister Goran Persson has proposed an extra 100 Swedish crowns ($12.71) on air tickets to encourage more environmentally friendly energy use. Several airlines have already protested about the new levy.

"When we hear things like the Swedish government imposing a stupid tax on travel, it is time to get up here to start fighting taxes," O'Leary told a news conference.

Ryanair, which added Sweden to its network in 1997, wants to continue to expand the number of flights, he said. If the tax were introduced, it would not, he added.

"Sweden will begin immediately to lose out," he said.

SAS, Fly Nordic, Skyways and Malmo Aviation have also protested against the proposed new tax.

The tax is part of government plans in the 2006 budget to raise taxes worth 3.6 billion crowns on what it sees as environmentally harmful energy uses.

Persson's minority government closely cooperates with the Green Party in parliament.

Ryanair says all may fly free if gambling pays off

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by market value, believes revenue from inflight gaming and gambling could eventually do away with the need to charge air fares, Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday.

Ryanair gave away about a quarter of its seats last year and that figure could rise to between 50 and 100 percent depending on how ancillary revenues grow, O'Leary said.

"Ultimately entertainment will be where the money is," he told reporters, while answering questions about his plans to introduce gaming and gambling onboard, probably in 2007.

"It would transform ancillary revenues and profits," he said. "We'll probably announce a gambling partner (company) in the next 2-3 months."

Besides plans for inflight gaming and gambling, the airline already generates ancillary income from services such as hotel bookings and car leasing.

EARNINGS NEXT WEEK

Ryanair is set to announce earnings on Nov. 7 for the half year to Sept. 30.

"They'll be fine," O'Leary said, declining to elaborate.

He has been talking about expanding inflight entertainment on Ryanair for more than a year, during which time the airline introduced and then withdrew an onboard individual video and entertainment system.

Ryanair had hoped a quarter of its annual 35 million passengers would use the system, while only 7-8 percent did, O'Leary said.

He said the airline now has similar hopes for gaming and gambling, and sees potential revenues of "a multiple of euros per passenger."

Ryanair also announced it would offer 2 million free seats, a move designed to pressure full-service airlines such as British Airways whose fuel surcharges have widened the gap on fares between budget and traditional airlines.

Ryanair is fully hedged until the end of next March and has refused to impose a fuel surcharge, betting that low fares and even free tickets will draw passengers away from rivals.

"The more we can put pressure on high-priced airlines, the more we can convince them there's no point competing with us (on short-haul European routes)," O'Leary said.

Ryanair CEO: Avg Fares Up About 3%-4% In First Half
2 November 2005

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said Wednesday that average fares for the first half of its current financial year rose by about 3% to 4% compared with the same period a year ago.

The Irish budget airline is still on course to carry over 35 million passengers in the current financial year which ends March 31, 2006, he said. [ 02-11-05 1211GMT ]

O'Leary said in September he expected the airline to move between 35 million and 35.5 million passengers in the year. Speaking at a news conference in London Wednesday, he said the recent strike by Boeing Co. (BA) machinists had cost Ryanair about 300,000-400,000 passengers over the period.

The airline had to make minor modifications to its flights schedule during September and October, due to delays in the delivery of seven new Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Turning to Ryanair's ancillary revenue - any income not derived from tickets - O'Leary said the airline aims to launch a new in-flight entertainment system next summer. Sometime after this, possibly in 2007, it also aims to make in-flight gambling possible on its aircraft, he added.

In-flight gambling could potentially generate EUR50 million in annual sales within a few years, O'Leary said.

Ryanair is looking to launch a gambling product on its Web site in the next couple of months, O'Leary added. The airline is also aiming to install base stations on its planes so that passengers can use wireless devices.

Ryanair will release second-quarter results Monday.

EasyJet To Relax Restrictions On Foreign Ownership
4 November 2005

LONDON (Dow Jones)--EasyJet PLC (EZJ.LN) said Friday that it's easing restrictions on foreign ownership of the U.K. budget airline's shares, a move that effectively gives more room for Iceland's FL Group hf. (FL.IC) to further increase its holding.

EasyJet said it plans to allow non-U.K. nationals to hold up to 45% of the company's shares, up from the 40% limit set in its articles of association. The move is designed to provide "greater flexibility for the company's shareholders," the airline said in a statement.

"We don't want to disenfranchise any shareholders," a company spokesman said. He added that the change in limits will make it easier for foreign investors, including FL Group, to acquire additional shares.

The move comes a little over a week after Icelandair owner FL Group said it had increased its stake in easyJet to 16.2% The investment company has steadily been buying shares since late last year, prompting speculation that it may be looking to make an offer and seek a seat on the airline's board.

The articles of association however make an outright takeover difficult, as does the Haji-Ioannou's family's 40% holding, analysts have said. Airline founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou recently rejoined easyJet's board.

The easyJet spokesman added that he was unaware of any recent contact between FL Group and the company.

A London-based analyst, who asked not to be named, said the move may have been initiated as institutional shareholders - particularly those in the U.S. - had been unable to buy stock due to the current limits. While the move would allow FL Group to further raise its stake it "doesn't allow them to do anything material with it," he added.

EasyJet also said its directors are reviewing opportunities to operate outside the European Economic Area, or EEA, although there are no immediate plans to start flights outside Europe.

To gain rights to fly outside of the EEA, easyJet would need to have a majority of its shares owned by U.K. nationals to ensure that it's recognized as a U.K. carrier. EasyJet said it would seek to protect these rights to fly to non-EEA destinations by enforcing this new 45% limit on shareholders as it considers neceassary.

By 1227 GMT, easyJet shares were down 1.1%, or 3.5 pence, at 306 pence.

New headquarters for easyJet at London Luton Airport
Press Release
2 November 2005

http://www.easyjet.com/common/img/page/logo_main.gif

easyJet, Europe's leading low-cost airline, announced today that it is moving its company head office to "Hangar 89", a former Britannia/TUI building, about 150 metres from its current office, easyLand.

In a bid to house everyone under one roof, the low-cost airline has secured the whole of Hangar 89, for the sole use of easyJet.

Earlier this year, H89 became available as TUI retrenched their Luton operations into one hangar.

easyJet is now planning the process of moving the major part of its Management and Administration function from easyLand to newly-refurbished the offices at H89, a move that will take place towards the end of 2006.

In addition to over 30,000 sq ft of office space, H89 can house three Airbus 319s/Boeing 737s at any one time, giving the airline much-needed hangar space at Luton Airport.

Consolidating the premises also means savings to the business, which ultimately will be passed on to the consumer.

H89 was built in 1974 and is currently fitted out in the style of a traditional 1970s office. Before the move can take place there are a number of improvements that will be carried out. The building will be made more easyJet-friendly and in true easyJet style it will be painted orange.

Chief Executive Ray Webster commented on the proposed move to H89:

"Ever since our combination with Go in mid-2002, we have been planning our long-term office requirements. I'm glad we've found somewhere in the heart of Luton Airport, a stone's throw from easyLand, that will house all our people under one roof. It's a great building that will save money each year on our current arrangements and I cannot wait to see the whole building painted orange."

Ryanair pilots in line for £34,000 shares windfall
By Michael Harrison
5 November 2005
The Independent

Hundreds of Ryanair pilots are set to cash in windfalls worth an average of £34,000 when the budget airline's latest share-option scheme matures at the end of this month.

The options, granted five years ago at a price of around EUR5, are showing a profit of EUR50,000 per pilot based on Ryanair's current share price of about EUR7. About 250 pilots will benefit from the windfall.

Pilots who were with Ryanair at the time of its flotation in 1997 have made a EUR300,000 (£204,000) profit on share options since then. Ryanair captains based in Dublin are among the best paid in the industry, earning more than EUR120,000 a year. However, they generally work more hours than pilots with flag-carrying airlines such as British Airways.

The Dublin-based carrier has frequently been criticised for refusing to recognise the airline pilots' union.

But Eddie Wilson, Ryanair's director of personnel, said its pay, promotion, job security and share-option packages were better than for any other pilots flying Boeing 737s in Europe.

'Ryanair will continue to negotiate directly with all our pilots,' he added.

Mr Wilson also said that in the past 12 months Ryanair had recruited more than 150 pilots from other airlines, including the rival low-cost carrier easyJet, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, BMI, SAS and the Italian carrier Alitalia.

Independent
November 6, 2005
Easy Does It 10 Years Flying High
easyJet Didn't Invent Low-Cost Flights, But Its Arrival on the Scene
Ian Taylor

READY, STEADY, SHUTE: EasyJet staff are taught how to use an evacuation slide at the company's new training academy

Passengers on easyJet's mid-morning flight from Luton to Glasgow on Thursday can expect champagne and a greeting from the founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou to celebrate the anniversary of the airline's take-off 10 years ago. It has come a long way from the two leased aircraft, single PC and three phones with which it began.

EasyJet might not have invented low-cost air travel, but it was the first UK airline to sell exclusively to consumers and the first to offer flights online. More important, it helped to force airlines such as British Airways to slash fares and open the skies to millions.

Tim Jeans understands the low-fare revolution better than most. Now managing director of Monarch Scheduled Airlines, he was sales and marketing director at easyJet's low-cost rival, Ryanair, for seven years.

'EasyJet changed the way people travel and the way major carriers behave,' he said. 'It competed on big routes to Barcelona and Rome as well as flying from regional airports, and it made a range of other airlines think that this business model could work. Ryanair appealed to a different constituency, bringing air travel to Irish people who had previously spent four hours on a boat, and opening destinations that were not on anyone's radar.'

According to Simon Evans, chief executive of the Air Transport Users Council, it is the range of airports easyJet flies from that makes it special. 'It spread the benefits of low-fare flights to the regions,' he said. 'And together with Ryanair, it got the major carriers to drop the requirement of a Saturday-night stay to obtain a cheaper fare. That was a huge service to passengers.'

It may be low-cost, but easyJet was never short of money. Founder Haji- Ioannou is the son of a Greek shipping magnet. Yet the rapid expansion was not fuelled by a Roman Abramovich-style spending spree: the airline has consistently turned in a profit. EasyJet carried just 30,000 passengers in 1995, expanding beyond the UK the following year and launching flights from Stansted in 1998. Its takeover of BA's former low-cost airline Go in 2002 took easyJet into Gatwick, and last year it added a base in Berlin. In the year to the end of September, it carried more than 29.5 million passengers.

The airline is not the only low-cost success story: Ryanair consistently reports bigger profits. But while Ryanair has pursued a policy, in chief executive Michael O'Leary's words, of flying to 'whatever airport provides the best package', Haji-Ioannou has ensured easyJet goes 'to proper places'.

An easyJet spokesman played down the rivalry between the two. But Jeans has a different view, despite the pair competing directly on only 2 per cent and 3 per cent of routes. 'They compete head-to-head for the discretionary traveller " the guy with £50-£60 who wants to go somewhere for the weekend " and that competition is seriously aggressive,' he said.

Haji-Ioannou and his family still own 41 per cent of the airline, and analysts believe they will resist a possible takeover by Icelandair, which now holds a 15 per cent stake.

EasyJet has refused to add a oil surcharge to fares. The spokesman said: 'We have taken costs out of the business elsewhere.' But it has yet to go anywhere near the cost-cutting of Ryanair, which has stripped the reclining seats, headrests, window blinds and seat pockets from its new aircraft.

So easyJet can celebrate its 10th birthday with this endorsement from Simon Evans: 'It is a step up from the bargain basement.'

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to September 2005:
EasyJet = 29,557,640
Ryanair = 31,617,926

Percentage increase in passengers since September 2004:
EasyJet = 21.4%
Ryanair = 27%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in September 2005:
EasyJet = 86.4%
Ryanair = 87%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to October 2005:
EasyJet = 29,887,498
Ryanair = 32,180,320

Percentage increase in passengers since October 2004:
EasyJet = 20.4%
Ryanair = 23%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in October 2005:
EasyJet = 85.1%
Ryanair = 85%


EasyJet will surely pass the 30 million pax pa mark next month whilst Ryanair are now closing the gap on BA with more than 32 million pax pa!

Ryanair 2Q Net Pft +17%, Keeps FY Pft View
7 November 2005
By Rod Stone

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Irish no-frills airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) Monday posted a 17% rise in second quarter net profit as improved average fares helped offset a rising fuel bill. The company also maintained its full year profit guidance.

For the three months to Sept. 30, net profit rose to EUR172.5 million from EUR148.1 million a year earlier, as sales increased 32% to EUR541.5 million. The net profit figure was just ahead of the EUR171 million analysts had expected.

Average fares, a closely watched performance figure, rose 3% on the year in the seasonally-strong quarter as the airline benefitted indirectly from fuel surcharges placed on tickets by full-service airlines like British Airways PLC (BAB). These surcharges mean budget airlines don't need to discount their airfares so much.

Ryanair carried a total of 9.5 million passengers in the quarter, up 28% from a year earlier, and is expecting to transport over 35 million passengers this financial year. The quarterly figures were helped by increased volumes on existing routes and the launch of new bases at Luton, Liverpool and Shannon. Ryanair is Europe's largest budget airline by number of passengers carried.

Looking forward, Ryanair said it still expects average fares to be flat in the third quarter and down by 5-10% in the fourth quarter. It said it remains cautious going forward but retained its guidance for net profit in the year to March 31, 2006.

The airline expects full year net profit to rise about 10% to just over EUR300 million, according to Chief Financial Officer Howard Millar.

During the quarter, Ryanair's fuel and oil bill rose sharply to EUR127 million, from EUR62 million a year earlier. For the rest of the year, the airline is 90% hedged at rates equivalent to $49 a barrel of oil. The carrier is unhedged after this but said it will continue to closely monitor forward prices with a view to hedging its requirements for the summer of 2006.

Ryanair shares fell on the report and by 0850 GMT were down EUR0.27, or 3.9%, at EUR6.710 in London, underperforming a higher broader market. The stock has enjoyed a strong run over the past six months.

John Lawson, an analyst with Investec Securities in London, said the profits were broadly as expected while the yield outlook is pretty much a reiteration. "I can't see anything that was new in there," he said. Investec doesn't have a formal recommendation on Ryanair.

Speaking on CNBC Europe television, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said he expects fuel and oil costs over the second half to be about double what they were a year earlier. The carrier was unhedged on fuel for the key summer months, he added.

Ancillary, or non-ticket, revenues rose 36% to EUR71 million in the quarter. These include commissions on hotel and car hire bookings and is an area that Ryanair is looking to raise with planned initiatives like in-flight entertainment and gambling.

Meanwhile, Europe's number two budget carrier easyJet PLC (EZJ.LN) of the U.K. Monday said it carried 2.7 million passengers in October, up 13.7% from 2.4 million a year earlier. At 0906 GMT, easyJet shares were down 1.3% at 298.75 pence in London, also underperforming the market. The company will report fiscal year results and give an outlook Nov. 22.

Ryanair carried 3.0 million passengers in October, up 23% from a year earlier.

O'Leary wants four more years as Ryanair profits surge ahead
By Michael Harrison
Business Editor
8 November 2005
The Independent

Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, yesterday committed himself to the no-frills airline for a further three to four years at least as it reported record first-half profits despite the surge in fuel prices.

Mr O'Leary, who has run the Irish carrier since 1994, said it would take that long to sort out problems at its two biggest bases " Dublin airport and Stansted, where Ryanair is in dispute with BAA over proposals to spend up to £4bn on a new runway and associated facilities.

He said that unless Ryanair could come to some agreement with BAA over the cost of the Stansted expansion " the airline thinks the new runway could be built for £400m-£600m " he would seriously consider bypassing BAA by checking in passengers outside the airport and bussing them direct to the runway.

The airline, which reported a 22 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to EUR269.5m (£182.3m) for the six months to the end of September, will carry 35 million passengers this year, making it the biggest international scheduled carrier in the world. It plans to double in size and profitability over the next five years, flying 70 million passengers by 2012 from 30 European bases compared with 15 at present.

Mr O'Leary, 44, had always said he would re-consider his position when he achieved his target of overtaking Lufthansa as Europe's biggest carrier. Yesterday he said: 'I have no plans to move on at the moment but some time in the next four to five years, yes, it will be time.'

He said that by then Ryanair would be one of only four airlines that mattered in Europe " the others being Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa " and would need to have a different relationship with institutions such as the European Commission that befitted its size and importance.

'The airline will have to become more professional in the way it approaches decision making and more sensitive to environmental whingeing and the goon platoons and that certainly won't be me,' he said.

He was speaking as Ryanair forecast that yields " or average fares " would fall by 5 to 10 per cent in the fourth quarter after rising 3 per cent in the first half of the year. 'We continue to remain cautious in our outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year,' Mr O'Leary said. 'This winter we expect there to be continued intense competition and there will be fewer low-fare carriers in the market as higher fuel prices force more carriers out of the industry.' Ryanair shares slipped 3 per cent to EUR6.79.

Ryanair's fuel costs rose 108 per cent in the first half to EUR237m, resulting in an 8 per cent increase in unit costs. Excluding fuel, unit costs were down 7 per cent. Ryanair's fuel purchases were unhedged for most of the period but for the remainder of the year it has fixed 90 per cent of its requirements at $49 a barrel.

Ancillary revenues from services such as on-board sales, car hire and travel insurance increased by 40 per cent, accounting for 13 per cent of the EUR946m in total income the airline generated. Mr O'Leary said Ryanair planned a big push to increase revenues from hotel bookings.

The airline is in talks with two budget hotel operators about developing new hotels next to airports served by Ryanair. In return for guaranteeing customers, Ryanair would take a cut of the room tariffs. As an example, Mr O'Leary cited its base at Barcelona Girona, where passenger numbers are forecast to double to 10 million in the next five years. He said it had two hotels but needed a further three.

Ryanair has for years now been the world's most profitable airline. :yes:

Ryanair to invest 1.0 bln dlrs in Frankfurt Hahn airport

LONDON, Nov 11 (AFP) - Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, said on Friday that it planned to invest 1.0 billion dollars (855 million euros) in new aircraft at its Frankfurt Hahn airport base in Germany, that would lead to the creation of 8,000 jobs there by 2012.

As a result of the investment to begin next year, Ryanair said it would have 18 aircraft based at Hahn, that would serve 8.0 million passengers per year and more than 50 routes.

The investment would transform Frankfurt Hahn into Ryanair's second-biggest airport base, overtaking Dublin, and into Germany's eighth-biggest airport, it added in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

Ryanair said also that it would loan 12.5 million euros (14.6 million dollars) to fund 50 percent of Hahn's new passenger terminal.

"Between 2006 and 2012, Ryanair is committed to an investment of 1.0 billion dollars in new aircraft at Frankfurt Hahn," chief executive Michael O'Leary said in the statement.

"With over 50 routes, 8.0 million passengers and 8,000 jobs this is the single biggest investment in German aviation by a non-German company and will make Frankfurt Hahn one of the largest airports in Germany and Germany's fastest growing airport," he added.

Ryanair's share price rose 1.58 percent to 7.08 euros in late morning deals in Dublin following the announcement, while the Irish Overall Index was 0.14-percent lower at 6,734.21 points.

News of the investment comes after the airline on Monday reported an 18-percent rise in first-half net profit to a record 237 million euros, as a jump in passengers and ticket prices helped to offset soaring fuel costs.

Revenues rose by a third to 946.2 million euros during its first half, while the number of passengers climbed 29 percent to 18 million.

Ryanair operates 267 routes across 21 Europeancountries, employing 2,700 staff. By the end of March 2006, it will operate a fleet of 107 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with orders for a further 127 to be delivered over the next seven years.

