Ryanair and EasyJet - the world's fastest growing airlines??

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Ryanair says there will be significant jobs cuts at Aer Lingus

DUBLIN, Oct 20, 2006 (AFP) - Ryanair, Europe's largest no-frills carrier, will make significant job cuts at Ireland's former state airline Aer Lingus if its hostile bid is successful, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said Friday.

"If you look at Aer Lingus today they are carrying eight million passengers with 3,500 staff. We are carrying 42.5 million passengers with 3,500 staff.

"By any measure, Aer Lingus continues to be significantly over-manned," O'Leary told RTE state radio.

"There is no doubt in my mind that there will be significant job losses in Aer Lingus if the Ryanair bid is successful because that's one of the ways where we expect to reduce costs and to reduce fares."

He said pilots, cabin crew and engineers were not in danger of losing their jobs because if Ryanair's offer succeeds the plan is to "expand, enhance and upgrade" Aer Lingus operations.

Ryanair currently owns over 19 percent of Aer Lingus and plans to formalise its offer on Monday.

Ryanair launched its 2.80-euros-per-share bid on October 5, valuing Aer Lingus at 1.481 billion euros (1.883 billion dollars) just days after the company was partly privatized.

The bid was rejected by Aer Lingus management, and has also been greeted with hostility from the Irish government, which still holds a stake of over 28 percent, and trade unions.

The Ryanair board made a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange Friday outlining key elements of its offer.

It said that without the Ryanair takeover deal "Aer Lingus will continue to be a small regional European airline which, because of its size and regional nature, is unlikely to be of interest or relevance to the three major European airline groupings".

Isolated as a small regional airline, Ryanair claimed Aer Lingus would continue to be "at the mercy" of the government and trade unions.

It said that in recent years this had meant it lurched from crisis to crisis, incurred substantial cumulative losses, suffered repeated strikes, discouraged successful management and resulted in over 3,000 job losses.

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Ryanair postpones flights from Europe to Morocco

RABAT, Oct 21, 2006 (AFP) - Ryanair, Europe's largest no-frills carrier, said Saturday it had been obliged to postpone the introduction of new flights between European and Moroccan destinations because of EU regulation delays.

It said that flights from Marseille and Frankfurt to Fes, Marrakesh and Oujda would not now start until December 1, though services from Luton, near London, to Fes and Marrakesh, would begin as planned next month.

Ryanair blamed the decision of the European Union to put off until November 17 the signing of an agreement to create a common European airspace which will include Morocco.

It said passengers who had booked seats for before December 1 would be entitled to a ticket exchange or refund.

The company said the flights from Britain came under a separate accord by London and Rabat.

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Irish lawmakers raise air merger concerns with EU

STRASBOURG, France, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Irish members of the European Parliament have expressed their concerns over Ryanair's planned 1.48 billion euro ($1.9 billion) takeover of Aer Lingus to Europe's competition chief.

The lawmakers met European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Wednesday and said afterwards she had shown understanding about their view that the deal could create a new monopoly in flights between Ireland and Britain.

One of the lawmakers, Eoin Ryan, said Kroes had told them that if the review of the proposed takeover falls is handled by Brussels -- as opposed to Dublin -- her staff would look specifically at the impact on Ireland, as well as EU aviation.

A spokesman for Kroes said she had said Brussels would look at the "horizontal effects" of the deal but had not been specific about the scope of the review, should it eventually be handled by regulators in Brussels.

The Irish government has said it wants a competition review of the deal to look at the impact on Irish aviation, as well as the European market as a whole, because it is concerned the merger would effectively create an Irish airline monopoly.

The government owns roughly a quarter of Aer Lingus.

The spokesman, Jonathan Todd, said Kroes had reminded her audience that it remains unclear whether the deal is big enough to be considered in Brussels, or is small enough for it to be reviewed by Ireland's competition authority.

Ryanair, Europe's biggest budget airline, launched a shock bid for Aer Lingus this month.

Lawmaker Ryan, who is a member of the ruling party in Ireland and sits in the Irish national parliament as well as the European Parliament, said he told Kroes the merged airline would control 80 percent of flights between Ireland and Britain.

