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Tag: ryanair

  • Ryanair confirmed plans to operate 40% of its normal July flight schedule

    Ryanair confirmed plans to operate 40% of its normal July flight schedule

    Ryanair confirmed plans to operate 40% of its normal July flight schedule, as Spain announced it would remove travel and visitor restrictions from 1 July, mirroring earlier plans announced by Italy, Cyprus, Greece, and Portugal to reopen their hotels and beaches for the key July-Aug family holiday season.

    Ryanair will be offering daily flights from countries in Europe to the key holiday airports of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus from 1 July.

    To celebrate the lifting of these travel restrictions across Europe, Ryanair has launched a seat sale for travel in July & Aug with fares starting from €29.99 one way, but these seats must be booked by midnight Thurs 28 May.

    Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said: ”Ryanair will be offering up to 1,000 daily flights from 1 July, and we have a range of low fare seat sales, perfect for that summer getaway, which we know many parents and their kids will be looking forward to as we move out of lockdown and into the school holidays.”

  • Ryanair reported a full year profit of €1bn

    Ryanair reported a full year profit of €1bn

    Ryanair Holdings reported a full year profit of €1,002m (excl. hedge ineffectiveness), compared to €885m last year.

    Highlights include:

    • Traffic grew 4% to 149m guests.
    • Revenue per guest rose 6% to €57 (2% higher fares & ancillary rev. up 16%).
    • Over 90% of flights arrived on-time (excl. ATC delays).
    • EU’s greenest, cleanest airline (66g CO₂ pax/km).
    • 5 new bases & 390 new routes.
    • Malta Air became 4th Group airline.
    • New digital platform launched with improved, personalised, guest offers.
    • Strong balance sheet & liquidity.

    Sales grew 10% to €8.5bn. Scheduled Revenue, driven by 4% traffic growth to 149m and 2% higher fares, increased by 6% to €5.6bn.

    Covid-19 flight restrictions and aircraft groundings in the 2nd half of March reduced traffic by over 5m in Q4.

    The fuel bill rose 14% (+€335m) to €2.8bn due to higher prices and 4% traffic growth. Ex-fuel unit costs were adversely impacted by a 48% drop in March traffic (-5.2m guests) due to Covid-19 groundings and, as a result, rose by 4% (ahead of the +2% guided). 

    How the group airlines performed

    Buzz increased its fleet to 45 B737s and expanded outside Poland with new bases in Prague and Budapest.

    Lauda underperformed in FY20 with fares lower than expected, due to intense price competition from Lufthansa subsidiaries in its core Austrian and German markets. FY20 traffic, however, grew to 6.4m at high load factors. 

    Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the Lauda fleet has been grounded since 17 March.  With costs running ahead of other Group airlines and Lauda’s main competitor, Austrian Airlines, expected to receive an €800m State Aid bailout, Lauda has had to completely rethink its strategy and significantly lower its growth plans. 

    Failure to agree meaningful cost reductions on 20 May will result in the Vienna A320 base being closed on 30 May with over 300 job losses. Lauda has already abandoned plans to operate a base in Zadar for the Ryanair Group.

    Malta Air, which became the 4th Group airline last summer, grew strongly in FY20.  With a fleet of almost 120 aircraft, it has taken over the Group’s French, German, Italian and Maltese bases.

    Ryanair DAC performed well in FY20 and opened new markets in Armenia, Georgia and Lebanon.

    Its fleet, however, has dropped to 275 B737s as both Buzz and Malta Air took over flight operations for the Group. 

  • Ryanair, to return to 40% of normal flight schedules from July 1st

    Ryanair, to return to 40% of normal flight schedules from July 1st

    Ryanair announced plans to return to 40% of normal flight schedules from Wed 1 July 2020, subject to Government restrictions on intra-EU flights being lifted, and effective public health measures being put in place at airports.

    Ryanair will operate a daily flight schedule of almost 1.000 flights, restoring 90% of its pre-Covid-19 route network.

    Since the Covid-19 flight restrictions in mid-March, Ryanair has been operating a skeleton daily schedule of 30 flights between Ireland, the UK and Europe.

    From July, Ryanair will restart flying from most of its 80 bases across Europe. There will be fewer daily/weekly frequencies on trunk routes, as Ryanair works to restore some services on the widest number of routes, rather than operating high frequency services on a small number.

    Ryanair, new health measures

    Ryanair released a return to flying video, encouraging passengers to observe effective health measures to limit the Covid-19 virus.

    These include fewer checked bags, check in online, downloading boarding pass to the passenger smart phone, as well as undergoing temperature checks at airport entry and wearing face masks/coverings at all times in the terminal and on board aircraft.

    All Ryanair aircraft are fitted with HEPA air filters (similar to those used in critical hospital wards) and all aircraft interior surfaces are disinfected every night with chemicals, which are effective for over 24 hours.

    While temperature checks and face masks/coverings are the cornerstone of this healthy return to service, social distancing at airports and onboard aircraft will be encouraged where it is possible.

    On board its aircraft, Ryanair cabin crew will wear face masks/coverings and a limited inflight service will be offered of pre-packaged snacks and drinks, but no cash sales. All onboard transactions will be cashless. Queuing for toilets will also be prohibited on board although toilet access will be made available to individual passengers upon request. Ryanair encourages passengers to regularly hand wash and use hand sanitizers in airport terminals.