The additional aircraft would allow Ryanair to double in size to over 70 million passengers per year by 2012, the airline has said.

EasyJet 'struggling in Scotland because of high charges'
Craig Brown
11 November 2005
The Scotsman

RAY Webber, the chief executive of EasyJet, yesterday claimed the low-cost airline has been unable to make its Scottish services profitable because of high landing charges imposed on it by airport authorities.

Speaking at Glasgow Airport on the tenth birthday of the airline, Mr Webber said efforts to establish services had not been successful.

"We've tried a number of services over the last five years or so, and they've been very disappointing," he said. "All it does is reiterate the same message to be learned from our early days of EasyJet - the model worked because you dramatically reduced the prices and more people wanted to fly. So unless you can do that, it's not going to work."

EasyJet recently said it would be ending one of its few international routes from Glasgow to Amsterdam. However, a rival, Flyglobespan, has since stepped in to establish a service to the Dutch capital.

Mr Webber blamed EasyJet's problems on BAA - the airport operator - which kept landing charges high, forcing up fares.

However, a BAA spokesman disagreed. He said: "If our charges are good enough for Globespan, Continental and all the other airlines offering direct international services from Scotland, why aren't they good enough for EasyJet?"

I have just booked some Ryanair flights now:


London Stansted to Krakow
Wednesday 11th January
- Depart London Stansted 06:10
- Arrive Krakow 09:35
£15.59 including all taxes and bills

Bratislava Vienna to London Stansted
Sunday 15th January
- Depart Bratislava Vienna 20:45
- Arrive London Stansted 22:00
£12.40 including all taxes and bills


That makes a total of £27.99 return for my little jaunt to Krakow, Bratsilava, and Vienna (€41.59). :)

It's easy as you go for EasyJet's entrepreneur Henry Tricks take a bus ride with Stelios Haji-Ioannou and listens to his views and hopes for the future of his business empire.
By HENRY TRICKS
12 November 2005
Financial Times

On a drizzly morning this week, Stelios Haji-Ioannou stood at a London bus stop, waiting for an EasyBus to take him to Luton airport.

At Pounds 3, the cost of thejourney was less than the Starbucks coffee and pain au chocolat that a passenger was clutching.

Exactly 10 years before, when it was also "pissing with rain", Stelios recalls waiting in a seedy terminal at Luton airport to take the maiden EasyJet flight to Glasgow.

At the time, he advertised the flight as costing as little as "a pair of jeans". The two women who checked in the passengers that day are still employed by EasyJet with share options that could mean they never have to work again.

At the time, Stelios says his ambition was short term - "survival". But in the years since, EasyJet - along with rival Ryanair and other low-cost carriers - has transformed air travel in Europe and the lifestyles of many of the Continent's citizens.

Like 38-year-old Stelios, who flies EasyJet to Nice each Friday on his way home to Monaco, North Europeans who work in the rain can now weekend in the Mediterranean sun.

Passengers can buy tickets online, no longer needing travel agents. Cheap travel has improved familiarity among Europeans, Stelios believes, forging friendships and even marriages.

Yet this son of a Greek- Cypriot shipping tycoon appears to have changed little since, as a preppy 28-year-old, he spent a year in Luton to ensure EasyJet's successful launch.

On Thursday, he boarded the cramped EasyBus minibus for the 45-minute journey to Luton, fighting with the seatbelt that squeezed against his robust frame.

There were only half a dozen passengers paying Pounds 3 each, which would barely have paid for the petrol. But he talked enthusiastically of his plans to franchise the EasyBus brand to coach operators around Europe.

The next day he was due to fly to the Caribbean to launch his EasyCruise, building the Easy brand in the Americas.

His mind was also working overtime on how to make the transatlantic crossing profitable for the orange-liveried cruise ship. Perhaps he would offer poker on crossings, he said - though he openly wondered whether association with gambling could tarnish his brand.

With a youthful sense of principle, he was even choosy about who would fly him across the Atlantic.

He still prefers not to fly British Airways, with whom he has publicly battled for years - partly, he admits, as an attention-grabbing exercise. Instead, he flew Virgin Atlantic, owned by his role model and friend, Sir Richard Branson.

Stelios, who describes himself on his business card as a "serial entrepreneur", has an articulate, if restless, way of talking. His business affairs are similarly fast-paced.

In EasyJet's early years, he paid such close attention to the airline that, when snow grounded its flights at Luton, he would travel there to cheer up passengers. But once it had moved out of survival mode with its flotation in 2000, he focused on bringing brand building and "yield management" - his two specialisations - to the rest of his Easy empire.

With his eye on the potential of the internet, he acquired several thousand internet domain names, even wayward ones such as EasyAtlantic. These, he believes, could be businesses of the future - though he remains dubious about no-frills transatlantic travel.

His career, which began with his father in shipping, has been anything but plain- sailing. Several of his EasyGroup businesses, such as EasyInternetcafe and EasyCar, the car rental company, had teething problems - he admits he rolled out internet cafes far too quickly and has had to bail some ventures out with his own money.

Some are still tiny despite much nurturing, including Milton Keynes-based Easy-Pizza (favourite pizza, "El Stel") and EasyBus, which he once expected to rival national companies.

But while he says EasyGroup has recently become cash flow positive thanks to licenses and franchises, including EasyJet's license payment for the use of the brand, he appears to thrive on adversity.

"I get bored when things go well and move on,"Stelios says.

Now is no time for Stelios to be bored. In 2002, he stepped back from EasyJet to focus on EasyCinemas and to bring the internet cafes back from the brink, appointing Sir Colin Chandler as replacement chairman of EasyJet. In 2004, he sold 4m shares in EasyJet at 370p to 380p to fund the cruise ship, a budget hotel and the buses.

But he remained an insider to the airline's affairs, with a board representative, and was horrified to see the impact on EasyJet shares from two profit warnings in rapid succession.

His insider status frustrated his efforts to buy the ailing shares last year.

Then, in October 2004, he was shocked to find an Icelandic airline company, FL Group, climbing up the EasyJet share register, having bought shares as cheap as 120p.

Led by Hannes Smarason, who has also bought Copenhagen-based Sterling Airways, Europe's fourth-largest low-cost airline, FL Group's interest in EasyJet has triggered bid speculation.

Last month, its stake increased to 16.2 per cent, just shy of Stelios' own 16.6 per cent (though his brother and sister own 12 per cent each). The shares are back above 300p.

For once, Stelios appears to have found in Mr Smarason a businessman as impetuous as he is. It leaves him sounding a bit flat-footed, even if he has already retaken a seat on the board to keep a close eye on affairs. "I have to congratulate them on their timing," he says of the Icelanders. "But I have not studied the FL Group enough to form a view on whether they would be good custodians of the (EasyJet) name."

He insists there is no reason to sell out of EasyJet - except that he mentions that the last time he sold shares was at 370p to 380p, which indicates he may have a price. What particularly troubles him is who he would sell the business to, lest the brand becomes debased.

He will not speculate on where he expects to be in 10 years, saying the time horizon is too long.

But over the next five years, he says making a success out of ownership of the Easy brand will be his "main job". Eventually, this will mean floating it.

There is no hurry, he says. As he clambers down from the EasyBus, he notes that he is still a young man and the only succession planning he would need to do was if he "fell under a bus".

So at the bus terminal, he looks carefully to right and left, and then greets some of his EasyBus passengers as television cameras roll.

He wishes them a good flight on EasyJet and then finds, to his embarrassment, they are flying Ryanair.

Ever the showman, he laughs uproariously.

Ryanair set to end airline queues
13 November 2005
The Sunday Independent (Ireland)
NICK WEBB

MICHAEL O'Leary's low-cost airline Ryanair is aiming to obliterate frustrating airport check-in queues by offering their passengers major discounts, if they choose to check in via an internet facility rather, than standing in line at terminals.

The airline claims that up to 18m people could skip queues by availing of the new Ryanair initiative, set to be unveiled early next year.

The low-cost carrier is hoping that switching passenger check-in to the internet will have the same dramatic effect on travel habits that Ryanair.com, its ground-breaking flight-booking website, had on the industry during the Nineties.

Passengers who check in using the internet may also be allowed access to preferential seating, such as the positions on the plane that command extra leg-room. For a small fee, this would enable travellers to avoid the traditional barge and scramble for the best seats on a plane.

O'Leary is also examining longer-term plans to bus passengers, who have already checked in over the web, from airport car parks directly to a dedicated Ryanair facility where they can board their aircraft.

This would eliminate the need to enter overcrowded terminals, such as the continuing shambles at Dublin Airport.

The introduction of the online check-in service would drastically reduce the amount of airport desks operated by Ryanair and could conceivably slash its airport costs and waiting times. Airport costs currently account for nearly 16 per cent of Ryanair's total expenditure.

However, the web check-in would only be available for passengers travelling with just hand luggage. About 40 per cent of all Ryanair travellers are hand luggage-only passengers.

The airline hopes to increase this to half of all passengers, with the company expected to carry 35m people this year. O'Leary is aiming to double passenger numbers and profits by 2012.

Ryanair cancel flight after truck hits plane
Shane Hickey
21 November 2005
Irish Independent

The 185 passengers due to travel on the flight from Gatwick to Dublin were brought off the plane and left with an uncertain journey home.

The Boeing 737-800 was pulled from service after a baggage loading truck hit the aircraft just before it was due to take off after 5pm yesterday.

Passengers were forced to get off the plane and collect their baggage while the aircraft was taken in for repairs and safety checks, as is the procedure when such incidents happen.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said the plane had been in a stationary position when the incident happened.

She said all of the passengers would get a full refund or be accomodated on an alternative flight.

However, she said they would not be offered overnight accommodation.

One passenger said there were lengthy queues in Gatwick and "total chaos" following the incident as people tried to get on alternative flights.

O'Leary says he plans to bail out of airline job by 2008
Breda Heffernan
21 November 2005
Irish Independent

RYANAIR boss Michael O'Leary, the man who brought low-cost air travel to the masses, is set to bail out from the airline business in 2008.

And the colourful chief executive has ruled out any plans to stay on as a non-executive chairman saying he had no intention of "hanging around the corridors like Banquo's ghost".

"The best companies that have survived over the long term are those that have been able to shoot the old guys - old guys go, not get promoted," said the 44-year-old.

If he leaves as planned in 2008, O'Leary will have spent 20 years at the helm ofRyanair. During that time he transformed the company from a bit-player to the biggest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers.

He has also amassed a personal fortune of almost €400m - making him one of the top 20 wealthiest people in the country.

"I suspect this will probably be the last three or four year extension I do," he said at the weekend.

"I said three or four years ago that when we would become the biggest airline in Europe that would be the time to go, but two outstanding issues remain - the new terminal at Dublin and the new runway at Stansted.

"I think both these problems will be sorted by 2008 and then it will be time to go," he added.

"My eulogy will probably begin with, 'He was a jumped up little bollox'."

and hopefully will end with, 'He lived fast and died young.'"

Any potential successor will have to be adept at schoomozing officials in Brussels - something the straight-talking, and often foul-mouthed, O'Leary never warmed to.

"When you become the size of Ryanair, you need a different relationship with regulators.

"I believe these morons in the European commission are making air travel more expensive, but I wouldn't be interested in sitting down trying to educate a bunch of civil servants," he railed.

The Ryanair boss, who became a father for the first time six weeks ago, has given no inkling of what he might turn his hand to once he retires.

He has already made a successful forray into the world of horseracing.

Or perhaps he could become a gentleman farmer overseeing his prize herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle on his 200-acre estate in Co Westmeath.

Either way, the outrageous publicity seeker has no intension of joining the establishment.

Happy Birthday easyJet - 10th anniversary celebrations begin
Corporate Press Release

easyJet celebrates its 10th anniversary on Thursday 10 November 2005. In those 10 years, the airline has transformed itself from a brightly coloured but unknown airline with two routes into one of Europe's best-known brands with 110 aircraft and 224 routes carrying over 30 million passengers a year - easyJet has truly changed the way in which people travel.

easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou began the airline with a simple motto ‘fly for the price of a pair of jeans, only £29.00 one way.’

The first booking was taken on 23 October 1995 when the airline's call centre opened for business at London Luton Airport. The inaugural flight from London Luton Airport carried 120 excited passengers on 10 November 1995.

The rest, as they say, is history.

In April 1996, easyJet took delivery of its first wholly-owned aircraft; today the airline operates 110. At the same time as the airline took delivery of its first aircraft, easyJet went international as it launched its first service from Amsterdam to Luton. Today easyJet offers 224 routes between 67 key European airports. From Italy to Hungary and Spain to Estonia easyJet is now one of Europe’s most recognisable brands.

In 1997 easyJet.com was launched. Again easyJet was leading the way as its competitors simply watched in awe. Today an incredible one million people across Europe visit easyJet.com every single day!

In October 1999 easyJet was named ‘Best Low-Cost airline’ by Business Traveller Magazine. The airline has been the proud keeper of that award since 1999, winning it every single year. By 2001 easyJet was picking up international awards: the airline was named the ‘Best Online Travel Website’ by The Sunday Times, won the Visa e-tail ‘Best Value’ award and Stelios himself was named ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’, by GQ Magazine.

In 2002 easyJet acquired Go-Fly to become Europe's largest low-cost airline and announced an order for 120 Airbus 319 aircraft - the largest single order for an aircraft type. In the last couple of years easyJet has become a truly pan-European business by establishing major bases at Paris, Berlin, Dortmund, and Basel.

10 years on easyJet is stronger than ever, carrying over 30 million passengers every year. In May this year easyJet celebrated an incredible milestone – our 100 millionth passenger. Almost twice the entire population of the United Kingdom!

Ray Webster, easyJet’s Chief Executive comments;

"It has been an incredible journey and I am so very proud of what easyJet has achieved over the last 10 years. From Stelios’ drive and vision to the sheer determination of our people, we have led the way for 10 years. Our innovations and commitment to customer service will continue as will the commitment to deliver the best quality service to our customers."

Belgian probe calls Ryanair execs for questioning

BRUSSELS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Belgian investigators have called two Ryanair executives for questioning in a fraud probe at a local promotional company partly owned by the Irish discount airline, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.

Charleroi public prosecutor Nabil Sanaji said the examining magistrate leading the investigation had called on Chief Operating Officer Michael Cawley and Bernard Berger, head of flights development, to answer questions.

Sanaji said the examining magistrate was looking into suspected fraud and misuse of funds at to the promotional company, known as Promocy.

"We want to know if the money was diverted into some other pocket than airport services," he told Reuters, confirming reports published earlier in the day in two regional newspapers.

The investigation did not imply any wrongdoing on the part of the executives or the airline, he added.

Promocy Chairman Laurent Jossart said he knew of the investigation but did not know what it was about.

"We do not understand what they are looking for," he told Reuters. "For us, everything is relatively clear at the fiscal and legal levels."

Promocy is jointly owned by Ryanair and Brussels South Charleroi Airport, the airport operator in the southern city where the airline has one of its European hubs.

Promocy is in charge of publicising flights and fares in Belgium. Cawley is its managing director.

Pierre Fernement, a spokesman for the airport operator, said it was collaborating with the investigation and some of its executives had already been questioned. The operator denied any wrongdoing, he said.

Ryanair could not immediately comment.

Ryanair changes policy on blind and partially-sighted passengers

LONDON, Nov 23 (AFP) - Low-cost airline Ryanair is to change its policy on carrying blind and partially-sighted passengers following criticism for ejecting a group of blind travellers from a flight.

Any vision-impaired passenger accompanied by a sighted companion would now no longer be required to inform the airline in advance, the Irish carrier announced in what it called a "commonsense change".

But those travelling alone would remain part of its limit on four reduced-mobility passengers per flight, according to the Dublin-headquartered company which has major bases at Stansted and Luton airports, north of London.

Disabled groups criticised Ryanair last month after a group of nine blind and partially-sighted people were taken off an Italy-bound flight at Stansted airport in September.

The airline said at the time the four-person quota had been reached. It denied discrimination and said it was only complying with safety guidelines that require aircraft to be evacuated within 90 seconds in case of emergency.

The new rules follow consultation with the National Council for the Blind of Ireland.

Des Kenny, the council's chief executive, applauded the move and described it as a "major step forward" for the European aviaition industry.

"I hope that other airlines will follow Ryanair's example," he added.

The change is subject to approval from the Irish Aviation Authority but the airline anticipates they will be given the go-ahead in the coming weeks, a Ryanair spokeswoman told AFP Wednesday.

Good growth reflected in 21% rise in passengers and revenues up 23%
Corporate Press Release
22 November 2005

Profits benefit from acceleration in cost reductions

* Profit before tax up 11% in H2, up 9% for full year to £68m (£62m)
* Reported earnings per share up by 3% to 10.7p
* Passenger numbers up 21% to 29.6m with load factor improved to 85.2% from 84.5%
* Total revenue per seat up 2% to £38.66
* Ancillary revenue per seat ahead by 17% reflecting our continued focus in this area
* Fuel cost per seat up 68% in H2, up 47% for full year
* Reduction in cost base accelerated with cost per seat ex-fuel and goodwill amortisation down 7% in H2 and 4% for the year, with reductions achieved in all key areas.
* Network developing rapidly with 72 new routes added in last year, giving a total of 212.
* Strong growth in continental Europe, revenue up 78% with Germany on track

Commenting on the results and prospects, Ray Webster, Chief Executive, said:

“We’ve made sound progress in the year with good growth in passenger numbers and revenue. Despite the fuel price increases we’ve minimised the rise in costs and, excluding fuel, our cost base per seat has fallen by a useful 4.4%: indeed we accelerated our reduction in ex-fuel costs during the year, clearly benefiting our profits. I’m pleased also with the expansion of our network and with 72 new routes added we are in good shape for future growth.

“In the current financial year we expect to deliver capacity growth, measured by available seats, of 15%. Our strong focus on controllable costs will continue and should result in a 3-5% reduction in cost per seat, before fuel. While we anticipate a slight reduction in total revenue per seat, ancillary revenues will improve with double digit percentage growth supported by a series of new initiatives. Overall, we therefore expect to achieve mid to high single-digit percentage profit growth.”

Easyjet warns France on air tax
By PEGGY HOLLINGER
26 November 2005
Financial Times

Easyjet yesterday warned that its investment in France could be threatened by the government's decision this week to press ahead with a controversial plan to impose a tax on airline tickets to fund development aid for poor countries.

France has decided to impose a tax of between Euros 1 and Euros 40 (Dollars 47, Pounds 27) a ticket from next July, despite failing to win European support for the idea, first proposed by President Jacques Chirac earlier this year as a measure to fight global poverty. International air carriers, such as Air France/KLM, have strongly opposed the plan, fearing it willl deter passengers from taking air transport.

Yesterday Easyjet said the tax would "have a considerable impact on the French air passenger market and on the several millions we could invest to develop new lines ... This tax will simply add to already deteriorating economic conditions in France."

Source : http://www.pbase.com/toptag/muc&page=all

http://www.pbase.com/toptag/image/21534740.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/toptag/image/24142747.jpg

'Ryanair left us like stray dogs to run about
I'll never fly with them again'
Airline attacked as Scots are stranded in Germany
Allan Laing
29 November 2005
The Herald

AGROUP of Scots stranded by Ryanair in Germany arrived home yesterday after a gruelling 36-hour road and rail journey across Europe and said they would never again use the budget airline.

