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

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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.

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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?"

[Monkey]

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).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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."

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Source : http://www.pbase.com/toptag/muc&page=all

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'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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by Monkey

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%

[blimey]

Impressive

[Whose Homepage]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

'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!