[hkskyline]

London-bound easyJet plane makes emergency landing in Lisbon

LISBON, Oct 25, 2006 (AFP) - An easyJet flight from southern Portugal to London with 169 passengers on board made an emergency landing Wednesday in Lisbon due to technical problems with the aircraft, an airport official said.

The Boeing 757-200 plane of the British no-frills airline, which departed from Faro, the capital of the Algarve, Portugal's main tourism centre, landed safely at Portela airport at 12:18 p.m. (1218 GMT), said a spokesman for airport management company ANA.

No further details were immediately available.

[Irish Blood English Heart]

Ryanair voted 'the worst airline'
Many passengers are more concerned about legroom than price
Ryanair has been voted the world's least liked airline because of cramped seating, unfriendly staff and delays.

Online travel service TripAdvisor said it polled 4,000 of its users on a range of subjects from airlines and airports, to worries and holiday hotspots.

Ryanair was not the only low-cost carrier singled out for criticism, with Easyjet voted the second worst. British Airways was picked as the best airline.

Ryanair countered that it consistently topped customer-service indicators.

Outspoken

A spokeswoman said that Ryanair expected to carry 42 million people this year, "so we must be doing something right".

Despite its growing business and role in revolutionising the way Europe's air industry has operated, Ryanair has often also proved a controversial company.

Founder and chief executive Michael O'Leary has been an outspoken critic of rivals and the industry, while his staff have previously complained about low wages, overwork and having to pay for their own training and uniforms.

Among the other topics covered in the poll by TripAdvisor, Heathrow was voted the world's worst airport. Changi in Singapore topped the survey.

Travellers were most worried about terrorism, while bird flu and natural disasters were also concerns, TripAdvisor said.

The company identified the hottest emerging holiday hotspots as Pamukkale in Turkey, Parga in Greece, and Ayr on Scotland's west coast.

"Home of the eponymous race course, Ayr can brace itself for a major influx of visitors from around the world next year," TripAdvisor said.

[hkskyline]

I didn't have problems with Ryanair for the many flights I had with them to Dublin, Glasgow, Stockholm, and Berlin. Their FAs are quite friendly. Their planes are not the cleanest they can be, but the longest flight was 2 hours so it's bearable.

[hkskyline]

Aer Lingus accuses takeover suitor Ryanair of making misleading claims
27 October 2006

LONDON (AP) - Takeover target Aer Lingus kept up its fight against Ryanair Holdings PLC on Friday, claiming its suitor had seriously misrepresented its position in a statement designed to bolster its bid.

Ryanair, which earlier this month launched a 1.48 billion euros ($1.9 billion) bid for fellow Irish carrier Aer Lingus Group PLC, said in a statement Thursday that Aer Lingus staff shareholders should accept its offer, based on the money they would receive and reports of possible job cuts.

Ryanair claimed that staff members of Aer Lingus' Employee Share Ownership Trust, which has a 12.6 percent stake in the airline, could expect to get 60,000 euros ($76,300) each by selling their shares in the airline.

Aer Lingus said the statement was "incorrect and seriously misleading," and that its own calculations showed that trust members would receive around 32,500 euros each if they accepted the offer.

Gaining the support of the trust could be the key to winning control of Aer Lingus after the government said it would not sell its 25.35 percent stake. A number of smaller Aer Lingus shareholders are also opposed to the bid.

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EU must determine if Ryanair takeover bid for Aer Lingus falls within its jurisdiction
31 October 2006

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - EU regulators must determine whether Irish low-fare airline Ryanair's bid for rival Aer Lingus falls within its responsibility, an EU spokesman said Tuesday.

The European Commission usually decides on mergers where both companies have more than 250 million euros ($316 million) in sales in Europe, but a national antitrust regulator can take charge if the businesses have two-thirds of their sales in one country.

EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said it was up to Ryanair to decide if EU or national regulators would be responsible for the deal, and the EU would then have to evaluate if that was justified.

"As with any other case notified to it, the commission will now verify and check whether it agrees that this ... has a European dimension," he said.

Irish low-fare airline Ryanair Holdings PLC asked the commission on Monday to approve its 1.48 billion euros ($1.9 billion) hostile takeover bid for fellow Irish carrier Aer Lingus Group PLC.

The commission set a provisional deadline of Dec. 6 to clear the deal but can extend that if it identifies antitrust problems or receives complaints from rivals.