Faced with the prospect of having to wait for the next available flight - which they were told would be on Thursday - and having been offered a refund of [GBP]5 each, the 38strong church group defiantly made their own arrangements to travel the 1000 miles home.

They were among 180 passengers with the Irish no-frills carrierwhose Prestwick-bound flight from Hamburg-Lubeck was cancelled due to "technical problems". The airline's apologies failed to satisfy the group, and it may have breached European legislation by refusing to offer hotel accommodation or any meals.

The group from Muirkirk, Ayrshire, who had been on a shopping trip to the German Christmas markets, jumped on a service bus into Hamburg city centre. There they boarded a train to Brussels, transferred to the Eurostar train to Euston and then took a Virgin train to Glasgow Central.

Angry, tired but extremely relieved to be home, Hugh McGarey, 68, said yesterday:

"Ryanair just left us like stray dogs to run about. It was terrible the way they treated us. I'll never fly with that airline again."

Rae Howat, a pensioner, said: "They completely abandoned us. No-one showed any concern about us whatsoever.

They wouldn't give us a penny for meals or anything. No-one representing Ryanair came to see us or talk to us. So we just decided to make our own way home."

The St Thomas's Church group, among them many elderly people who did not have credit cards, had to pay out more than [GBP]300 each for their train journey back to Scotland. By the time they reached Glasgow - their train almost an hour late - they were exhausted.

There to greet the party at the station was David Loy whose mother, Theresa, 72, and 82-year-old aunt Mary Murray, were among the passengers.

Hugging his mother, a relieved Mr Loy said: "It is an absolute disgrace what these people have been put through.

"My mother has a heart condition and is waiting for a hip replacement.

"I was extremely worried about her . . . Ryanair keeps coming up with all theirwonderful figures about howmuch they make and their passenger numbers but all they're doing is putting profitability before passenger welfare. We shall certainly be considering the legal position."

Among the group was Jimmy Kelly, 67, a Muirkirk councillor who said that he would be taking the matter up with the local MP. He said:

"The way they (Ryanair) treated us, well, you'd treat a dog better. They didn't care howwe would get home."

Members of the group also revealed how they had to sit in the departure lounge at Hamburg for five hours with no information, and with only a "delayed" sign showing against their flight. They only found out the flight was cancelled when one passenger's husband phoned from Scotland, telling her that the message was on Ryanair's website.

The fate of the other Prestwick-bound passengers was unknown last night though, like the Muirkirk group, most had decided to cut their losses and make their own way home.

Annette MacKay, a Glasgow teacherwho had gone to Hamburg with her husband Ian for a one-night break, said they had slept in the airport overnight on Sunday before flying to Milan to catch a connecting flight yesterday.

"Ryanair said they would pay for one flight. So they paid for us to get to Milan. Then, when we got to the Ryanair check in desk at Milan, we had to pay [GBP]120 each to get back to Glasgow, " she said.

Ryanair said it had offered passengers their money back.

In the case of the Muirkirk group at least, this amounted to [GBP]5 each.

The firm added it was "not company policy" to provide accommodation and meals.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused our passengers, " said a spokesman.

However, it was clear yesterday that the Dublin-based airline could face compensation claims from the passengers.

A spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents said: "If an airline cancels your flight, unless it is for reasons of 'force majeur' - and a plane 'going tech' doesn't usually count - then you are entitled to compensation under new rules which were introduced in February."

However, an official at the Air Transport Users' Council said that while the new rules were legally binding, some airlines interpreted them differently from others.

The Epic journey

1 Lubeck: Flight cancelled.
2 Passengers take a service bus to Hamburg
3 From Hamburg they board a train to Brussels
4 Then travel from Brussels to London on a Eurostar train
5 The final journey to Glasgow is via a Virgin train.

Will Ryanair yield in its surge for growth?
1 December 2005
Irish Independent

LATER today Ryanair will announce new routes out of Shannon. The low-cost airline is already being credited with much of the 36pc increase in the number of passengers passing through the regional airport in the first nine months of this year.

Last week Shannon, which is still establishing itself as a body independent of the Dublin Airport Authority, announced that it had clocked up 3m passengers this year, its target for 2005.

Tomorrow Ryanair will announce four new routes, although in some cases this will be achieved by restructuring its existing Shannon schedule.

Shannon could be a lesson for other airports on how to handle Ryanair. Michael O'Leary recently conceded that the company was achieving passenger growth at Shannon at the expense of yields.

In other words, Ryanair will drop the cost of Shannon flights to whatever is necessary to meet volume targets set with Shannon Airport.

The question is when will Ryanair embark on a similar strategy at Dublin Airport. Mr O'Leary likes to play down the significance of Dublin to the group's overall network. Goeff van Klavern, an aviation analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, the largest producer of market research in France, disagrees.

He said: "The biggest advantage which Ryanair has over its rivals is costs at the airport it flies into." According to Mr Van Klavern, the costs at Ryanair's "two key bases, Dublin and Shannon" are high relative to the other airports it uses.

Ryanair has slowed any significant expansion out of Dublin in protest the level of passenger charges and as a negotiation ploy.

Its position may change after new Aer Lingus chief Dermot Mannion yesterday said he intends to double the semi-state short-haul business. That might force Ryanair to press the nuclear button, lifting its self-imposed restrictions on expansion out of Dublin as it takes on Aer Lingus.

Mr O'Leary has already said that he intends to chase British Airways (BA) out of the short-haul market in a bid to double passenger numbers to 70m by 2012.

BA, now run by the former Aer Lingus chief executive Willie Walsh, has already pulled off routes to Zurich, Stuttgart, Rome, Pisa, Venice, Nice, Shannon and Cork at a time when Ryanair is using larger planes to increase the service it offers.

It is difficult to see how Aer Lingus can succeed where BA has failed. At €7.15 the shares are a comfortable hold.

Ryanair Drops Stockholm, Hamburg Flights, Adds 3 Others
4 December 2005

DUBLIN (AP)--Irish budget airline Ryanair (RYA.DB) said Sunday it will drop uneconomic services from Shannon to Hamburg, Germany, and Stockholm, Sweden, starting Feb. 25.

The same day, it will launch services from Shannon on Ireland's west coast to Manchester, England; Rome; Wroclaw in Poland; and the Spanish city of Murcia, the airline said.

"Ryanair launched its Shannon base in May and monthly Ryanair traffic at the airport has trebled," said chief executive Michael O'Leary.

"The four new routes will mean that over the next year 1.5 million passengers will use Ryanair's Shannon flights, almost 1 million of whom will be inbound visitors, sustaining 1,500 jobs in this area of Ireland."

Ryanair is Europe's biggest low-fare airline, flying 35 million passengers annually on 267 routes in 21 European countries. The airline, founded in 1985, has more than 100 Boeing 737-800s and orders for another 125 planes for delivery through 2012.

Budget airline Ryanair announces five new routes
8 December 2005

LONDON (AP) - Irish budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC announced five new routes Thursday, including its first service to Hungary.

The new routes begin with daily services between Stansted and Vitoria in Spain on Feb. 17, 2006.

The following day Ryanair will start services three times a week between Stansted and Balaton in Hungary, and between Stansted and Lamezia in Italy.

On Feb. 21 the low-cost carrier will start another three-flights-a-week service, from Luton to Brest in France.

The last of the new routes, a four-flights-a-week service from Stansted to Parma in Italy, will start on March 31.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said that Western Europe remained the driver and focus of growth for the carrier despite its steps into central Europe. The airline began five new routes to Poland and Slovakia last month.

"The real action here is still in Western Europe," O'Leary said in London.

O'Leary said that Ryanair plans to announce details of another base airport in Europe by early January. It now has 15 base airports, including London's Stansted and Dublin Airport.

The airline has 281 routes across Europe and carried 35 million passengers this year.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to October 2005:
EasyJet = 29,887,498
Ryanair = 32,180,320

Percentage increase in passengers since October 2004:
EasyJet = 20.4%
Ryanair = 23%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in October 2005:
EasyJet = 85.1%
Ryanair = 85%


EasyJet will surely pass the 30 million pax pa mark next month whilst Ryanair are now closing the gap on BA with more than 32 million pax pa!Rolling 12 month passenger totals to November 2005:
EasyJet = 30,064,445
Ryanair = 32,731,836

Percentage increase in passengers since November 2004:
EasyJet = 19.1%
Ryanair = 25%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in Novemver 2005:
EasyJet = 85%
Ryanair = 81%

Impressive :okay:

'Ryanair left us like stray dogs to run about

AGROUP of Scots stranded by Ryanair in Germany arrived home yesterday after a gruelling 36-hour road and rail journey across Europe and said they would never again use the budget airline.

The Epic journey

1 Lubeck: Flight cancelled.
2 Passengers take a service bus to Hamburg
3 From Hamburg they board a train to Brussels
4 Then travel from Brussels to London on a Eurostar train
5 The final journey to Glasgow is via a Virgin train.

What a nightmare! :runaway:

Ryanair to save £20m with internet check in
By Julia Kollewe
9 December 2005
The Independent

Ryanair, Europe's biggest budget airline, will allow passengers to check in on the internet next year to encourage them to travel light, estimating the move could save it up to EUR30m (£20m) a year.

Ryanair plans to trial a web check-in, allowing passengers to bypass long queues at the airport, in January on three routes, the Dublin-Cork route, an Irish-UK route and another European route. During the trials, which are expected to run for five to six weeks, the airline will assess whether the system works and is secure. If successful, the web check-in will be rolled out across other routes from next summer.

Michael O'Leary, the chief executive, said: 'Part of our long-term aim is to get 80 per cent of passengers to fly without checked-in luggage. That would be a big cost saving for us.'

He said it would shave up to 3 per cent off Ryanair's annual cost base of EUR1bn, generating savings of EUR25m to EUR30m, by cutting the number of baggage handling staff by half and check-in staff and desks by a quarter. At the moment, half of its passengers do not check in any luggage.

Mr O'Leary reckons the majority of passengers do not need to carry any more than hand luggage on short-haul flights, with the exception of families.

Mr O'Leary also renewed his attack on BAA's plans to spend £4bn building a second runway and new facilities at Stansted airport. Ryanair and the Stansted users' group claim it will double charges for users from £9 a passenger to £18.

Budget airlines urged to help stranded customers
MP calls for hotel accommodation offer or compensation
13 December 2005
Evening Times

PASSENGERS left stranded in airports for days by budget airlines should be offered better protection, an MP said today.

Glasgow East MP David Marshall wants passengers to be given compensation to get them home or the offer of hotel accommodation if flights are cancelled.

He is calling on the Government to take more action so low-cost airlines don't get away with leaving people high and dry.

Last month the Evening Times reported how almost 100 passengers were left stranded in Hamburg after a Ryanair flight was scrapped.

People were offered a refund or a seat on the next flight four days later.

Another 80 passengers were left for 24 hours in Rome before they were flown back to Prestwick Airport, with some even hiring a bus to take them home.

Ryanair does not provide compensation or hotel accommodation in the event of cancellation and had no spare aircraft to lay on an emergency flight.

Mr Marshall thinks budget airlines such as Dublin-based Ryanair, which flies from Prestwick Airport, are in breach of EU laws.

The MP wants to know what Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling, who is also Transport Secretary, is doing to ensure passengers get better protection.

Mr Marshall said: "Low-cost carriers should be more responsible. Some of them simply do not care about their passengers. We have to do more to protect people.

"They may argue they charge low fares, but they are taking money off people for a service and customers expect to receive what they have been promised."

He said he had been contacted by constituents who had been left stranded in Germany last month.

The MP added: "People were offered flights home four days later than scheduled. These airlines are flouting the rules on EU compensation policy.

"They should honour their obligations. The Government should be doing more to protect people."

ARyanair spokesman said: "In cases where the problem is outwith our control we do not pay out compensation.

"However, if it is within our control we will compensate. We apologise for any cancellations and delays to passengers.

"Where appropriate we will pay accommodation and food and drink costs."

Ryanair to expand in Germany, in talks with Munich airport - CEO
14 December 2005

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Ryanair Holdings PLC is planning to expand further in Germany and is in talks with Munich airport and others, chief executive Michael O'Leary told Wirtschaftswoche in an interview to be published tomorrow.

'We are in talks with many airports, even with those who do not have scheduled flights yet,' he told the publication.

O'Leary said he had asked Munich airport whether Ryanair could use the airport's Terminal 2, which is currently occupied by Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

The request was rejected, but the CEO said 'we will keep at it. Munich, we are coming.'

Ryanair, which is Europe's largest no-frills airline, said last month it will invest 1 bln usd in expanding its operations at Germany's Frankfurth Hahn airport in the period from 2006 to 2012.

Le Figaro: easyJet celebrates Paris success
(Les bons comptes d'easyJet en France)
10 December 2005
Le Figaro

easyJet, the UK low-cost airline, says that demand for its ex-Paris flights has grown steadily since it installed five aircraft at the French capital's second airport, Orly, in 2002. It also points out that, for such high-demand destinations as London, Toulouse and Nice, between 20 and 30 per cent of its passengers are business leaders or executives.

The Paris airports operator, Aeroports de Paris (ADP), for its part, has stressed that easyJet is an airline like any other. It is Orly's second-biggest after the French flagship carrier, Air France, it adds. ADP made its remarks at a function celebrating the boarding of easyJet's 8 millionth ex-Paris passenger. The customer in question, Patrick Desprez, was awarded a free return ticket for two people.

Original article by Christine Ducros

Ryanair looks at Latvian licence in move to cut costs
17 December 2005
Irish Independent

RYANAIR is considering transferring its aviation certificate from Ireland to Latvia in a move which experts say could reduce the ability of the company's Irish pilots and cabin crew to claim the protection of Irish employment law.

The airline's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, has confirmed that the airline is considering moving its licence, known as an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC); but said this would be a simple cost-reduction measure and would not impinge on the employment rights of its Irish staff.

"We are not looking at a Latvian AOC from that point of view. Employment legislation in Ireland is aimed at multinationals and there's no way we can just scuttle off to Latvia to undermine it," he said.

Ryanair cuts flying schedule because of late plane delivery from Boeing
20 December 2005

LONDON (AP) - Irish budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC said Tuesday that it is cutting its new year flying schedule because of the late delivery of planes from Boeing Co.

The flight cancellations would result in 100,000 fewer passengers a month between January and March, said Ryanair, which has been opening up routes across Europe rapidly in the past year.

It will not affect Ryanair's profit guidance for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, Ryanair's Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley said.

The airline, Europe's largest budget carrier by passenger numbers, said last month it expected full-year profit to rise about 10 percent to just over €300 million (US$354.4 million).

Ryanair is waiting on a delivery of four Boeing 737-800 series aircraft, which have been delayed by a strike by Boeing's machinists in September.

Boeing was forced to halt production of commercial airplanes for four weeks after workers walked off the job over issues including health benefits and pension payouts.

The Chicago-based aerospace company said in a statement that it has worked with Ryanair on a revised delivery schedule through 2006.

Ryanair has already covered some of the waiting period by extending the flying program on a number of older 737-200 series aircraft due for retirement in December.

However, those planes have been sold and the pilots have been retrained on the 737-800s.

The airline said the delay will result in the cancellation of 200 rotations per month, around 1 percent of the total flying program, in the first three months of the year.

It will also delay the launch of the second aircraft at its Nottingham East Midlands base by a month and the launch of the second aircraft at its Pisa base by four months.

Passengers affected by the changes will be notified at least three weeks in advance and switched to other flights or given a refund of their airfare, the airline said.

It said that flights will return to normal when the last of the four planes is delivered in April.

Ryanair has just announced a "major expansion of operation in the Dublin airport" and 18 new routes from and to the airport. Full article:

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=166724018&p=y667z47z4

New routes from Dublin:


FRANCE - Marseille, Nantes and La Rochelle
GERMANY - Baden (Stuttgart) and Hamburg
POLAND - Krakow, Poznan and Wroclaw
ITALY - Milan and Venice
SWEDEN - Gothenburg and Malmo
SPAIN - Valencia
PORTUGAL - Porto
AUSTRIA - Salzburg
SLOVAKIA - Bratislava
LITHUANIA - Kaunas
UK - Humberside

There will also be increased services to Barcelona, Faro, Cardiff, Malaga, Carcassonne, Biarritz and Lodz.

Ryanair sees annual traffic numbers jump 29 pct

LONDON, Jan 5 (AFP) - Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, said Thursday that it carried nearly 2.834 million passengers in December -- an increase of 29 percent in the same month the previous year.

The total compared with 2.197 million passengers carried in December 2004.

The budget airline said the load factor -- passengers as a proportion of the number of seats available -- was 82 percent last month, compared with 83 percent in December 2004.

Meanwhile, the total number of passengers increased in the twelve months to December to 33.368 million people with an average monthly load factor of 83 percent.

The Dublin-based carrier added that 98 percent of its air tickets were booked over the Internet during December 2005, compared with 97 percent at the same stage the previous year.

Ryanair's share price slid 0.25 percent to 8.05 euros in afternoon Dublin trading, while the Irish Overall Index was 0.01-percent lower at 7,483.12 points.

Back in November, Ryanair had posted an 18-percent rise in first-half net profit to a record 237 million euros (280 million dollars), as a jump in passengers and ticket prices helped offset soaring fuel costs.

The figure for the six months to September 30 -- the first half of its financial year -- compared with net profit of 201.2 million euros during the same period in 2004.

Ryanair overcame soaring fuel costs during the first half by cutting other costs and raising ticket prices.

Meanwhile its decision not to impose a fuel surcharge, unlike many of its rivals, has helped to swell its passenger numbers.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to November 2005:
EasyJet = 30,064,445
Ryanair = 32,731,836

Percentage increase in passengers since November 2004:
EasyJet = 19.1%
Ryanair = 25%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in November 2005:
EasyJet = 85%
Ryanair = 81%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to December 2005:
EasyJet = 30,301,991
Ryanair = 33,368,585

Percentage increase in passengers since December 2004:
EasyJet = 11.1%
Ryanair = 29%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in December 2005:
EasyJet = 85%
Ryanair = 82%

EasyJet December Passengers + 11.1%
9 January 2006
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--EasyJet PLC Monday said it carried 2,372,333 passengers in December, up 11.1% from 2,134,787 passengers a year earlier.

The budget carrier said it filled 80.5% of the seats on its flights in December, down from 80.8% in the same month a year earlier.

The budget carrier said filled 84.9% of its seats for the 12 months to December, up 0.3 percentage points from 84.6% in the same period a year earlier. It carried 30,301,991 passengers in that period, up 17.8% from 25,716,329 a year earlier, it said.

Total revenue for the 12 months, which includes the invoiced value of airline and ancillary services, net of passenger tax, amounted to GBP1.381 billion, up 20.5% from GBP1.147 billion a year earlier.

Andrew Harrison, Chief Executive, said: "December passenger numbers were in line with our expectations. Unit revenue for the month (total revenue per seat flown) showed a year on year improvement, supported by strong ancillary contributions."

During December the company announced that it exercised its right to acquire 20 further Airbus A319 aircraft for delivery during 2008 and 2009 to ensure its continued growth to the end of the decade, it noted.

The company said it will make an announcement on International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, on Jan. 20.

Ryanair looks at Latvian licence in move to cut costs
17 December 2005
Irish Independent

RYANAIR is considering transferring its aviation certificate from Ireland to Latvia in a move which experts say could reduce the ability of the company's Irish pilots and cabin crew to claim the protection of Irish employment law.

The airline's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, has confirmed that the airline is considering moving its licence, known as an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC); but said this would be a simple cost-reduction measure and would not impinge on the employment rights of its Irish staff.

"We are not looking at a Latvian AOC from that point of view. Employment legislation in Ireland is aimed at multinationals and there's no way we can just scuttle off to Latvia to undermine it," he said.


Well pilots everywhere in the world are of different nationalities, also in Ryanair they are NOT only Irish and cabin crew on Ryanair is already now consisting of many Latvians. And it becomes more and more international. So if Irish poeple want Irish employment law protection they have to work in Ireland.Ryanair already a long time is NOT pure Irish company having many differnt nationalities working in it and accordingly it has right to move everywhere wher ethey want for the benefit of their passengers which are mostly Non-irish and are NOt travelin neither from nor to Ireland

Easyjet warns France on air tax
By PEGGY HOLLINGER
26 November 2005
Financial Times

Easyjet yesterday warned that its investment in France could be threatened by the government's decision this week to press ahead with a controversial plan to impose a tax on airline tickets to fund development aid for poor countries.

France has decided to impose a tax of between Euros 1 and Euros 40 (Dollars 47, Pounds 27) a ticket from next July, despite failing to win European support for the idea, first proposed by President Jacques Chirac earlier this year as a measure to fight global poverty. International air carriers, such as Air France/KLM, have strongly opposed the plan, fearing it willl deter passengers from taking air transport.

Yesterday Easyjet said the tax would "have a considerable impact on the French air passenger market and on the several millions we could invest to develop new lines ... This tax will simply add to already deteriorating economic conditions in France."


I can't believe how stupid the French can be. Shame.
Poor countries are poor because France is subsidizing their farmers and farmers from poor countries can't sell their products for normal prices. And French know. That's why such policies are even more bizzare. If they want to put taxes on air tickets - please, you are welcome, but than EasyJet and Ryanair should seriously consider leave France or increase the price for the tickets to France. Quite big part of the tourists could go to Spain and Italy than and French tourism industry could loose quite a big share of tourists. That could teach them a little bit.

Maybe all french should be moved to live to Russia, there they would see the result of 50 years of communism, before thinking too redly.

EasyJet Pilots Prepared To Strike If No Pay Deal - Union
11 January 2006

LONDON (Dow Jones)--EasyJet PLC (EZJ.LN) pilots have "overwhelmingly" rejected a pay offer and might ultimately be prepared to take strike action, according to an indicative poll of its members by trade union the British Air Line Pilots Association or Balpa.

A spokesman for the union, which says it represents the vast majority of easyJet pilots, said Wednesday that the results will be presented to the airline as part of ongoing pay negotiations. Balpa is still talking to easyJet and remains "hopeful" that a negotiated settlement can be reached, he added.

The discussion relates to a new pay round, which started this month. Balpa hasn't disclosed the pay package it is seeking for its members.

An easyJet spokesman said Balpa and the company's management remain hopeful of reaching a pay deal. He added that talks have been ongoing for a number of weeks and are likely to take place for a few weeks to come.

EasyJet, French airlines lash out at hike in Paris airport charges

LONDON, Jan 12, 2006 (AFP) - British low-cost airline easyJet lashed out on Thursday at the French government's decision to raise charges at Paris' two civil airports by five percent a year over the next five years.

The move was also criticised by the French National Federation of Merchant Aviation (FNAM).

"EasyJet has today raised serious concerns over the French governments sign-off of a five-percent annual increase in Paris airport charges," the company said in a statement.

"The Paris airports of Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle already rank amongst the most expensive in Europe, leaving little to offer in terms of low fares. Only 13 percent of seats on offer in the Paris market are by low-cost carriers including Beauvais, against 40 percent for the London market.

"Such a large increase in charges defies the current trend across Europe of airports reducing charges in order to boost traffic," easy Jet complained.

It said Paris airport operator Aeroports de Paris (ADP) was "simply taking advantage of its planned privatisation to secure government support in order to make huge profits to the detriment of air travellers".

In Paris itself the airline industry also slammed the price hike.

"This is very bad news, not only for our companies but also for passengers and future shareholders in ADP," FNAM official Lionel Guerin told reporters.

Guerin pointed out that ADP had already increased its airport charges by an annual five percent for the last three years.

easyJet founder will sell stake only to 'trustworthy' buyer

LONDON, Jan 13, 2006 (AFP) - Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder and biggest shareholder in British low-cost airline easyJet, said Friday he would sell his 16.5-percent stake only if he trusted the buyer to protect the "easy" brand.

"For me there are two issues -- at what price I would sell, and I haven't told you what that is, and do I trust the people who buy to actually look after the name?," he told BBC television.

"Because all my other businesses, including the car and hotels, are relying on the same brand and the same reputation. So I would only sell to people I can trust."

Speculation has been rife that FL Group, the acquisitive Icelandic group which has built up a 16.2-percent stake in easyJet, is poised to bid for the no-frills airline, which is based in the town of Luton, north of London.

Rumours were stoked last weekend when easyJet confirmed it had appointed Goldman Sachs as an adviser to work alongside its existing broker Credit Suisse First Boston -- a move seen as bolstering its bid defences.

FL owns Icelandair and last October bought Copenhagen-based Sterling Airways, Europe's fourth biggest budget airline.

Stelios' brother Polys and sister Clelia each hold a 12-percent stake in easyJet, making the family interest 40.5 percent.

City analysts are meanwhile divided over whether FL has the fire power to bid for easyJet. Some reckon Stelios wants 500 pence per share.

Rome incident on Ryanair flight to be investigated

DUBLIN, Jan 13, 2006 (AFP) - Ireland's transport ministry said on Friday that it has begun an investigation into an incident on a Ryanair flight as it prepared to land in Rome last September.

The ministry's Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) is investigating claims the pilot of a Boeing 737 flying from Dusseldorf suffered a crisis as he was preparing to land the plane in bad weather at Rome's Ciampino airport.

The co-pilot took over the controls and the flight was diverted to Fiumicino airport.

According to the findings of an internal Ryanair investigation revealed by the Irish magazine Village, the pilot had recently suffered "a major personal traumatic event", the death of one of his children.

Village quoted a Ryanair document as saying the captain suffered "task overload" and subsequently suffered "a mild form of incapacitation".

In a statement to Village, Ryanair denied the aircraft had "nearly crashed".

It told the magazine the events did not constitute a notifiable incident as defined by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) but that it had copied its internal report to the Authority.

The ministry said in its statement that the incident occurred in Italian airspace and was not notified to the Italian aviation authorities.

"The Italian Air Accident Investigation Unit will decide on Monday if they will lead the investigation in which case the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit will assist them under International Convention.

"The Air Accident Investigation Unit have informed Ryanair of its intention to assist the Italian Investigation Authorities or to carry out the investigation if delegated to do so by the Italian Authorities," the statement said.

The ministry said any investigation carried out by the IAA will be separate from that of the AAIU.

GERMAN PRESS: Easyjet Eyes Lufthansa Business Travelers
18 January 2006

FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--U.K. low-cost airline Easyjet plc (EZJ.LN) is hoping to snag high-paying business travelers from Germany's Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE), WirtschaftsWoche will report Thursday.

"Business travelers make up an interesting market segment, since they book late, pay higher prices than vacationers, and make use of additional services such as airport lounges," Easyjet Germany's Chief Executive John Kohlsaat told the weekly.

In order to become more attractive to German business travelers, Easyjet plans to offer more flights between major German and European cities and to set up lounges in the airports.

Magazine Web site: http://www.wiwo.de

Ryanair: No Problems With UK Flight Departures
18 January 2006

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Irish budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) said Wednesday that its flights from the U.K. airports of Stansted and Luton are operating normally despite reports of cancellations on Stansted airport's official web site.

A Ryanair spokeswoman said there appears to be an error on the Stansted airport Web site, which is operated by airport owner BAA PLC (BAA.LN).

She added that the confusion is likely due to the delays in receiving new planes from Boeing Co. (BA) following a strike at the U.S. plane manufacturer. Ryanair said late last year it would be canceling some services and delaying the start-up of a number of new routes due to the late delivery of the 737-800 aircraft during January, February and March.

A spokesman for Stansted Airport said that while the airport's systems and Web site indicate that 34 Ryanair flights have been canceled Wednesday, these services are those that the Irish airline has already flagged won't be operating due to the plane delivery delays. No passengers are booked on these flights shown as canceled, he added.

Ryanair's Web site said its U.K. flights are operating normally. Shares in the Irish airline were hit Wednesday on speculation that its flights were canceled from Stansted and Luton.

The problems are likely to sour relations further between BAA and Ryanair. Ryanair's outspoken Chief Executive Michael O'Leary has long argued that BAA is planning to spend far too much money on developing a new runway and associated buildings at Stansted. He's concerned this may lead to higher airport charges.

By 0910 GMT, Ryanair shares were down EUR0.15, or 1.9%, at EUR7.73.

In a later statement to the stock exchange Ryanair criticized a "false rumor which emanated from one of the London investment banks shortly after 0730 GMT, which suggested that Ryanair's flight schedule was subject to widespread cancellation."

"This rumor was untrue and could have been verified by that bank, had they made any attempt to contact the airline directly," it said.

It didn't name the investment bank.

EasyJet Germany mulls complaint against Deutsche Lufthansa's EuroWings takeover
22 January 2006

FRANKFURT (AFX) - EasyJet Plc Germany is considering filing a complaint against Deutsche Lufthansa AG for dumping prices and forcing competitors out of the market, head of the German operations John Kohlsaat told Welt am Sonntag.

'They want to force competitors out of the market by dumping the prices,' Kohlsaat said, adding that this relates to Lufthansa's takeover of the majority voting rights in EuroWings and its no-frills airline GermanWings last year.

Kohlsaat called the EU competition authorities' approval of the takeover a 'scandal' and said the company is considering whether to file a complain with the European court.

'We are currently working on collecting evidence that can prove illegal dumping of prices,' he said.

RyanAir looks set to be flying to Croatia this summer. :)

Ryanair lapse sparks safety spat
24 January 2006
Flight International

The Italian authorities are launching an investigation into a series of flawed approaches flown into Rome by the crew of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800. The controversial incident has prompted the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA) to question whether Ireland has an adequate safety oversight system in place.

Italian air accident investigation agency ANSV's decision to investigate comes four months after the 7 September 2005 incident because, it claims, it has only just been handed details by the Irish Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU).

Ryanair's internal report on the Rome Ciampino airport-bound 737 ñ the only investigation carried out so far ñ refers to the crew's "almost complete loss of situational awareness, both lateral and vertical", while attempting a diversion to Rome Fiumicino because of storms at Ciampino, ascribing this to high workload in turbulent weather and failure to follow standard operating procedures.

The airline informed the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and the AAIU that the event had occurred, but Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary admits that the carrier "screwed up" by failing to send them the final draft of its report.

The report says that, when the captain repeatedly failed to capture the instrument landing system on approach to Fiumicino, the co-pilot became concerned. "The first officer repeatedly prompted the captain to ensure he was not suffering some form of partial incapacitation, and when he realised that the aircraft was now in a potentially unsafe situation he urged the aircraft [sic] to perform a go-around, pulled back on the control column and advanced the thrust levers, but he did not assume control from the captain," it says.

The captain had suffered the death of his young son a few days before the D¸sseldorf-Ciampino flight, but had gone back on duty without notifying flight operations. Since then, says the report, existing instructions in the operations manual "for anyone who finds themselves in this situation" have been clarified.

The AAIU has previously reported that on 21 July last year a Ryanair crew carried out "an irrational and inexplicable" steep approach to land at Stockholm Skavsta airport, touching down at 180kt (330km/h) in the wrong configuration (Flight International, 11-17 October 2005). The agency attributed the pilot's behaviour to stress related to family concerns.

Capt Evan Cullen, head of IALPA, says of the Ryanair Ciampino flight report: "There has been an excessive tendency to criticise the pilots without attempting to understand the situation. The report quotes no information from the flight data recorder [FDR]." O'Leary says the pilots had not "pulled" the data from the FDR at the time, and the report uses information from the aircraft's operational flight data monitoring unit.

Cullen says: "While not commenting on any particular incident or airline, there is no doubt that the safety margins in Irish aviation have been eroded. The important question is whether we have in place the regulatory oversight system to alert us when the safety margin has been eroded to an unsafe extent."

The IAA says it "routinely audits Ryanair's line operations from the flightdeck and training standards, and follows up and investigates reported incidents in a systematic manner".

Ryanair looking for second airport in Finland

HELSINKI, Jan 24 (Reuters) - European no-frills airline Ryanair Holdings Plc is looking for a second airport to fly from in Finland, a Ryanair executive was quoted as saying in an interview published on Tuesday.

"We have been very pleased with Finland," Karl Hogstadius, deputy director of the airline's Nordic and Baltic operations, told business daily Taloussanomat. "Last year we had around 350,000 passengers. This year we forecast 400,000-450,000."

Ryanair, which has been expanding aggressively in Europe, currently flies from Tampere airport, 175 km (110 miles) north of Finland's capital Helsinki, to three destinations in Europe.

The paper gave no further details on when Ryanair hoped to start operations from another Finnish airport.

Finland is the home turf of national carrier Finnair , whose chief executive said at the weekend he doubted that no-frills carriers could operate low-priced flights from Finland to Europe for very long.

Icelandic FL Group's no-frills airline Sterling is due to start flights from Helsinki to 11 European destinations in March while Air Berlin is due to start a Helsinki-London service in February.

Lufthansa's germanwings, Swedish FlyME and Blue1, a subsidiary of Scandinavian airline SAS , also operate no-frills flights from Finland.

Ryanair to cut overall fares, but penalize passengers who check in luggage
By JANE WARDELL
25 January 2006

LONDON (AP) - Europe's largest low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings PLC unveiled a new check-in system Wednesday that will cut overall fares -- but penalize passengers who book luggage into the hold and reward those who travel with just hand baggage.

In a move that will put further pressure on both its full-cost and budget rivals, Ryanair said that from mid-March all European Union passengers with hand luggage only will be able to check in online, allowing them to avoid queues at both check-in and the departure gate.

Fares will fall 9 percent -- or around 2.50 pounds (euro3.50; US$4.30) per ticket -- across the board as part of the change, but those checking in bags will then be charged 2.50 pounds (euro3.50; US$4.30) a bag.

"The costs of check-in will no longer be spread unfairly across all passengers," Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in London. "Passengers only pay for what they use."

While some full-service carriers already allow passengers to check-in online, Ryanair is the first no-frills operator in Europe to offer the service.

Under the new system, all passengers traveling with hand luggage and in possession of an EU passport will be able to check in online, receiving a barcode and boarding pass that will allow them to bypass check-in desks at the airport. They will also receive priority boarding, meaning they will skip queues at the gate.

Passengers wanting to take luggage will be asked to declare the bags when they book online and charged 2.50 pounds per piece with a limit of two bags per passenger. If they fail to declare the bags when booking online, they will be charged a 5 pound (euro7; US$9) fee per bag at the airport.

The airline estimates that lower ticket revenues and excess baggage fees will cost it 100 million pounds (euro145 million; US$180 million) a year, but it expects the move to increase passenger numbers and lower airport and handling costs by around euro30 million (US$37 million) a year.

O'Leary said he expects the changes to encourage more of Ryanair's passengers to travel with hand luggage only, but denied that the airline was attempting to move toward completely scratching checked bags.

Currently, about 25 percent of Ryanair's passengers have just hand luggage while 50 percent have one bag and 25 percent have two bags. Based on a forecast that the airline will carry 42 million passengers in the year ending March 31, 2007, Ryanair estimates that it will earn 52.5 million pounds (euro75 million; US$95 million) in baggage revenues from those with one bag and an additional 52.5 million pounds from those with two bags.

Ryanair has managed to grow exponentially over the past few years by dispensing with extras such as free food and drink, reclining seats, window blinds and covered walkways to its planes.

O'Leary said it was time to take the cost-cutting fight to the next level.

"We have done all the easy cuts like taking seat trays out, fly to out-of-town airports ... we have got to be more creative at how we tackle costs and we are now getting into larger pattern costs like the inefficiencies of airports," he said.

The service will be rolled out initially at the airline's main hubs in Dublin in Ireland and Stansted, just outside London. O'Leary said that the Irish, British and German governments and most in Scandinavia have already approved online check-in, and he expected governments in the airline's other destinations to follow.

Ryanair shares rose 2.4 percent to euro7.90 (US$9.71) in trading on the London Stock Exchange.

Why don't they fly to Turkey :bash:

easyJet price too steep for suitors: Haji-Ioannou

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 28, 2006 (AFP) - Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of low-cost airline easyJet, is not adamantly opposed to selling his 16.5 percent stake in the carrier, but his price is so high it would most likely put off a potential buyer, he said Saturday.

Speaking to AFP at the World Economic Forum, Haji-Ioannou said: "The chances are that my selling price, given the other links and sensitivities to the brand and to the company, are above someone's rational willingness to pay."

"In any event whatever happens I still own the brand, which means that I need to approve the person that will buy it, or withdraw the brand."

Speculation has been rife that FL Group, the acquisitive Icelandic firm that now has a 16.2 percent stake in easyJet, is poised to bid for the British-based airline.

FL owns Icelandair, that country's flag carrier, and bought Copenhagen-based Sterling Airways, Europe's fourth biggest budget airline, for 240 million dollars (198 million euros) in October.

Stelios' brother Polys and sister Clelia each hold a 12 percent stake in easyJet, making the family interest 40.5 percent.

Asked if he would allow FL to retain the easyJet brand if it did buy the airline, Haji-Ioannou said: "I don't know enough about them.

"There are many things that you have to look at before you approve a licensee, because that is what they would be.

"I want to be satisfied that they will run it well and that they're well capitalised for the financial challenges in this business. It's a process that will start if they ever make an offer."

Ryanair says January loadings steady at 74 pct

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - European budget airline Ryanair said on Friday its load factor, a measure of how well it is filling planes, was 74 percent of capacity in January, steady with a year earlier.

Dublin-based Ryanair said it carried 2.54 million passengers in January, up from 2.04 million a year earlier.

Ryanair, which is due to announce third-quarter earnings on Feb. 6, expects profits to rise 10 percent this year after continuing to expand aggressively in Europe.

The airline expects to carry 35 million passengers for the year.

However, Ryanair said in December it had trimmined some flights in January to March due to the late delivery of new aircraft from Boeing .

Rival British Airways said earlier on Friday its January passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, rose 3.3 percent and its load factor for the month was 72.5 percent of capacity.

Ryanair shares were trading 1.3 percent firmer in Dublin to 7.70 euros at 1027 GMT.

Ryanair Profit Slips 21% On Oil Costs, Accounting Move
6 February 2006
By Aude Lagorce

LONDON (Dow Jones) -- Ryanair Holdings, Europe's largest low-cost airline, said Monday profit declined 21% due to higher fuel costs and a year-ago accounting-related gain.

The airline also maintained a cautious outlook for the rest of the year and predicted ticket prices would fall in the March-ending quarter as competition intensifies.

Third-quarter net income for the Ireland-based airline fell to 36.8 million euros ($44.2 million) from 46.7 million euros a year earlier. The year-ago quarter benefited from a change in how the airline accounted for the 2003 acquisition of Buzz from Holland's KLM.

Ryanair shares (RYAAY) skidded 3.8% in London in early afternoon trading.