The deal is likely to face careful scrutiny from regulators because the two control over 70 percent of the Irish short-haul market.

Ryanair says it competes directly against Aer Lingus on 17 out of 500 routes but analysts say that number is higher if cities, rather than airports, are used to define routes. Ryanair usually flies to smaller airports farther away from the city destination, using a shuttle bus to connect the two.

If the combination goes ahead, the airlines may be forced to give up takeoff and landing slots at their Dublin hub. Regulators demanded that Air France SA and the Netherlands' KLM give up slots at their home airports of Paris and Amsterdam when they merged in 2004. Lufthansa AG and Swiss also had to make similar concessions last year.

Aer Lingus fiercely opposes the takeover and its major shareholder, the Irish government, has refused to sell its 25 percent stake.

[Irish Blood English Heart]

Having just got back from Dublin I have to say I kinda hope Aer Lingus fights off Ryanair as Dublin Airport would lose a lot of colour if it only had one main airline (it could be held to ransom too), What Aer Lingus need is the abolishment of the stupid rule that means all International flights from Dublin need to be matched from Shannon. It means they cant run a lot of routes that would be very profitable without the stop over.

On another note am flying Ryanair today from Rome, hope its good!

[hcrosskey]

Originally Posted by Irish Blood English Heart

Having just got back from Dublin I have to say I kinda hope Aer Lingus fights off Ryanair as Dublin Airport would lose a lot of colour if it only had one main airline (it could be held to ransom too), What Aer Lingus need is the abolishment of the stupid rule that means all International flights from Dublin need to be matched from Shannon. It means they cant run a lot of routes that would be very profitable without the stop over.

On another note am flying Ryanair today from Rome, hope its good!

The Shannon stop over dates back from when flights between Dublin and the US needed to stop for refueling. I think the agreement was kept on at the insistance of the Irish government after the arrival of longer range planes to keep Shannon Airport operational, open and provide jobs for the region as this part of Ireland was once very poor. As far as i remember the stopover is due to finish 2008. I imagine Aer Lingus will then increase its US destinations as it will be able to operate without the Shannon restrictions and compete with other European airlines.

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by Monkey

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to September 2006:
EasyJet = 32,953,287
Ryanair = 38,885,384

Percentage increase in passengers since September 2005:
EasyJet = 11.5%
Ryanair = 17%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in September 2006:
EasyJet = 84.8%
Ryanair = 86%

Rolling 12 month passenger totals to October 2006:
EasyJet = 33,153,711
Ryanair = 39,591,963

Percentage increase in passengers since October 2005:
EasyJet = 10.9%
Ryanair = 23%

Load factor (ie percentage bums on seats) in October 2006:
EasyJet = 83.2%
Ryanair = 83%

[Caiman]

Fucking cattle-car bastards, I hate Ryanair. What an awful experience flying with those cunts is.

[SmartCity]

Originally Posted by Jon Reid

Fucking cattle-car bastards, I hate Ryanair. What an awful experience flying with those cunts is.

Lol.Your words are best discribed as saying it how it is! You Don't even get a seat number with Ryanair, you get a passenger number!

[Monkey]

If Ryanair are so bad then why are they so damn popular? It's because they give people what they want - low airfares. People vote with feet and their wallets and 40 million have voted Ryanair over the last year....

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Ryanair Raises Stake in Rival Aer Lingus
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK
29 November 2006

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Budget airline Ryanair Holdings PLC has raised its stake in Irish rival Aer Lingus Group PLC to 25.2 percent in a renewed push to take over the recently privatized carrier, Ryanair's broker confirmed Wednesday.

Davy Stockbrokers in Dublin said it purchased nearly 31.8 million Aer Lingus shares Tuesday for about 87.4 million euros ($115.1 million) on behalf of Ryanair, raising the carrier's stake from 19.2 percent to 25.2 percent, or nearly 133.4 million shares.

Trading in Aer Lingus, the former state-owned airline that debuted on the Irish and British exchanges Sept. 27, was exceptionally heavy in the last hour of business Tuesday, when its previously slumping share price surged 0.10 euro cents (13 cents) to 2.75 euros ($3.62).

Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said he understood that Ryanair now owned more than 25 percent of his airline. He conceded this meant Ryanair's interest "isn't going away any time soon," but reiterated Aer Lingus' determination to remain independent.