Excluding the one-time gain of 11.9 million euros in the third quarter of 2004, adjusted profit rose 6% to 36.8 million euros, which was below analysts' consensus expectations of about 38 million euros.

Revenue jumped 27% to 370.7 million euros as traffic grew 26% to 8.6 million passengers. The average fare remained unchanged.

Unit costs, the ratio of operating expenses to traffic, increased 3% as fuel costs jumped 59% to 114.9 million euros.

Excluding fuel, unit costs fell 6%.

Ryanair said 90% of its fuel needs are hedged until the end of the fiscal year at $49 a barrel. The carrier, however, has no protection against higher energy prices going forward and said it continues to monitor prices.

"Fuel poses a major challenge entering 2006/2007, but recent moves to save 30 million euros in baggage handling costs etc., should partly mitigate this increase," analysts for NCB Stockbrokers told clients.

"We have a 20% after-tax margin. This is what allows us to absorb higher fuel costs better than competitors," Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley told CNBC Europe television in an interview.

Looking ahead, Ryanair said it remains cautious about the fourth quarter, when it expects average fares to fall by 5% to 10% as a result of the airline's "large capacity growth in this weakest winter quarter as well as the impact of Easter falling in April."

Ryanair left its guidance for the year unchanged.

Last month, the no-frills airline said it would launch a service allowing passengers to check in online starting on March 16.

As a result of savings on check-in agents, desks and baggage handlers, Ryanair said it expects the average fare to fall by 9%.

The new service will spare long queues to passengers without luggage, but others will pay 3.50 euros per checked in bag.

The airline estimates the new service will allow it to reduce airport and handling costs by up to 30 million euros a year.

Last week, low-cost rival Flybe became the first carrier to charge people for checking in their luggage. Travelers with Flybe now have to pay either two pounds ($3.50) in advance or four pounds on the day of travel for every item of luggage checked in for each leg of their journey.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to December 2005:
EasyJet = 30,301,991
Ryanair = 33,368,585

Percentage increase in passengers since December 2004:
EasyJet = 11.1%
Ryanair = 29%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in December 2005:
EasyJet = 85%
Ryanair = 82%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to January 2006:
EasyJet = 30,534,888
Ryanair = 33,865,381

Percentage increase in passengers since January 2005:
EasyJet = 11.2%
Ryanair = 24%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in January 2006:
EasyJet = 74.2%
Ryanair = 74%

Ryanair rejects documentary claims
Friday February 10, 04:57 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - European low-cost airline Ryanair on Friday rejected allegations about safety and other issues by two undercover television reporters who filmed secretly while posing as cabin crew at the carrier's main London base.

Channel 4 is due to air the documentary on Monday, which features secret footage taken over five months while the reporters trained and worked as cabin crew at Stansted Airport.

Ryanair published correspondence on its Web site on Friday from the Dispatches programme that outlined allegations by the documentary about safety, security and staff training.

Channel 4 said it stood by the allegations.

"We absolutely stand by everything that's in the programme. It is based on five months worth of undercover work. All our allegations are on film," a Channel 4 spokesman said.

Ryanair rejected the allegations, which it said had been passed onto aviation regulatory authorities who also dismissed the claims.

"Ryanair operates to the highest European standards of safety and security," Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said in a statement.

Ryanair has shown increasing concern about potential negative publicity from the programme since details emerged this week in British newspapers and on television trailers for the documentary.

Dublin-based Ryanair, well known for its aggressive price-cutting and no-frills service, has offset rising fuel prices with cost cuts as it expands rapidly in Europe.

Ryanair shares were down 1.8 percent at 7.7 euros in Dublin at 4:13 p.m.

Ryanair accused of security lapses and crew fatigue
By David Millward, Transport Correspondent
11 February 2006
The Daily Telegraph

RYANAIR, Europe's largest budget airline, has been accused of security lapses, flying dirty aircraft and making its cabin crew and pilots work excessively long hours.

The allegations, made in a Channel 4 documentary to be broadcast on Monday, followed an investigation in which two reporters spent five months secretly filming on Ryanair flights as well as the training it offers its staff.

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive, dismissed the findings, saying that the airline operated to the highest European safety standards and had an unblemished 20-year safety record.

In a highly unusual move the airline used its website to publish the extensive correspondence it had with the programme's makers, Steve Boulton Productions.

Among the most damaging claims in the documentary were accusations that passport checks prior to boarding were not carried out properly. On more than one occasion, it was alleged, passports were not examined. On a flight at Gothenburg, people were allowed on the plane by presenting only a boarding card.

The airline strenuously denied that passports were not properly checked, not least because it faced heavy fines for any passengers it brought to Britain without proper travel documents.

According to the undercover reporters, trainee staff were not given the three days on-board training required under the airline's own manual before being put to work.

This again was denied by Ryanair, which insisted that the undercover reporters were given the training as set out in the company's manual.

The documentary, Dispatches, also highlights poor cleanliness which, it maintained, arose from the 25 minutes Ryanair allows to turn flights around.

On one occasion, it was alleged, a member of the cabin crew suggested using after-shave to mask the smell of vomit found on the floor, because there was not enough time to clean it.

Ryanair said that its records showed no evidence of any passenger having been sick on the flight.

The airline was also accused of making cabin crew and pilots work excessive hours. It was said to treat the pilots' maximum 100 hours a month flying time as a target rather than a limit. One pilot alleged that he feared being sacked if he refused to fly after complaining about being tired.

Ryanair denied the allegations. "Cabin crew fatigue is an issue which we take every precaution to eliminate, which is why our rosters are published one month in advance and why the legal limits for cabin crew and pilots' hours are observed and maintained throughout the year.''

A company spokesman said last night: "We have replied to all allegations made and have copied all of this correspondence at every stage to the relevant aviation regulatory authorities in the UK and Ireland, (the Civil Aviation Authority and Irish Aviation Authority) and they have also confirmed that they can find no substance to any of these written allegations on the basis of the evidence thus far produced by Dispatches.''

Critical shortage of pilots forces Ryanair to cancel flights
12 February 2006
The Sunday Independent (Ireland)

RYANAIR is being forced to put new aircraft into temporary storage and to cancel flights because of a critical shortage of pilots. This revelation comes in the wake of an Aarhus incident where a Ryanair jet skidded off a runway after landing and as Channel Four prepares to air a controversial documentary made by reporters posing as cabin crew.

The makers of the programme, which goes out tomorrow night, say it will show what really takes place behind the scenes and will feature dirty planes, exhausted cabin crew and pilots complaining about the number of hours they have to fly.

While rapid growth is partly to blame for pilot shortages and recent flight cancellations, pilot sources say that aggressive Ryanair interpretation of duty hours is the main reason. Airline pilots cannot work more than 900 flying hours a year.

At Ryanair the official flying year ends on March 31 but pilot sources say that many Ryanair pilots have already completed this number of hours and are forbidden by aviation law to fly again until April 1 next. According to pilot sources, they have often exceeded their hours because they were asked to work additional rosters to fill in for pilots on sick leave and to cope with new routes.

The Sunday Independent has received reports of several brand new Ryanair aircraft parked at UK airfields, including Luton.

In late December Ryanair announced it was curtailing about one per cent of flights blaming it entirely on the late delivery of four new planes from Boeing owing to a strike in its Seattle plant. At the time, the company said its Nottingham East Midlands and Pisa bases would be among the airports affected and added that the situation should return to normal in early April.

But in a recent statement, a Ryanair spokesperson admitted "some pilot flight hour restrictions which ensure that no pilot in Ryanair can fly more than 900 hours a year, which has been exacerbated by the delayed conversion training of Dublin-based 737-200 pilots on to our new 737-800 series aircraft".

However, pilot sources told the Sunday Independent that a shortage of pilots withremaining hours was now the most critical factor and had outstripped the late deliveries from Boeing in importance when it came to cancellations. A Dublin aviation source said there had been about two dozen Ryanair flights cancelled in the past two or three weeks.

While other airlines interpret the 900 hours a year rule as applying in any successive 12 calendar months, Ryanair has negotiated an arrangement with the Irish Aviation Authority whereby it has a fixed calendar year from March till April. While this works in the company's favour when recruiting pilots from other airlines who may, in fact, legally exceed the 900 hour rule as a result, it can penalise the airline at the other end of the roster year.

"I've met pilots who have legally worked 1,200 hours in 12 months," said one pilot.

Sources say the situation will improve dramatically for Ryanair on April 1 when the clock is reset for most of its pilots. However Ryanair, in the meantime, is relying heavily on freelance contract pilots and charter airlines to fly some routes. Monarch Airlines is one of the charter companies which is currently flying for Ryanair. A freelance captain was in charge of a Ryanair jet which dramatically aborted a landing at Beauvais last August. The aircraft in question made a dramatic low level turn over the control tower.

Meanwhile, a safety call by a Washington Federal agency has put Ireland's pilot working hours under the spotlight again. Following an investigation into the 2004 crash of a commuter aircraft near Kirksville, Missouri, the National Transportation Safety Board has called for a British-style system of rostering pilots to be introduced in the US. The US system is broadly similar to the one currently applying in Ireland.

The pilots in the Kirksville crash, which killed 11 passengers and two crew, had been on continuous duty for 14 1/2 hours and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which investigated the crash, said fatigue wasa major factor causing thepilots to make serious errors when attempting a landingin the dark. Their plane hit trees and crashed short of the runway.

The NTSB highlighted the fact that US pilots could be given rosters including a combination of very early morning and late night flights which seriously disrupted sleep patterns leaving pilots prone to fatigue. It recommends the British system, which forces airlines to take sleeping habits into account. Although the Irish Aviation Authority takes sleep requirements into account, Irish airlines have more flexibility in demanding that pilots work less congenial hours than their British counterparts.

The UK system is considered to provide a better balance between late night and early morning rosters than the Irish system, said Keith Bill, spokesman for the British Airline Pilots Association.

Meanwhile, in the wake of a series of high profile flying incidents involving Ryanair aircraft, the President of the Irish Airlines Pilots Association, Evan Cullen, has called for a US- and UK-style confidential reporting system for pilots to be introduced in this country by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

This would enable pilots to anonymously notify the IAA of safety lapses and close calls without running the risk of becoming the subject of a formal government investigation or risking disciplinary action by their employer. Such systems have been used successfully to flag safety issues in the US and the UK before they become major problems, Captain Cullen said.

EasyJet Adds 4 New Direct European Routes From Glasgow
15 February 2006
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--easyJet said Wednesday it is adding four new direct European routes from Glasgow. The daily new routes to Alicante, Berlin (Schönefeld) and Malaga, in addition to the weekly Palma flight, will bring the number of destinations served by easyJet to nine and will increase the capacity at its Glasgow base by 19%.

The airline expects to carry almost 300,000 passengers on these routes in the next 12 months.

The daily Glasgow to Berlin service that commences on 3 May is a result of investment from the Scottish Executive, in the form of the route development fund.

easyJet will also benefit from funding, in the form of marketing support, from VisitScotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.

The Glasgow to Alicante and Glasgow to Malaga services both start on 7 July with the Palma flights starting on 20 May.

easyJet says profits on course despite soaring fuel costs

LONDON, Feb 22, 2006 (AFP) - British low-cost airline easyJet said on Wednesday that its first-half losses would be double an initial estimate owing to surging fuel costs, but said it would still meet full-year profit targets.

Investors took the news badly, and easyJet's share price fell by 2.31 percent to 381.0 pence in afternoon London deals. The FTSE 250 index, on which easyJet is listed, eased 0.04 percent to 9,455.00 points.

"Overall, we plan to achieve mid to high single-digit percentage profit growth in the current financial year" to September 30, easyJet chairman Colin Chandler told shareholders at the group's annual general meeting.

In a trading update released the same day, easyJet said it forecast a 50-percent jump in fuel costs during the six months to the end of March, resulting in an additional charge of about 55.0 million pounds (80.5 million euros, 96.0 million dollars).

"Our good performance on reducing costs and increasing ancillary revenues has partially mitigated the increase in fuel, and as a result we anticipate a pre-tax loss of approximately 45 million pounds for the first half of the year," the group said.

That was in line with the airline's full-year guidance and compared to a pre-tax loss of 22 million pounds in the first half of the previous financial year.

Easyjet meanwhile said that group revenue climbed by 14.0 percent to 318.8 million pounds during the three months to the end of December 2005, compared with the first quarter of its previous fiscal year.

Chandler also indicated that the carrier expected a slight reduction in total revenue per seat for the full year to September 2006.

"Lower unit passenger revenues are expected to be partly offset by ancillary revenues, which will improve with double-digit percentage growth supported by a series of new initiatives," Chandler said.

The airline made a pre-tax profit of 68.0 million pounds in the 12 months to September 30, 2005, an increase of 9.0 percent compared with 62.0 million pounds during the previous fiscal year.

EasyJet, whose main rival is the Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair, flies 224 routes between 67 European airports, including in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

EasyJet Launches Online Check-In Service
By JANE WARDELL
23 February 2006

LONDON (AP) - Low-cost European airline easyJet PLC launched Internet check-in for its passengers flying out of Britain on Thursday, a move that echoes the service unveiled by rival Ryanair Holdings PLC last month.

EasyJet said its remote check-in service is available on all routes from London's Gatwick and Stansted airports and Edinburgh in Scotland and is being rolled out across Europe.

Passengers with hand baggage only will be able to bypass queues at the check-in desk at the airports and will need to be at the gate just 15 minutes before departure.

On Wednesday, EasyJet warned Wednesday that a rising fuel bill will result in a larger loss in the first half of the year.

Combining the fuel costs with a seasonally weak first half because of the late timing of Easter, the airline forecast a pretax loss of around 45 million pounds ($78 million; 65 million euroes) for the six months to March 31, compared to a loss of 22 million pounds a year ago.

EasyJet said it expects its fuel bill to increase by around 55 billion pounds ($95 billion; 80 billion euros). EasyJet shares fell 2.2 percent to close at 376.25 pence ($6.59), while Ryanair shares rose 0.7 percent to 7.61 euros ($9.07).

EasyJet said the launch of its Internet check-in followed a trial in early February and the service should be available to 90 percent of easyJet's U.K. passengers by April.

Ryanair announced last month that beginning in mid-March all European Union passengers with just hand luggage will be able to check in online, allowing them to avoid lines at both check-in and the departure gate.

Ryanair's plan also involves penalties for passengers who choose to check luggage into the hold -- they will be charged 2.50 pounds (3.50 euros; $4.30) a bag.

Some full-service carriers already allow passengers to check in online, but this is the first time no-frills operators have ventured down the same route in the highly competitive European short-haul market.

I just flew back from Prague today in one of EasyJet's new A319s. The experience is considerably nicer than on Ryanair's latest B737s. The latest Ryanair planes have leather seats (good) but no seat back pockets and the chairs do not recline. EasyJet planes are more spacious, quieter, and more comfortable. They even give you a free inflight magazine which is surprisingly good. EasyJet is marking a differential between itself and Ryanair with a boast that it flies to the main airport of the great European cities. This is not always true (eg they use Rome Ciampino rather than Fiumicino) but is justified in the case of Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Berlin, Prague, Budapest etc.

Ryanair at top of nation's air pollution league
26 February 2006
The Sunday Independent

RYANAIR'S vast fleet of aircraft could be belching out two to three million tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases across the blue skies of Europe each year, making it one of the largest Irish corporate contributors to global warming and long-lasting environmental damage.

The aviation sector and particularly low-cost carriers have come under increased scrutiny as fears over the effects of global warming and pollution rise. Burning kerosene jet fuel high in the atmosphere has meant that air travel now contributes about 12 per cent of all greenhouse gases, according to scientists.

A report by consultancy firm CE Delft, for the European Commission, suggested that additional charges of between €1.46 to €8.8 per round trip be levied on air passengers. If implemented Ryanair's forecast 100m passengers in 2012 could end up paying out an extra €440m in these eco-charges.

Other industry observers have suggested that emissions credit trading should be introduced, with a cost of up to €22 per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2).

"I don't think it will come in. It would bankrupt BA, Lufthansa and Alitalia," according to Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary. "It's lots of political talk. How are you going to get the Italians to pay €22 per tonne, when none of the African or Russian airlines are doing it."

The Ryanair boss added that any major environmental charge would probably be passed on to passenger fares by all the carriers.

"Is it going to affect the business? I don't think so," he said. "It won't affect the fare differential between Ryanair and British Airways. We'll still grow great guns."

A 2,300 mile round aircraft trip, such as Ryanair's route from Dublin to Krakow in Poland could generate up to 0.42 tonnes of carbon dioxide per passenger, according to research from environmental group Climatecare and British Airways. A full 737-800 with 189 passengers could spew out 79.4 tonnes of CO2 on the journey.

O'Leary dismissed these figures, suggesting that Ryanair's emissions would be as much as 50 per cent less than those produced by British Airways, which has an older fleet, with lower numbers of passengers per plane, although he added that he did not have precise figures relating to the CO2 emissions of his new planes.

However, an environmental audit detailing the green house gas production of the main European low-cost carriers is to be published shortly by industry body ELFA.

Last year Ryanair planes made over 250,000 flights across Europe, according to its annual report. An average 600-mile flight produces up to 0.1 tonnes of CO2 per passenger - roughly the same weight as Irish rugby captain Brian O'Driscoll, according to Climatecare.

Ryanair is set to carry about 40m passengers this year, which could see up to 4m tonnes of the harmful gas created, based on these estimates.

However, Ryanair suggests that its greenhouse gas output is much lower, having spent $7.5bn on new, more efficient Boeing 737-800 jets. These aircraft have cut CO2 emissions by 55 per cent per seat, fuel burn by 45 per cent per seat and noise emissions are also down by 45 per cent per seat, according to company figures. "We'll have the least emissions of any airline on a per passenger basis," according to O'Leary.

Despite these sleek new jets, it has been estimated that at least 2.25m trees would take until 2076 to break down Ryanair's CO2 emissions from last year alone. To rectify that damage in one year, approximately one fifth of the island of Ireland would have to be planted with new trees.

Great news! Istanbul, Marrakech, and Croatia! Wow!!


Easyjet to fly from London to Istanbul, Marrakech, and Croatia this summer
http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/flights/2006/03/easyjet_to_fly_.html

No-frills airline easyJet is poised for its "most significant expansion" for two years, announcing it will begin flights to Morocco, Croatia and Turkey from the summer.

The move takes the low-cost airline into Africa for the first time and increases its foothold in Eastern Europe. It already flies to 18 European countries.

A daily service from Gatwick to Marrakech in Morocco will commence on July 4th, with one-way fares starting at £30.99.

Istanbul will also now be in reach for £30.99, with daily flights from Luton kicking off on June 29. European travellers can also access the Turkish city from Basel in Switzerland for €37.99.

And showing that good things come in threes, a service linking Luton with Rijeka in Croatia will begin on June 30. One-way tickets cost from £25.99, with flights running on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Chief executive Andrew Harrison dubbed the move easyJet's "most significant expansion" since May 2004 - when the low-cost airline started flights to Central and Eastern Europe.

He added: "Croatia, Turkey and Morocco are forging an ever-closer relationship with the UK and Europe. As a consequence, the demand for low-fares to these countries is growing quickly, and easyJet will be in a unique position to benefit from this development."

easyJet claims to be the first major European no-frills operator to offer flights to both Marrakech and Istanbul.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to January 2006:
EasyJet = 30,534,888
Ryanair = 33,865,381

Percentage increase in passengers since January 2005:
EasyJet = 11.2%
Ryanair = 24%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in January 2006:
EasyJet = 74.2%
Ryanair = 74%

Do you have any stats on the profits of the two airlines?

^ Try the "investor relations" sections of their websites.

^ Try the "investor relations" sections of their websites.

Having had a look, Ryanair may be the fastest growing airline in Europe but when you hear Michael O'Leary go on about they are the bigger than BA (perhaps in Europe on passenger numbers) the figures are quite interesting.


British Airways

Turnover - 7.8b GBP
Profit - 540m GBP

Ryanair

Turnover - €370.7m/255.6 GBP
Profit - €36.8m/25.3 GBP

Easyjet

Turnover - 1.3b GBP
Profit - 67.9m GBP

Having had a look, Ryanair may be the fastest growing airline in Europe but when you hear Michael O'Leary go on about they are the bigger than BA (perhaps in Europe on passenger numbers) the figures are quite interesting.


British Airways

Turnover - 7.8b GBP
Profit - 540m GBP

Ryanair

Turnover - €370.7m/255.6 GBP
Profit - €36.8m/25.3 GBP

Easyjet

Turnover - 1.3b GBP
Profit - 67.9m GBPRyanair are about equal to BA in total passenger numbers now (not just Europe). However BA has a much higher turnover and, last year at least, was the most profitable airline in thre world by total profits. However Ryanair has been consistently the world's most profitable airline in recent years and the most profitable relative to turnover by a considerable margin. Your figures there are definitely not accurate for Ryanair. Ryanair is much more profitable than EasyJet and I believe it has a higher turnover too.

airBaltic loses ground at Riga to Ryanair: airport data

RIGA, March 2, 2006 (AFP) - Latvian national carrier airBaltic lost a big chunk of its market share at Riga airport in January and February to Irish lowcost carrier Ryanair, statistics issued Thursday by the airport showed.

airBaltic's share of passengers carried in and out of Riga International Airport fell to 36.0 percent in the first two months of this year from 41.0 percent for the same period last year.

Ryanair, meanwhile, saw its market share soar from 22.7 percent in January and February 2005 to 32.5 percent for the same two months this year, significantly narrowing the gap on airBaltic.

Some 110,545 passengers flew airBaltic out of Riga airport in January and February, with Ryanair's 99,847 passengers nipping at their heels.

The third-biggest airline flying out of Riga was KLM of the Netherlands, but it was far behind airBaltic and Ryanair, with just 4.5 percent of the market, 13,923 passengers, in the first two months this year.

Overall passenger numbers using Riga airport in the first two months the year soared 55 percent compared with the same period last year, to 307,210 passengers.

The airport expects to serve about 2.5 million passengers in 2006, a 33 percent increase from the 1.878 million passengers who used Riga airport last year, when passenger figures were a massive 77 percent higher than in 2004.

Latvia joined the EU on May 1, 2004.

Ryanair are about equal to BA in total passenger numbers now (not just Europe). However BA has a much higher turnover and, last year at least, was the most profitable airline in thre world by total profits. However Ryanair has been consistently the world's most profitable airline in recent years and the most profitable relative to turnover by a considerable margin. Your figures there are definitely not accurate for Ryanair. Ryanair is much more profitable than EasyJet and I believe it has a higher turnover too.

The Ryanair numbers appear to be for a quarter, not a year, but easyJet does have a higher turnover. The claim to be bigger than BA is of course hot air, like many of that awful man's comments.

The Ryanair numbers appear to be for a quarter, not a year, but easyJet does have a higher turnover. The claim to be bigger than BA is of course hot air, like many of that awful man's comments.Ryanair in 2004/5:

- Revenues = €1337m
- Profits = €268.9m

Ryanair really will be bigger than BA by total annual passenger numbers this year or next. They overtook BA in Europe some time ago and carry more passengers over the summer months too. Of course BA remains far larger by passenger km (accounts for the fact tha BA's flights are much longer on average), total revenue, and total profits. I believe Virgin Atlantic is larger by passenger km and turnover too. However Ryanair is widely considered to be the world's most profitable airline because its profits are the highest as a percentage of revenue.

The tickets are on sale now. I just did a search and got quote £55 return to Istanbul including all taxes and fees - and that was in July! :)

EasyJet always had a better route network than Ryanair. Now it's much better:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/EasyJet-route-network.jpg

That is a fine distribution of destinations around European + a little bit further a field.

Although I very rarely use either Ryan Air or EasyJet (since Ryan Air only fly to Cork and Dublin), since they don't fly from Manchester, I'd much much rather Easy Jet started flying from my local airport, not only due to the better destinations servered, but also, they fly to the destinations advertised, unlike 'Prestwick - London' as Ryan Air do.

Booked! £57 including all taxes and fees for return flights with EasyJet from London Luton to Istanbul from the 4th to 11th July. What a steal!! :)

Ryanair February Passenger Growth 22%
3 March 2006
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair Holdings said Friday that it carried 2,592,133 passengers in February 2006, up 22% on the 2,123,896 in February 2005.

In the rolling 12 months ended Feb. 31, 2006 it carried 34,333,618 passengers.

Load factor, the number of passengers as a proportion of the number of seats was 78% in February against 79% last year. The figure was 83% in the rolling 12 months ended Feb. 31, 2006.

Internet sales represented 98% of seat sales compared to 97% in February 2005. In the rolling 12 months ended Feb. 31, 2006 internet sales totalled 98%.

....In the rolling 12 months ended Feb. 31, 2006 it carried 34,333,618 passengers....But there is no February 31st!!

But there is no February 31st!!
Their website press release got the date right : http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=06&month=mar&story=pax-en-030306

:)

Ive noticed Easyjet go to the more main airport than ryanair. example easy will fly to Barcelon El prat(the main one) where as ryanair fly to Gerona, not so main

Ive noticed Easyjet go to the more main airport than ryanair. example easy will fly to Barcelon El prat(the main one) where as ryanair fly to Gerona, not so main
They also fly to Paris CDG, Amsterdam, Köln/Bonn, Hamburg, Pisa, Copenhagen, Munich, Madrid, Bremen... simply better airports, and in general, Easyjet staff has been much friendlier to me, and the planes have been more comfortable. (Airbuses!)

Is Manchester by far and away the largest city and/or air market not served by Easyjet????

how long will that continue?

If easyjet operated from Manchester it would be a disaster for LPL I would have thought. Perhaps the airline feels obliged to help LPL grow epecially as the operating costs are lower for them there.There were rumours of easyjet operating from MAN,anyone know whats going on with this?

Ive noticed Easyjet go to the more main airport than ryanair. example easy will fly to Barcelon El prat(the main one) where as ryanair fly to Gerona, not so mainYes. Barcelona is much more useful than Girona for the city itself but it makes little difference if you want to, say, hire a car and visit the whole region. EasyJet fly to Prague wheras Ryanair fly to the much smaller city of Brno. EasyJet also fly to Budapest wheras Ryanair fly to Balaton. EasyJet go to Amsterdam wheras Ryanair only go to Eindhoven. Ryanair don't fly anywhere convenient for cities like Madrid, Naples, Nice, Lisbon, Munich and Warsaw. On the other hand EasyJet offers fewer routes overall and doesn't fly anywhere in Scandinavia aside from Copenhagen. Ryanair has loads of Scandinavian and Nordic destinations and very impressive connections to provincial cities in SW France, Spain, and Poland.

Is Manchester by far and away the largest city and/or air market not served by Easyjet????

how long will that continue?They do serve the Manchester market from Liverpoool Airport. I believe there are direct bus and train links from Liverpool Airport to central Manchester.

Easyjet has started trials of a scheme to let you on the plane first for a Pounds 5 fee
5 March 2006
The Sunday Times

HERE's a good wheeze for those who want to feel a cut above the hoi polloi when they are travelling on a low-cost airline. Easyjet has started trials of a scheme to let you on the plane first for a Pounds 5 fee. Those willing to fork out the extra cash can avoid the undignified scrum that is normal on most low-cost flights at boarding time. Budget airlines like Easyjet and Ryanair do not allocate seats at check in, meaning it is every person for themselves as soon as the gate opens.

The Pounds 5 fee is being tested on two routes, Luton-Belfast and Luton Athens, and if it is successful it will be adopted across the whole network.

The idea is that it will appeal to business travellers who might want to use the airline but are a bit put off by the unseemly rush for seats.

And it fits nicely with new chief executive Andrew Harrison's goal of doubling the airline's revenue per passenger from Pounds 2 to Pounds 4.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to January 2006:
EasyJet = 30,534,888
Ryanair = 33,865,381

Percentage increase in passengers since January 2005:
EasyJet = 11.2%
Ryanair = 24%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in January 2006:
EasyJet = 74.2%
Ryanair = 74%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to February 2006:
EasyJet = 30,739,609
Ryanair = 34,333,618

Percentage increase in passengers since February 2005:
EasyJet = 16.3%
Ryanair = 22%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in February 2006:
EasyJet = 84.5%
Ryanair = 78%

Easyjet starts more services to French destinations

PARIS, March 7, 2006 (AFP) - Britain's low-cost carrier EasyJet said Tuesday it will start several more services to French destinations in June and July.

The cross-channel flights will be between Luton (north of London) and Bordeaux, Bristol and Toulouse, and Bristol and Marseille.

In addition, summer-only services will begin between Paris and Ajaccio (the main city on the island of Corsica), and between Bristol and La Rochelle.

The company also said February passenger numbers increased 9.4 percent over the same month last year to 2.4 million people. Its planes are now 84 percent full on average.

In 2005, EasyJet transported 30 million passengers.

Ryanair chief admits his airline is not really Irish
13 March 2006
The Guardian

Europe's biggest low-cost airline, Ryanair, has admitted that it is in effect based in Britain, prompting senior regulatory figures to call for it to be brought under the wing of British safety authorities.

The carrier's biggest operational base by far is London's Stansted airport, from where it flies to 88 destinations, compared with 52 from its original hub of Dublin. Yet it is registered in Ireland and regulated by the Irish Aviation Authority, a much smaller body than Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, appeared to acknowledge the discrepancy in a speech to the annual dinner of the Airport Operators' Association last week. He discussed Britain's history of fostering airline competition, which he said had spawned an entrepreneurial culture: "There is a reason why easyJet and Ryanair are effectively based in the UK."

European commission rules state: "No airline can be granted an operating licence by a member state unless its principal base of business and, if any, its registered office are located in that member state."

According to airport operator BAA, Ryanair carried 62% of the 22 million passengers who passed through Stansted in the year to February. Ryanair also has major hubs in Liverpool, Luton and Glasgow. Opinions are divided about whether it can continue to argue that its principal place of business is Ireland.

A top safety regulator at the CAA told the Guardian: "The time is rapidly approaching when we need to look at what is meant by 'substantially established' in the UK in a legal sense."

Regulation in the UK would allow the CAA to oversee Ryanair's crew training, maintenance, aircraft design and the robustness of its finances. It would give the CAA the power to investigate allegations of the kind raised by undercover reporters in a recent Channel Four Dispatches documentary which questioned the quality of Ryanair's training and the competence of security checks at departure gates.

The issue of budget airlines blurring their nationality has come up in "open skies" talks aimed at liberalising aviation between Europe and the US. But Ryanair's contribution to the Irish economy is likely to prompt the Irish government to oppose any attempt to shift the airline's regulation elsewhere.

HUNGARIAN PRESS: Ryanair First Hungary Flight In May
17 March 2006

BUDAPEST (Dow Jones)--The first Hungarian flight of Ireland's Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) will land in Sarmellek, near Lake Balaton, from London May 4, a Ryanair representative Katja Zarobeck said, Magyar Hirlap reports Friday.

Ryanair will fly to Hungary three times a week and the average ticket price will be EUR41. The company plans to fly 40,000 travellers in the first year. U.K. passengers are expected to account for 60% of the total.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.magyarhirlap.hu

O'Leary calls on Ahern to tackle airport dispute
Emmet Oliver
25 March 2006
Irish Times

The chief executive of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, has called on the Taoiseach to intervene in a dispute at Dublin airport concerning online check-in tickets.

Staff at the airport are refusing to co-operate with the Ryanair system which was meant to come into operation last week.

Yesterday Mr O'Leary described the main union at the airport, Siptu, as "headbangers" determined to control the movement of passengers.

"It's not up to a bunch of trade union headbangers to decide who will, and who will not, go through the airport," said Mr O'Leary during a radio interview with RTÉ.

Talks between the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and Siptu representatives were described as "ongoing" last night. If these talks fail to bring a resolution, the issue is due to go to the Labour Relations Commission.

For the new system to work Dublin airport staff have been asked to use a scanner to scan online tickets when presented by customers. However so far this has not happened.

Ryanair hoped to introduce the online check-in facility on the Dublin-Cork route initially, and then offer it on other routes.

Siptu says a range of industrial relations issues precluded the union's members from co-operating at this time.

Dermot O'Loughlin of the Siptu civil aviation branch said members were already dissatisfied with rostering arrangements and were seeking to solve this problem, among others.

Other staff told The Irish Times they were concerned they would become "part-time check-in staff" for Ryanair. However this was rejected yesterday by Mr O'Leary, who said the airport was a victim of "Spanish practices".

Mr O'Leary was also sceptical of hearings at either the Labour Court or the Labour Relations Commission.

"They are presumably going to the Labour Court for more money for doing less work."

Asked could the issue be solved at the Labour Relations Commission, the airline chief said: "We'll be phaffing and fluttering around for months, while the queues in Dublin airport get longer".

He warned that Ryanair would go to the courts if staff did not co-operate with the new system.

"These cossetted trade union members in a semi-State company cannot block progress, simply because they think they can in Bertie's banana land."

Ryanair plane accidentally lands at British military field in Northern Ireland
29 March 2006

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - An airplane contracted by budget carrier Ryanair landed by accident Wednesday at a British military field in Northern Ireland because the pilot believed he was approaching a commercial airport in a nearby city, officials said.

The Airbus A320 was carrying 39 passengers and six crew members from Liverpool, northwest England, to Londonderry, the second-largest city in Northern Ireland. But instead of landing as scheduled at the City of Derry Airport, it touched down at a military strip in Ballykelly, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) to the east.

In a statement, Ryanair Holdings PLC said the aircraft was being operated by another aviation company, Eirjet, on behalf of Ryanair, when it landed at Ballykelly about 2:40 p.m. (1340GMT).

"This incident arose as a result of an error by Eirjet's pilot, who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry Airport," the Ryanair statement said.

"The Eirjet pilot was cleared by air traffic control in City of Derry for a visual approach and mistook the nearby Ballykelly for City of Derry," Ryanair said.

The airline said it notified Ireland's Aviation Authority and Britain's Civil Aviation Authority of the mishap and asked Eirjet "to carry out a full investigation into this matter, as in over seven years of Ryanair flights into City of Derry Airport, and over 20 years of Ryanair-operated flights, such a mistake has never occurred before."

Britain's Ministry of Defense confirmed in a statement that a civilian aircraft had landed at Ballykelly and its pilot was being questioned. While the plane was impounded, its passengers and luggage were transported by bus to Londonderry.

Ryanair fined in Norway for violating customer rights

OSLO, April 2, 2006 (AFP) - Irish budget airline Ryanair has been fined 500,000 Norwegian kroner (76,000 dollars, 63,000 euros) by the Norwegian consumer protection agency for unfair treatment of passengers, NTB news agency reported on Sunday.

The agency said the airline had failed to improve customer care on three points on which Ryanair had previously been warned, NTB said.

In February the agency, backed by consumer groups in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, petitioned Norway's commercial court, the Markedsraadet, over Ryanair's policy of charging high handling fees when refunding unused tickets or transferring tickets between passengers.

The carrier was also criticized for being unclear towards travellers about liability rights if planes are delayed or baggage is destroyed, lost or damaged.

The court had given the airline until mid-March to change its policy.

"Because Ryanair has not taken the steps set out by the Markedsraadet, the Consumer Ombudsman has imposed a 500,000 kroner fine," Bjoern Erik Thon spokesman for the consumer group said.

"If Ryanair fails to pay the fine, we will take the case to court," Thon added.

^That's hilarious! I flew from Oslo late last night. The plane was late arriving, the queue to get our boarding cards turned into a huge crowd, they didn't check our passports, and people were running onto the airplane, pushing others out of the way. Worst pre-flight experience ever!

Split, Bordeaux, and Rimini have been added to the EasyJet empire! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/EasyJetEmpire.jpg

Split: cool. Split is good. Roman palace, good beer, goddess-like women who hate you.

Ryanair plane accidentally lands at British military field in Northern Ireland
29 March 2006

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - An airplane contracted by budget carrier Ryanair landed by accident Wednesday at a British military field in Northern Ireland because the pilot believed he was approaching a commercial airport in a nearby city, officials said.

The Airbus A320 was carrying 39 passengers and six crew members from Liverpool, northwest England, to Londonderry, the second-largest city in Northern Ireland. But instead of landing as scheduled at the City of Derry Airport, it touched down at a military strip in Ballykelly, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) to the east.

In a statement, Ryanair Holdings PLC said the aircraft was being operated by another aviation company, Eirjet, on behalf of Ryanair, when it landed at Ballykelly about 2:40 p.m. (1340GMT).

"This incident arose as a result of an error by Eirjet's pilot, who mistakenly believed he was on a visual approach to City of Derry Airport," the Ryanair statement said.

"The Eirjet pilot was cleared by air traffic control in City of Derry for a visual approach and mistook the nearby Ballykelly for City of Derry," Ryanair said.

The airline said it notified Ireland's Aviation Authority and Britain's Civil Aviation Authority of the mishap and asked Eirjet "to carry out a full investigation into this matter, as in over seven years of Ryanair flights into City of Derry Airport, and over 20 years of Ryanair-operated flights, such a mistake has never occurred before."

Britain's Ministry of Defense confirmed in a statement that a civilian aircraft had landed at Ballykelly and its pilot was being questioned. While the plane was impounded, its passengers and luggage were transported by bus to Londonderry.

Somone with better knowledge than me can explain this....is this an example of Ryanair using an airport with little facilities (including radar!! or at the very least ILS) ..if so not the greatest advert for air safety I have ever heard..... visual approaches as back up not as standard.....what would have happened if it had been low visibility... was air traffic control not aware of the situation!!!!???

disappointing still to see so few destinations in scandinavia catered for, hopefully this will change in the next few years.

Split: cool. Split is good. Roman palace, good beer, goddess-like women who hate you.Why do the "goddess-like women" hate you/us?

disappointing still to see so few destinations in scandinavia catered for, hopefully this will change in the next few years.Ryanair serve loads of Scandinavian destinations:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/RyanairEmpire.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/RyanairEmpireStansted.jpg

Why do the "goddess-like women" hate you/us?

Oooh, just the usual East European melancholic but haughty attitude to men, coupled with traditional catholic sexual morality.

The 6 feet seven Goran Ivanisevic lookalike locals get the same treatment, so it's nothing to worry about.

Probably the most beautiful women anywhere I've been in the world, so far, however.

You're the ladies' man, Spunks - get over there and see if you do any better.

Ryanair serve loads of Scandinavian destinations:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/RyanairEmpire.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/RyanairEmpireStansted.jpg

ryanair...that's the carrier that likes landing their planes at the wrong airport, isn't it? still, this could work in my favour as my principal reason for going to scandinavia (norway) would be to visit lillehammer for the skiing. the closest airport is currently oslo, about 100 miles away.

when's your istanbul excursion, monkey? i was giving serious thought to booking a few days there over the coming easter myself.

when's your istanbul excursion, monkey? i was giving serious thought to booking a few days there over the coming easter myself.4th-11th July. Unfortunately the flights that I paid £57 return for are now going for £132 on the same dates!! (I was thinking of taking my girlfriend along....). EasyJet's Istanbul route doesn't open until 29th June so you won't be able to go this Easter. At such short notice it wouldn't have been much of a saving over British Airways or Turkish Airlines in any case.