The raised stake does not markedly improve the chances that Ryanair's bid, launched Oct. 5 at 2.80 euros ($3.69) a share, will reach the minimum 50 percent ownership threshold it requires to succeed. Investors opposed to a buyout control more than 46 percent of Aer Lingus shares.

The anti-Ryanair bloc includes the government, which retained 25.4 percent when it sold off most of its holding; a trust representing more than 4,600 current and former Aer Lingus employees that holds 12.6 percent; pension and investment funds controlled by Aer Lingus pilots that hold more than 4.5 percent; and Irish telecom tycoon Denis O'Brien, who bought a 2.1 stake specifically to complicate Ryanair's campaign.

However, raising its ownership of Aer Lingus above 25 percent will afford Ryanair increased rights to meddle in the key decision-making of its major Irish competitor. Ryanair could wield a blocking vote at extraordinary general meetings, when Aer Lingus chiefs could be seeking shareholder approval to buy airlines, expand route networks or make other strategic decisions to improve its head-to-head competition with Ryanair.

The increased Ryanair stake also makes it even tougher for any other potential suitor, such as British Airways PLC, to mount its own takeover bid for Aer Lingus. British Airways is run by Willie Walsh, who previously oversaw the drastic 2002-05 restructuring of Aer Lingus and tried to persuade the government to accept a management buyout of the Irish flag carrier. Aer Lingus and British Airways also have a code-sharing agreement.

Aer Lingus came close to bankruptcy in 2001 because of a bloated payroll and collapsing business on its key U.S. routes in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Walsh slashed staffing in half, shifted business to lower-fare European destinations and adopted an Internet-based sales system similar to Ryanair's -- a formula that saw Aer Lingus become one of the few profitable state-owned airlines.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary says his company, if successful in acquiring Aer Lingus, would preserve the brand but make the airline much leaner. He says this could mean cutting another 1,000 of the 3,300 current workers -- a key reason why the government, labor unions and Aer Lingus employee shareholders are so hostile to the bid, which offers investors a 27 percent premium on the IPO price.

Shareholders have until Dec. 4 to accept or reject the bid. So far, Ryanair says only 0.12 percent of affected shareholders have returned forms accepting the offer, which becomes valid only if Ryanair can secure a minimum 50 percent. If it fails, Ryanair has until Dec. 8 to decide whether to relaunch a sweetened bid.

Aer Lingus is expected to publish its final arguments against a Ryanair takeover on Friday -- a plan expected to detail its less drastic plans to cut costs and boost efficiencies. European Union competition chiefs are expected to publish their initial findings on the matter next week, although officials in both airlines do not expect the EU to offer any clear-cut views because the current Ryanair bid appears unlikely to succeed.

Shares in Aer Lingus lost their initial gains Wednesday and were flat at 2.75 euros ($3.62) on the Irish Stock Exchange. Ryanair rose 21 euro cents (28 U.S. cents), or 2.2 percent, to 9.65 euros ($12.71).

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Ryanair error nearly led to airplace crash: report

LONDON, Dec 4, 2006 (AFP) - An error by Irish budget airline Ryanair was the root cause for one of its aircraft only "marginally" avoiding a crash, according to the official report on the incident, The Times said in an early edition of its Tuesday newspaper.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737 carrying 144 passengers and crew, was flying from London's Gatwick airport to Knock, in the west of Ireland on March 23.

According to the report, it emerged from a low cloud just 400 feet (122 metres) above the ground, triggering an alarm and forcing the captain to ascend immediately.

Problems arose because several navigational aids at Knock had been switched off while the airport was being upgraded, but despite being informed of the changes six weeks earlier, Ryanair did not pass this information along to its pilots.

Because of that, the pilots programmed the wrong landing approach into the aircraft computer, and had to alter the approach after an air traffic controller pointed out the incorrect input.

The pilots of the aircraft became "so engrossed" in updating the programme that they did not realise that they were descending quickly and were dangerously close to the ground.

Though investigators concluded that the pilots failed to respond quickly enough to the changing circumstances, they said in their report that the root cause of the problem lay with Ryanair's failure to give its pilots the correct information.

The airline was also criticised for only reporting the incident two weeks after it happened, by which point some of the evidence on devices in the cockpit had been over-written.

According to The Times, Ryanair has accepted the safety recommendations made by the investigators.

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Easyjet aims to increase profit per seat -paper

ZURICH, Dec 5 (Reuters) - British low-cost airline easyJet wants to increase profit per seat to 5 pounds ($9.88) from 3.30 pounds, the group's head said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft to be published on Wednesday.

"We want in any case to grow profitably. Our goal is to raise our profit margin slightly... We want to improve the 3.30 profit per seat reached in the last financial year to 5 pounds," Chief Executive Officer Andrew Harrison told the newspaper.

EasyJet said in May it wanted to double its profit per seat by cutting costs and increasing the number of business travellers using the airline.

The airline said last month it would expand its fleet with more Airbus planes, as strong demand offsets high fuel costs.

Harrison reiterated the airline hoped to expand capacity by 15 percent this year.

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Ryanair says it opened six new routes across Europe
13 December 2006

LONDON (AP) - Ryanair Holdings PLC, Europe's largest discount airline, said Wednesday it opened six new routes across Europe from its bases in Barcelona, Bremen, Milan, Pisa, Rome and London's Stansted airport.

The company also it increased the number of flights from its bases at Cork and Shannon in Ireland.

Shares in Ryanair, which operates 438 low-fare routes across Europe, gained 1.4 percent to euro9.63 (US$12.76) in Dublin.

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Tax raid on easyJet's Paris headquarters

PARIS, Dec 14, 2006 (AFP) - French tax and labour inspectors on Thursday carried out a surprise raid at the Paris offices of British no-frills airline easyJet to check for possible breaches of French labour law, officials said.

The operation "was aimed at establishing the judicial status of easyJet's operating base in Orly," the site of Paris's second international airport, "in relation to French labour laws," a transport inspection official said.

Under a government decree adopted in November, low-cost airlines with bases in France have to comply with French labour laws.

Two companies are currently concerned by the ruling -- easyJet and the Irish carrier Ryanair.

Contacted by AFP, an easyJet spokesman said the company "abides by European employment law".

"EasyJet flight personnel are under British contracts, because the company is British, registered in Britain, and their place of work is the aircraft."

"All the suppliers working on the ground at Orly are subcontractors" who fall under French labour law, he said.

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Ryanair stock rises as shareholders endorse long-shot bid to buy rival Aer Lingus
14 December 2006

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Shares in leading European budget airline Ryanair rose Thursday after CEO Michael O'Leary told shareholders that it remained the only logical buyer for rival Irish carrier Aer Lingus.

Ryanair shares rose euro0.35 (US$0.46), or 3.6 percent, to euro9.95 (US$13.09) after O'Leary told an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders that Ryanair was aiming to double its passenger load and profits by 2012 -- and was still determined to acquire the formerly state-controlled Aer Lingus as part of its strategy.

"Let's face it, nobody else is interested in acquiring Aer Lingus," O'Leary told the meeting at a hotel near Dublin airport, the headquarters for both Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

Ryanair said more than 99 percent of its shareholders attending the meeting voted in favor of the takeover bid, which Ryanair launched Oct. 5 barely a week after the Irish government launched an IPO comprising most of its stake in Aer Lingus.

O'Leary also boosted Ryanair shares by pledging that his airline, which normally does not pay dividends to shareholders, would make an exceptional payout by the end of 2007, possibly in the form of a share buyback.

O'Leary said Ryanair also had signed delivery contracts to hedge 18 percent of its aviation fuel costs for the January-March quarter. He did not disclose the price agreed.

Analysts and Ryanair chiefs themselves agree that the Aer Lingus takeover bid appears unlikely to succeed because more than 46 percent of Aer Lingus shareholders -- led by the government and investment funds representing Aer Lingus employees -- are openly opposed to it.

But Ryanair last week extended to Dec. 22 its deadline for shareholders to accept its offer of euro2.80 (US$3.68) a share. The offer is dependent on Ryanair, which currently holds 25.2 percent of Aer Lingus, acquiring at least 50 percent. O'Leary said the prospect of a Ryanair takeover in the short term was "unlikely but not impossible."

Shares in Aer Lingus rose 1 cent Thursday to euro2.75 (US$3.62) on the Irish Stock Exchange.