Oooh, just the usual East European melancholic but haughty attitude to men, coupled with traditional catholic sexual morality.

The 6 feet seven Goran Ivanisevic lookalike locals get the same treatment, so it's nothing to worry about.

Probably the most beautiful women anywhere I've been in the world, so far, however.

You're the ladies' man, Spunks - get over there and see if you do any better.:laugh:

EasyJet Takes Italian Govt To Crt On Milan-Olbia Route
6 April 2006
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--easyJet said Thursday that it has lodged a formal appeal against the Italian Transport Ministry and the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) over the right to operate the route Milan-Olbia.

The appeal was filed with the regional administrative court in Rome in March.

easyJet has already submitted, a formal complaint against the Italian authorities to the European Commission for anti-competitive behaviour. The European Commission is already assessing the decree and has the power to overrule it, if it is found to be against the EU's Open Skies Agreement.

easyJet announced its intentions to operate from Milan to Olbia in Sardinia, as part of its expanding number of routes at its new base at Milan Malpensa.

In response to this, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) took the unprecedented step of writing to easyJet to request that the airline stopped selling seats on the route, as part of its plans to impose Public Service Obligation (PSO) status on the route.

Under European law, any EU-based airline can offer scheduled flights between any two airports within the E.U. The opening of the market has led to lower prices and more choice for consumers in the past ten years.

Only under very specific circumstances, a PSO status can be imposed on routes where there is no viable commercial operation and a government considers it a "lifeline service".

easyJet launched its first Italian base at Milan Malpensa on 9 March and will operate domestic routes from Milan to Naples, Palermo and Olbia in the coming weeks.

Swedish PM Sues Ryanair Over Newspaper Ad
6 April 2006

STOCKHOLM (AP)--Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson and former Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds have sued Irish-based low-cost airline Ryanair for using their faces in a newspaper advertisement without permission, a government spokeswoman said Thursday.

Persson and Freivalds are demanding 75,000 kronor (about EUR8,000) each in damages for an ad showing their pictures above the text, "Time to flee the country?" government spokeswoman Camila Buzaglo said.

The ad, which touted low fares on international flights, was published in Sweden's major newspaper Feb. 27. At the time, the Social Democratic government was under heavy media pressure to explain perceived shortcomings in its handling of international crises like the 2004 tsunami disaster and the prophet cartoon uproar this year.

Freivalds resigned March 21 after she was accused of lying about her role in the closing of a right-wing Web site that solicited cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The lawsuit filed in the Stockholm District Court claims the ad was insulting and offensive to Persson and Freivalds.

Ryanair's Swedish spokeswoman Lotta Lindquist-Brosjo didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

EasyJet says March passengers up 7.1 pct

LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - British budget airline easyJet carried 2.75 million passengers in March, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, it said on Friday.

EasyJet's load factor, a measure of how efficiently it is filling its planes, was slightly ahead of expectations at 86.3 percent, down from exceptionally high loads of 91.1 percent the year before when Easter fell in March, it said.

EasyJet said its total revenue for the 12 months to the end of March was up 17.7 percent at 1.4 billion pounds ($2.5 billion).

On Wednesday Iceland's FL Group said it had sold its 16.9 percent stake in the airline, making a 140 million euro ($172 million) profit. The group had been rumoured to be considering a bid for easyJet after it raised its stake last year above 16 percent.

Rival low-cost carrier Ryanair said on Wednesday its load factor was 79 percent in March, compared with 80 percent a year earlier, and that it had carried 3 million passengers in the month, up 17 percent from the year before.

British Airways , Europe's third-largest airline, said on Wednesday its March load factor had slipped 0.5 points to 75.2 percent, but its passenger traffic had risen 1.8 percent year on year.

Shares in easyJet closed at 332 pence on Thursday, valuing the group at around 1.3 billion pounds.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to February 2006:
EasyJet = 30,739,609
Ryanair = 34,333,618

Percentage increase in passengers since February 2005:
EasyJet = 16.3%
Ryanair = 22%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in February 2006:
EasyJet = 84.5%
Ryanair = 78%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to March 2006:
EasyJet = 30,921,244
Ryanair = 34,768,813

Percentage increase in passengers since March 2005:
EasyJet = 14.5%
Ryanair = 17%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in March 2006:
EasyJet = 86.3%
Ryanair = 79%

http://www.globalphotos.org/barcelona/20050421/RIMG0497.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/barcelona/20050421/RIMG0507.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/barcelona/20050421/RIMG0508.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/barcelona/20050421/RIMG0499.jpg

Ryanair Hldgs Calls On Polish Govt To Reform Airport Mgmt
11 April 2006
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair Tuesday called on the Polish Government to reform the management of its airports by abolishing rigid centralised tariffs, which place regional airports at a disadvantage and hinders their ability to grow.

Ryanair also called on the Government to open a secondary airport for Warsaw in Modlin, which would significantly increase competition, and lower airfares for all passengers and visitors to Warsaw.

If such reforms are made, Ryanir said Polish consumers would enjoy "massive improvements in low fare access to and from the regions allowing tourism and business to prosper through increased visitor numbers".

Ryanair alone would deliver an increase in traffic from 1.6M to 10M passengers p.a. supporting 10,000 Polish jobs within 5 years.

i see easyjet are opening up new routes (out of gatwick) to marrakech in july. atlas blue already operate cheap fares to morocco, but this will make it more convenient and cheaper. :)

Ryanair to add 9 new routes from Germany's Hahn airport
12 April 2006

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - Budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC said Wednesday that it will add nine new routes from the Hahn airport outside Frankfurt starting Oct. 25.

The Ireland-based airline said it will add flights to Granada and Murcia, Spain; Trieste and Verona, Italy; Krakow and Wroclaw, Poland; Kaunus, Lithuania; and Marrakesh and Fez, Morroco.

Each new route will have three flights a week. In addition to the new routes, the airline said it will increase the number of daily flights to London's Stansted airport from four to six and flights to Oslo, Norway, from once to twice daily.

The airline will also increase to nine the number of Boeing 737-800s it has based at Hahn.

The airport, located 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Frankfurt, is spending about €100 million (US$121 million) to expand its terminal and operations. Nearly 4 million passengers are expected to fly in and out of the airport this year.

Ryanair is Europe's biggest low-fare airline, carrying about 35 million passengers annually.

I'm flying PaddyExpress (Ryanair :D) in two weeks. £15 from Beauvais to Prestwick. Not bad, not bad at all.

How the hell do you get to Beauvais from Paris itself may I ask? :lol:

Flew to Beauvais about 10 years ago with Airtours...must have been a 2hr coach trip to the Hotel on the inner ring road in Paris.... an absolute joke really. Never again.

How do the trading standards office ignore this marketing pap... "Girona (Barcelona)" is another disgrace.

If it were a car you would be buying a different manufacturer with 2 less seats.

How can they mislead to this exent?

rant over

Flew to Beauvais about 10 years ago with Airtours...must have been a 2hr coach trip to the Hotel on the inner ring road in Paris.... an absolute joke really. Never again.

How do the trading standards office ignore this marketing pap... "Girona (Barcelona)" is another disgrace.

If it were a car you would be buying a different manufacturer with 2 less seats.

How can they mislead to this exent?

rant over
I think we're allowed to expect people to do some research themselves, really. And te distance to the airport hasn't stopped these airlines from expanding at all... you'd think that if people really had a big problem with it, they would've found out by now and wouldn't be travelling there anymore.
In quite a few countries they already have to call it Girona (Barcelona) or Skavsta (Stockholm).

Police say no bomb was found on airplane diverted to Scottish airport
By JENNIFER QUINN
12 April 2006

LONDON (AP) - British fighter jets escorted a commercial flight to a Scottish airport Wednesday after a passenger passed the captain a note saying a bomb was onboard, Irish budget airline Ryanair and British police said.

Ryanair Flight FR25 was traveling from Paris Beauvais to Dublin, when it was diverted to Prestwick Airport and escorted by three Royal Air Force jets, one of which was already in the air for a training exercise. Two others were dispatched, Britain's Defense Ministry said.

No bomb was discovered by Army bomb disposal experts who searched the Boeing 737, and 167 passengers and five crew were safely escorted off the plane and questioned at the airport, Strathclyde police said.

Authorities reopened Prestwick, which is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Glasgow, two hours after shutting it down.

A passenger handed a note written on a page of a magazine to the pilot, which claimed a bomb had been hidden underneath a seat on the aircraft, Strathclyde Assistant Chief Constable John Neilson told a news conference.

He said police were working to establish if the passenger had written the note or innocently discovered it.

Neilson said no arrests had been made, but said passengers were being questioned about the incident.

The plane was due to take off from Prestwick bound for Dublin at 10 p.m. (2100GMT) with passengers and crew onboard, said Ryanair spokeswoman Pauline McAllester. She could not confirm if any passengers would remain in Scotland for further questioning.

Following discovery of the note, the lead pilot alerted aviation authorities to divert the plane, said Florence Legrin, a spokeswoman for France's civil aviation authority.

Amateur video footage shown on Britain's Sky News channel showed passengers leaving the aircraft and boarding airport buses.

Experts said bomb threats rarely turn out to be credible.

"Terrorists don't advise the passengers on board that there's a bomb on board. They just blow it up," said Bob Ayers, a security expert from the Chatham House think tank in London.

Bomb threats to planes are not uncommon.

Late last year, an Olympic Airlines flight to Cyprus returned to Athens International Airport after a hoax that suggested a bomb containing anthrax had been hidden on the plane.

Britain's Department of Transport said it could not say how many flights are diverted each year, saying the information could threaten national security.

Ryanair, Pilots Query Police Handling Of Bomb-scare Plane
13 April 2006

DUBLIN (AP)--Budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) and Ireland's pilots association Thursday demanded to know why passengers were kept inside a grounded plane for 2 1/2 hours while U.K. authorities searched it for a possible bomb.

But Scotland's Strathclyde Police defended the decision to keep all 167 passengers and five crew members inside the plane during Wednesday's search of the cabin and baggage by explosives experts and sniffer dogs.

The aircraft was diverted by Royal Air Force jets to Prestwick Airport, west of Glasgow, after a passenger found a written bomb threat in a magazine. The threat turned out to be a hoax and all passengers arrived in Dublin 10 hours late - after each was photographed and interviewed by detectives.

"The decision to keep people on board was as a result of a full risk assessment carried out by Strathclyde Police," the force said in a statement. "At all times the safety and well being of passengers was a priority. If, at any time, an assessment was made that the passengers were in any immediate danger, they would have immediately been evacuated from the aircraft."

Pauline McAlester, a spokeswoman for Ryanair, emphasized the airline's preferred policy would be to get people away from a plane if a bomb was suspected of being on board. "It was at the insistence of the police and security authorities that the passengers remained on board," she said.

Ireland's independent commercial pilots organization pledged to investigate why the Ryanair pilots' reported demands for an immediate evacuation were rebuffed.

"The biggest concern I have is why people were left on that aircraft when there was a perceived threat," said Capt. Evan Collins of Ireland's Airline Pilots Association.

"Pilots have a statutory obligation to protect the safety of their passengers and crew," Collins said. "These pilots wanted to make a decision and were not allowed to do so."

When the flight that originated in Beauvais Airport, near Paris, finally landed shortly before midnight in Dublin, some of the passengers were crying and visibly angry. Among them were more than 70 Irish schoolgirls who had just completed a school trip.

Ryanair Complains ENAC Bans To European Commission
20 April 2006
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair Holdings PLC complained Thursday against ENAC for banning the airline's low fares flights on the Rome (Ciampino) - Alghero route after May 01st.

Ryanair has complained to the European Commission against the abuse of the PSO rules in Italy whereby the operation of some commercially viable routes is being granted exclusively to selected Italian carriers in order to funnel more state aid to these airlines.

Ryanair has also applied to the Administrative Court in Rome to ensure that over 10,000 Italian consumers who are already booked to fly on this route after May 1st are not denied travel because of ENAC's anti-competitive favouritism towards Italian carriers.

Ryanair's Head of Regulatory Affairs & Company Secretary, Jim Callaghan, said: "The Italian Government's attempt to impose a Public Service Obligation on this route is ludicrous. We are confident that the European Commission and the Italian courts will put an end to this anti-competitive and illegal behaviour.

"We are assuring passengers that we will continue to fight for low fares, competition and choice for Italian consumers on the Rome to Alghero route".

EasyJet takes Italy to court over 'ludicrous' ban on flights
22 April 2006
The Independent

EasyJet vowed yesterday to press ahead with legal action against the Italian government after it was prevented from launching a new low-cost route between Milan and Sardinia.

Italy's National Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) refused easy-Jet permission to begin services even though it has already sold 13,000 seats on the route and was due to fly 149 passengers to the Sardinian city of Olbia yesterday on the inaugural flight.

The Italian Transport Ministry blocked easy Jet from starting operations in competition with the Italian carrier Meridiana by designating Milan-Olbia as a "public service obligation" (PSO) route. This gives governments the right to determine which airlines fly the route.

To try to get around the PSO restriction, which applies only to "the transport of passengers for remuneration", easy Jet proposed to operate the route for free, to highlight what it claimed was a "ludicrous" breach of European law. But the Italian authorities also prevented it from flying on this basis.

EasyJet, whose chief executive is Andrew Harrison, had already filed a legal challenge in Rome's administrative court against the Italian government as well as lodging a complaint with the European Commission over what it claims is a flagrant breach of EU law. The court is expected to rule on the case in the next two weeks.

The 149 passengers who turned up yesterday at Milan's Malpensa airport to fly with easyJet were re-directed instead to Meridiana, which had a specially prepared aircraft waiting. They were also offered aEUR100 voucher to fly on another easy Jet route in the future.

Arnaldo Munoz, easyJet's general commercial manager for southern Europe, described the ruling by the Italian authorities as "a clear example of blind bureaucracy". Mr Munoz added: "Not only is the Italian Government's attempt to impose a PSO on this attractive route ludicrous, it goes against every PSO principle and is a clear breach of European law. In order to sustain their untenable position, ENAC is willing to stamp on everything and everyone, and passengers first of all."

EasyJet's starting fare on the Milan-Olbia route was EUR30.99, which it said was far cheaper than the price offered by the monopoly operator Meridiana. A spokeswoman said: "This suppression on free competition only benefits a few high-cost, inefficient, incumbent airlines that receive subsidies. It also continues to promote high fares and hampers tourism in Sardinia."

EasyJet launched its Milan Malpensa base - its first in Italy - in March and also plans to start domestic services to Naples and Palermo in coming weeks.

Ryanair falls as U.S. broker cuts rating on oil woes

DUBLIN, April 25 (Reuters) - Shares in European low-cost airline Ryanair fell as much as 5.2 percent on Monday after a U.S. broker cut its rating on the stock citing the rising cost of jet fuel.

"There are a couple of reasons for the fall," said one Dublin-based trader. "Obviously the price of oil is depressing the whole sector but also Raymond James, the U.S. broker, has downgraded both its rating and its earnings estimate."

Raymond James said earlier it had downgraded shares in Ryanair to an "outperform" from a "strong buy", citing the recent fresh spike in crude oil prices and the likelihood that such prices could be sustained for some time.

The broker also cut its price target on the stock to $56 and lowered its earnings estimate for the company's 2007 business year to $2.26 a share from $2.60.

Shares in the company were 2.5 percent weaker at $47.61 in the United States by 1604 GMT while stock in the Irish-based company closed down 4.9 in Dublin at 6.61 euros having earlier fallen as low as 6.59 euros.

Ryanair is seen as better placed than many airlines to cope with high oil prices thanks to one of the highest operating margins in the industry and a fleet of new, more fuel-efficient Boeing 737-800s.

However, unlike many of its rivals who have locked in cheaper jet fuel prices by purchasing hedging contracts, Ryanair is unhedged and therefore fully exposed to the impact higher oil prices.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to March 2006:
EasyJet = 30,921,244
Ryanair = 34,768,813

Percentage increase in passengers since March 2005:
EasyJet = 14.5%
Ryanair = 17%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in March 2006:
EasyJet = 86.3%
Ryanair = 79%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to April 2006:
EasyJet = 31,331,115
Ryanair = 35,550,967

Percentage increase in passengers since April 2005:
EasyJet = 16.8%
Ryanair = 29%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in April 2006:
EasyJet = 86.4%
Ryanair = 85%

easyJet hit by surging fuel costs as interim pre-tax loss deepens

LONDON, May 3, 2006 (AFP) - British low-cost airline easyJet said on Wednesday that its interim pre-tax loss stood at 40.3 million pounds (59 million euros, 74 million dollars) as it was hit by a spiralling fuel bill amid soaring oil prices and fierce competition.

The figure compared with a loss of 21.6 million pounds at the same stage the previous year. However, it beat easyJet's own forecasts for a loss of 45 million pounds.

Group revenue climbed 13.8 percent to 629.5 million pounds in the six-month period to March 31, 2006, the airline said in an official earnings release.

"Our stronger-than-expected first-half performance and a good Easter provide the basis for an improved full-year outlook," said easyJet chairman Andy Harrison.

"We are conscious that we have a big summer ahead, that the price of oil remains a risk, and we continue to operate in a highly competitive environment."

The airline added that it expected pre-tax profit for the full year to grow by between 10-15 percent compared with 2005.

Ryanair Cancels Rome-Alghero Flights To May 24
3 May 2006

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) is canceling flights between Rome's Ciampino airport and Alghero in Sardinia through to May 24 after the Italian aviation authority refused to allow it to operate these flights.

The Irish budget carrier Wednesday said Enac, or the Italian National Civil Aviation Authority, has stopped these flights by imposing a 'public service obligation', or PSO, on the route. A PSO allows governments to determine which airlines fly routes in order to maintain a service to typically remote destinations.

Ryanair has appealed against the decision and the Administrative Court in Rome is due to hear the appeal May 11. It is likely to take a week for the court to make a decision, said the chief of regulatory affairs Jim Callaghan.

"Under E.U. law there is no justification for a PSO," Callaghan said. The Irish carrier argues there is sufficient commercial demand for travel between Rome and Alghero and the Italian authorities are seeking to protect domestic carriers.

Ryanair said passengers booked on a canceled flight will be entitled to a refund.

Soccer-Ryanair may offer free tickets for goals against England

BERLIN, May 6 (Reuters) - Irish low-cost airline Ryanair could offer free tickets for each goal scored in the World Cup against England, the company's outspoken chief executive Michael O'Leary has told a German newspaper.

"That's something we can envision doing," O'Leary, an Irishman with a flair for publicity and known fondness for soccer and rugby, told weekly Welt am Sonntag.

"100,000 tickets for each goal against England or something like that."

If he proceeds with the plan, O'Leary will have to hope that British passengers, who are responsible for a big portion of Ryanair's revenues, do not abandon the airline. Ireland did not qualify for the World Cup, which starts in Germany on June 9.

Ryanair launches service to Hungarian lake resort

BUDAPEST, May 9, 2006 (AFP) - British budget airline Ryanair Tuesday inaugurated its first service to Hungary, with a new route connecting London to the central European lake resort of Balaton.

The first flight, with 145 on board, departed from London Stansted and landed at the brand new airport of Sarmellek, 183 kilometres (114 miles) southwest of Budapest, near the western tip of central Europe's largest lake.

Hungarian officials are hoping the service, with three flights a week, will boost tourism around the picturesque lake, which for long was the premier summer vacation destination for Hungarians.

Now many travel to Croatian resorts along the Adriatic Sea or to other European destinations using budget airlines, taking away potential tourism revenue from lakeside operators at Balaton.

Besides London, the Sarmellek airport will soon welcome flights from 11 other European destinations and could see passenger numbers top 300,000 annually, according to Agoston Gubicza, director of the airport operator Fly Balaton.

Ryanair opens first operations base in France

MARIGNANE, France, May 10, 2006 (AFP) - The Irish low-budget airline Ryanair announced the establishment here Wednesday of its first operations base in France from which it will offer flights to north Africa and Europe.

The airline will operate from a reconfigured freight terminal that the Marseille-Marignane airport in southern France plans to open in September. The facility, reserved for low-budget carriers and capable of handling six aircraft at once, is expected to receive as many as 3.5 million passengers a year.

Ryanair said that beginning this November it hopes to carry nearly a million passengers a year to 13 destinations in north Africa and Europe, including Fez and Marakesh in Morocco, as well as London, Frankfurt, Rome and Oslo.

The carrier now has 16 bases in Europe. Wednesday's announcement was made by Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary, who said the carrier was in negotiations with 10 other European airports with a view to setting up operations bases.

Ryanair to add 11 new routes out of northern Portugal

LISBON, May 10, 2006 (AFP) - Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, plans to add 11 new routes out of Oporto in northern Portugal over the next two years, the company's sales and marketing manager for Portugal said Wednesday.

The Dublin-based airline will begin four weekly direct flights between Oporto and Marseille in southern France in November, David Gering told the Lusa news agency.

Other routes have not yet been defined but likely candidates are Barcelona, Rome and Madrid as well as cities in Belgium, Britain and Germany, he added.

Ryanair, which began operating out of Oporto in January 2005, currently flies between Oporto and Dublin, Frankfurt, Liverpool, London and Paris.

The average seat occupancy rate of its flights from Oporto is between 75 and 85 percent, one of the highest rates of the European airports which it services, Gering said.

Ryanair also operates a daily flight between the southern Portuguese city of Faro in the tourist centre of Algarve and Dublin and three weekly flights between Faro and Brussels.

The airline reported its highest ever monthly passenger traffic in April, carrying 3.44 million passengers, which was up 29 percent from a year earlier.

Ryanair condemned for misleading advertising

PARIS, May 17, 2006 (AFP) - Irish low-cost airline Ryanair has been ordered to pay 250,000 euros (319,000 dollars) to Air France-KLM for misleading and disparaging advertising that targeted the French-Dutch airline, court documents showed on Wednesday.

Air France-KLM had complained about an advertisement by Ryanair on its website that claimed: "Ryanair.com, 391 percent less expensive than Air France-KLM".

The French-Dutch group also objected to a slogan used by Ryanair of "Making the sky the cheapest place on earth", which was similar to the Air France-KLM slogan of "Making the sky the most beautiful place on earth".

In a judgement by a commercial court in Paris, delivered on May 12 and obtained by AFP, Ryanair was told that "the incriminated price comparison was not objective" and that the slogan was "misleading and therefore constitues unlawful comparative advertising".

The group, known for its aggressive advertising and brash style of its chief executive Michael O'Leary, was also found guilty of misusing the slogan of Air France-KLM which "amounted to acts of denigration".

Ryanair was ordered to pay 250,000 euros in compensation to the group.

The two companies are set to open a new front in their bitter fight for market share.

Ryanair said last Thursday that it had filed a complaint with the EU competition watchdog over alleged illegal aid of 1.0 billion euros given to Air France by the French government.

Air France denounced the statement by Ryanair as "a publicity stunt".

Ryanair inks deal for flights to north Africa

LONDON, May 25, 2006 (AFP) - Irish low-cost airline Ryanair said Thursday that it had signed a five-year agreement with the government of Morocco to fly to the north African country.

The deal will allow the carrier to "develop low-cost air access and tourism to the country from Ryanair's bases throughout Europe," it said in a statement which gave no financial details.

"Ryanair's commitment to establish up to 20 routes and carry close to one million passengers per annum on flights to Morocco is a vote of confidence by the airline in the excellence and attractiveness of Morocco as a destination," deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said in the statement.

The five-year deal covers most of the regional airports in Morocco and begins this month.

Ryanair's chief rival, British no-frills airline easyJet, is to begin flying to the Moroccan holiday resort of Marrakesh in July.

easyJet awaits cabin crew pay decision
By KEVIN DONE
30 May 2006
Financial Times

Easyjet, the low-cost carrier, will learn this week if its 2,000 cabin crew will accept a lower pay offer than its pilots or be balloted on industrial action.

The airline is due to receive the results of a consultative union ballot and an internal staff poll of its cabin crew on a two-year above- inflation pay deal.

The Transport and General Workers Union, which says it represents about 1,400 Easyjet cabin crew, has complained that the internal poll has bypassed the collective bargaining process.

Cabin crew have been offered a pay rise of 3.5 per cent backdated to October 1 for the current financial year to September 30 plus a bonus of 2 per cent. For the second year, it has offered a pay rise of 3 per cent and an "additional bonus opportunity" of 2 per cent, although this is not guaranteed.

The TGWU says the offer is inferior to a recent two-year pay deal agreed by the airline's 1,200 pilots, which includes increases of 6 per cent this year and 4 per cent in 2007. It said the result of its ballot of cabin crew was expected on Thursday.

The offer to pilots was made against the background of a tightening labour market and concerns about a shortage of pilots given surging demand for air travel and growing aircraft fleets especially in China, India and south-east Asia and among low-cost airlines.

Easyjet says it has had no problems hiring pilots for its fleet, which is planned to grow from 109 aircraft at the end of last September to 122 in September this year and to 154 by September 2008.

John Street, the TGWU negotiator for the cabin crew staff, said if the pay offer was rejected and no progress was made in any further talks, another ballot would be held on industrial action.

Any move to strike by cabin crew is unlikely before mid-July when the airline is moving into the busiest and most profitable period.

This month, the airline raised its profits forecast for the current financial year in a show of confidence that it was coping with the latest surge in the oil price.

Andrew Harrison, chief executive, said in early May the group was "disappointed that the TGWU has chosen to stir up unnecessary and damaging speculation on industrial action".

Airline: Passenger carries ammunition on flight between Naples and London
By DAVID STRINGER
30 May 2006

LONDON (AP) - A passenger carried ammunition on board a flight bound for London from Naples on Tuesday before crew members removed him from the plane, a spokeswoman for British-based budget airline easyJet said.

The man -- an elderly Italian -- had mistakenly packed the rounds in his hand luggage, but had been able to pass unnoticed through airport security checks, easyJet spokeswoman Samantha Day said.

He did not have a weapon, but was carrying "several rounds of ammunition," which he produced when challenged by a member of the air crew, she said.

"Clearly we are asking questions of Naples airport and how this man was able to pass through airport security without raising alarm," Day said. "There are serious security issues to be raised."

The flight, bound for London's Stansted airport, was delayed for two hours as security checks were made. Day said the passenger and his wife were removed before the flight took off and questioned by airport security staff.

"The man appeared confused about what had happened. We believe that he simply didn't realize ammunition cannot be packed in hand luggage," Day said.

"But it was only as a result of our staff's actions that this was spotted, we are concerned that airport security checks didn't pick up the problem earlier," she said.

Day said a crew member had "reason to become suspicious" of the passenger and asked to examine his hand luggage shortly after he boarded the flight, while the aircraft remained on the ground.

All 120 passengers were then evacuated as employees made security sweeps, she said.

Easyjet only allows passengers to transport ammunition in an aircraft's hold, sealed in a metal or wooden box, Day said.

She said police had not been called in Italy, but that airport security staff were continuing their inquiry.

Ryanair profits rise despite fuel costs
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
6 June 2006

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Ryanair Holdings PLC, Europe's most rapidly expanding airline, reported a 12.5 percent gain in full-year profits Tuesday despite absorbing higher jet fuel costs.

For the year ended March 31, Ryanair said its net profit rose to 301.5 million euros ($389 million) from 268.1 million euros the year before. Sales rose 28 percent to 1.69 billion euros ($2.18 billion) from 1.32 billion euros. The company did not break out fourth-quarter results.

"This robust performance validates our lowest-fare, lowest-cost model, which continues to grow profitably in Europe even during adverse market conditions, when many of our competitors are reporting losses," Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said.

Fuel costs rose 74 percent to 462 million euros ($596 million), while the company's other operating costs fell 6 percent over the year. The company cited the efficiency of the airline's new Boeing 737-800 aircraft and better deals with airports.

Chief Financial Officer Howard Millar said Ryanair had locked in its fuel supplies from July to October at $70 a barrel, about $2 lower than current prices.

Millar said Ryanair had suffered "a massive jump in our cost base" because of soaring oil prices and wanted to guard against even higher prices. He said the dollar's weakness versus the euro, while oil internationally was priced in dollars, was helping Ryanair.

During the year, Ryanair carried 35 million passengers, up 26 percent, on 330 routes across Europe, while its average price of tickets sold increased 1 percent. The airline plans to open 46 more routes this year, including a new hub in Marseilles, France.

O'Leary forecast that passenger numbers would rise 20 percent to 42 million passengers in the coming fiscal year. He said profits were expected to grow 5 percent to 10 percent, presuming that oil prices stay near $70 a barrel.

Some analysts cautioned that Ryanair profits would suffer if the cost of oil heads higher after October.

"There's a lot of earnings uncertainty, as we don't know what oil prices will be like in the winter, when Ryanair will be unhedged," said Robert Brisbourne of Merrion Stockbrokers in Dublin.

EasyJet May passenger numbers up 15.2 pct

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) - British low-cost airline easyJet Plc said on Wednesday it carried 2.94 million passengers in May, up 15.2 percent from a year earlier.

EasyJet said in a statement that its load factor, a measure of how efficiently it is filling seats, was 83.9 percent in May compared with 84.1 percent a year earlier.

The airline's total revenues for the 12 months to the end of May were up 21 percent to 1.5 billion pounds ($2.8 billion).

"Following strong April revenue results, which benefited from the timing of Easter, the positive performance has continued in May," the company said in a statement.

The airline said last month cost cuts and sales of in-flight drinks and online insurance were expected to offset a hefty fuel bill.

EasyJet, Europe's second-largest budget carrier after Ryanair, said it expected pretax profit growth of between 10 and 15 percent for the year.

Rivals Ryanair and British Airways all reported increased passenger traffic in May.

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to April 2006:
EasyJet = 31,331,115
Ryanair = 35,550,967

Percentage increase in passengers since April 2005:
EasyJet = 16.8%
Ryanair = 29%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in April 2006:
EasyJet = 86.4%
Ryanair = 85%Rolling 12 month passenger totals to May 2006:
EasyJet = 31,718,857
Ryanair = 36,202,141

Percentage increase in passengers since May 2005:
EasyJet = 15.2%
Ryanair = 22%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in May 2006:
EasyJet = 84.2%
Ryanair = 82%

EasyJet unveils Gatwick service
9 June 2006
The Herald

EASYJET has unveiled three new daily flights from Glasgow to Gatwick in a direct challenge to British Airways.

The airline, which launched its empire with budget flights from Scotland to Luton 10 years ago, will offer the first nofrills connections from Glasgow to what is London's biggest holiday airport.

The move will take easyJet's total number of flights between Glasgow and London to 28. The airline already serves Luton and Stansted.

It was given a warm welcome by airport officials yesterday. They have seen domestic traffic flatline in recent months amid increased options for direct international flights and a major improvement in cross-border train services, especially on the now faster West Coast main line.

Malcolm Robertson, a spokesman for BAA Scotland, which runs Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports, said: "There is no doubt the new connections launched by easyJet reflects the confidence the airlines have in domestic services out of Scotland.

"While there clearly is increased competition from the rail industry, we would hope services like these and existing services will make a difference to the domestic figures."

Andy Harrison, easyJet's chief executive, said: "This announcement will strengthen further our position at Glasgow and Gatwick."

Glasgow airport yesterday reported a drop of 0.7per cent, or roughly 30,000 passengers, on domestic routes in the 12 months through May 2006. British Airways has rejigged some of its domestic services during slack low-demand hours of the day.

There was also a dip for Edinburgh Airport, which saw a 3per cent drop in the number of passengers flying to UK destinations in May, to 523,000 from 539,000 in April.

Easyjet scraps Irish routes
Dominic O'Connell
18 June 2006
The Sunday Times

THE low-cost airline Easyjet is set to axe flights on three key routes where it competes head-to-head with Ryanair.

Aviation industry sources say Easyjet is to drop its flights from Gatwick to Shannon, Knock and Cork in Ireland.

The services were started in January last year. Ryanair responded by launching competing services from Gatwick.

Easyjet's decision is significant because the two airlines, the largest low cost carriers in Europe, have to date largely avoided competing directly against each other.

The Irish routes were one of the few areas where both airlines offered services.

An Easyjet spokesman would not confirm the decision yesterday, saying that the future of the services was under review and that they would continue to operate until the end of September.

"We expect to be making an announcement on these services shortly," he said.

But the aviation sources said a recent announcement by Easyjet of other services from Gatwick -extra frequencies to Madrid, Milan, Cologne, Athens, Berlin and Amsterdam, and a new service to Glasgow -had masked the end of the Irish routes.

Meanwhile, Easyjet has been forced to suspend sales of a new flight from Luton to Istanbul. The service was to have started on June 29, but has been put on hold because the Turkish authorities have not granted permission.

Flights within the European Union -which includes most of Easyjet's route network -do not require approval by national governments. But Turkey is not a member of the EU.

The Easyjet spokesman confirmed that the launch of the service had been de- layed because of regulatory difficulties.

Easyjet's chief executive, Andy Harrison, is understood to have flown to Istanbul to press his case with the Turkish government.

The airline has recently enjoyed strong growth in passenger numbers and revenues.

Earlier this month it reported that it carried just short of 3m passengers in May, 15.2% up on the same month a year earlier.

The company has made several moves to attract more business travellers from full-service airlines such as British Airways, including the trial of a premium boarding service, internet check-in and increased cabin baggage allowances.

Gatwick is now the airline's biggest base, ahead of Luton, where it has its head office, and Stansted.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Easy-jet's founder, was yesterday knighted in the Queen's birthday honours for services to aviation.

He joins a select group of aviation knights, including Sir Michael Bishop, chairman of BMI British Midland, Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic, and Sir Rod Eddington, the former chief executive of British Airways.

EU clears French subsidy for Ryanair to start Toulon-London route
23 June 2006

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - EU regulators cleared a French subsidy to low-fare airline Ryanair Holdings PLC on Friday to help it start flying from Toulon to London Stansted -- just weeks after the company complained about government funds paid to rival Air France-KLM.

The owner of Toulon Hyeres airport, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Var, can go ahead and pay 50 percent of the Irish airline's "additional costs" up to a euro500,000 (US$629,000) threshold per year for three years, the European Commission said. The aid may also be extended for an extra two years.

Ryanair has expanded rapidly with its "no-frills" low-fare flights undercutting rivals. It usually flies to smaller regional airports that often offer low charges or subsidize its costs to attract new business.

Regulators said they approved the grant because it met EU guidelines designed to stop government money giving a company an unfair advantage over rivals. It said the French funds would help develop year-round tourism in the region.

Ryanair's rollout of new routes in France has led to a spat with France's flagship airline that has seen it file two antitrust complaints against Air France.

Air France-KLM, the world's largest airline by revenue, has also complained about lower airport fees offered to Ryanair by Marseilles airport to help it serve 13 routes and bring in up to 1 million extra passengers. It said it has appealed to the Council of State, France's highest administrative body, against discriminatory fees.

Ryanair said the French Civil Aviation Authority had cleared the fees, describing the complaint as "the latest in a long line of abuses by Air France to protect their stranglehold on the French market."

It filed a complaint to the European Commission last month regarding approximately euro1 billion (US$1.26 billion) worth of state aid it alleged Air France has received in the form of subsidized domestic landing and passenger fees.

Ryanair is still fighting an EU ruling that ordered it to pay back a euro4.5 million (US$5.66 million) Belgian subsidy to run flights out of Charleroi airport.

In February 2004, EU regulators ruled parts of Ryanair's contract with Charleroi were illegal and ordered the airline to make changes. Charleroi was granting the airline up to 90 percent of its costs over 15 years.

Ryanair is currently appealing the ruling at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Ryanair traffic stats stay solid, shares rise

DUBLIN, July 5 (Reuters) - Ryanair said on Wednesday its flights were 87 percent full in June -- unchanged on last year despite the addition of new routes -- helping boost shares in Europe's biggest budget airline by as much as 4.5 percent.

John Sheehan, analyst at NCB Stockbrokers, said that while the numbers were no great surprise given Ryanair's upbeat outlook for the summer months, they did give investors an excuse to buy a stock that has been little changed in recent weeks.

"The traffic numbers were good but they had been kind of indicated already," said Sheehan. "I think the passenger numbers have also reminded people of the growth story at Ryanair."

Ryanair said its load factor, a measure of how well it is filling planes, was steady in June at 87 percent compared to the same month last year and that it carried 3.67 million passengers in the month, up 23 percent from a year ago.

Shares in Ryanair got a lift following full-year results in early June but have traded in a narrow range around the 7-euro mark for the last three weeks. On Wednesday they were up 3.2 percent at 7.40 euros by 1336 GMT, having earlier hit 7.49 euros, their highest level since mid-April.

"The passenger figures seem to be the main driver," said one Dublin-based trader. "Despite them not being a hell of a lot different from what people expected, the stock price has been very flat of late."

Traders also pointed to an analysis in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that said a number of analysts believe the stock has been unfairly punished by worries over the high oil price and that Ryanair "has the fundamentals to outperform".

"There's a Wall Street Journal article suggesting the strength of Ryanair's model," said one trader. "There's been buying interest on the back of that and people expect U.S. investors to come in on the back of it."

Budget airline easyJet strongly upgrades full-year profit forecast; Shares soar
7 July 2006

LONDON (AP) - Shares in easyJet PLC soared nearly 10 percent Friday after the budget airline sharply upgraded its full-year profit forecast on strong performance across its network.

EasyJet now expects a gain of 40 percent to 50 percent in pretax profit for the year ending Sept. 30, a significant increase on its previous projection of a 10 percent to 15 percent gain.

Chief Executive Andy Harrison said the carrier's new forecast was support by an expected 3 percent to 4 percent rise in passenger revenue per seat over the year.

"To support our busy summer period and fulfill our schedule, we are sub-chartering a limited number of aircraft on a short-term basis," he said.

That decision would allow unit costs excluding fuel to fall by around 3 percent over the year, he added.

EasyJet shares were up 9.3 percent at 427.25 pence ($7.84) on the London Stock Exchange as the airline's stock was upgraded by analysts.

The revised full-year forecast came as easyJet posted a 15.6 percent rise in June passenger traffic to 2.99 million.

"We expected a slowdown from May's revenue growth of 28 percent, but easyJet has done well to stimulate travel during the World Cup," said investment house Dresdner Kleinwort.

EasyJet will release its third-quarter trading update on Aug. 7.