    As a temporary further public health measure, while EU States emerge from their respective Covid-19 lockdowns, Ryanair will require all passengers flying in July & Aug to fill in details (at the point of check in) of how long their planned visit will be, and also their address while visiting another EU country, and this contact information will be provided to EU Governments to help them to monitor any isolation regulations they require of visitors on intra-EU flights.

  • Ryanair added Bucharest to Stansted route to the current limited flight schedule

    Ryanair added Bucharest to Stansted route to the current limited flight schedule

    Ryanair added its Bucharest to London Stansted route to its current limited flight schedule, which will operate with 3 weekly services from May 15th.

    Ryanair’s Olga Pawlonka said: ”We are pleased to add this route connecting Bucharest and London Stansted with 3 weekly services from May 15th, as we work with EU Governments to try to keep some minimum flight links open for emergency reasons, even though the passenger loads on these flights is very low. Our current limited schedule continues to maintain vital links across Europe to facilitate our passengers and their families to deal with emergencies that may require urgent travel over the coming days and weeks.”

    As most EU countries have imposed flight bans or other restrictions, over 99% of Ryanair’s aircraft are grounded for the coming weeks. Ryanair will comply with these restrictions at all times.

    Ryanair is working with EU Governments to try to keep some minimum flight links open for emergency reasons, even though the passenger loads on these flights is very low. This limited schedule will now be extended to May 28th.

    Ryanair is operating these flights, daily or weekly, on the following routes

    To/From the UK
    London (STN) – Bucharest
    London (STN) – Sofia
    London (STN) – Porto
    London (STN) – Dublin
    London (LGW) – Dublin
    Birmingham – Dublin
    Edinburgh – Dublin
    Bristol – Dublin
    Glasgow – Dublin
    Manchester – Dublin
    London (STN) – Eindhoven
    London (STN) – Lisbon
    London (STN) – Cork
    London (STN) – Berlin
    London (STN) – Budapest
    To/From Ireland
    Dublin – London (STN)
    Dublin – London (LGW)
    Dublin – Birmingham
    Dublin – Bristol
    Dublin – Edinburgh 
    Dublin – Glasgow
    Dublin – Manchester
    Dublin – Amsterdam
    Dublin – Brussels
    Dublin – Berlin
    Dublin – Lisbon
    Dublin – Cologne
    Cork    – London (STN)

  • Ryanair to operate less than 1% of its scheduled flying till June 2020

    Ryanair to operate less than 1% of its scheduled flying till June 2020

    • Due to Continent wide EU Government flight restrictions, Ryanair expects to operate less than 1% of its scheduled flying program in Apr, May & June 2020.
    • Q1 traffic of less than 150,000 passengers will be 99.5% behind the Q1 budget of 42.4m passengers.

    While some return to flight services is expected in the second (July-Sept) quarter, Ryanair expects to carry no more than 50% of its original traffic target of 44.6m in Q2.

    For the full year ended March 2021, Ryanair now expects to carry less than 100m passengers, more than 35% below its original 154m target.

    When scheduled flights return in Europe, sometime in July, Ryanair believes it will take some time for passenger volumes to return. Consumer confidence will be impacted by public health restrictions, such as temperature checks at airports and face coverings for passengers and staff on board aircraft.

    Ryanair expects traffic on reduced flight schedules will be stimulated by significant price discounting, and below cost selling from flag carriers with huge State Aid war chests (or nationalisation in the case of Alitalia).

    These lower fares will require aggressive airport price incentives to encourage passengers to travel, and Ryanair continues to call on EU Govts to cut passenger taxes, airport taxes, and departure taxes on an industry wide basis as a better alternative to selective State Aid “doping” for flag carriers.

    Fleet Review

    Ryanair is now reviewing its growth plans, and aircraft orders.

    They are in active negotiations with both Boeing, and Laudamotion’s A320 lessors to cut the number of planned aircraft deliveries over the next 24 months, which could reduce our capex commitments, to more accurately reflect a slower and more distorted EU air travel market in a post Covid-19 world.

    3,000 job cuts and pay cuts

    As a direct result of the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis, the grounding of all flights from mid-March until at least July, and the distorted State Aid landscape in Europe, Ryanair expects the recovery of passenger demand and pricing (to 2019 levels) will take at least 2 years, until summer 2022 at the earliest.

    The Ryanair Airlines will shortly notify their trade unions about its restructuring and job loss program, which will commence from July 2020.

    These plans will be subject to consultation but will affect all Ryanair Airlines, and may result in the loss of up to 3.000 mainly pilot and cabin crew jobs, unpaid leave, and pay cuts of up to 20%, and the closure of a number of aircraft bases across Europe until traffic recovers.

    Job cuts and pay cuts will also be extended to Head Office and Back Office teams. Group CEO Michael O’Leary, whose pay was cut by 50% for April and May, has now agreed to extend this 50% pay cut for the remainder of the financial year to March 2021.  

    Unprecedented volumes of State Aid from some EU Governments

    The competitive landscape in Europe will be distorted by unprecedented volumes of State Aid from some EU Governments to their “national” airlines.

    Currently this amounts to over €30 billion – in addition to payroll supports – mainly to the Lufthansa Group, Air France-KLM, Alitalia, SAS, and Norwegian. All this State Aid is in breach of EU rules, and will distort Europe’s level playing field in airline competition for many years.

    Ryanair will challenge these unlawful State Aid bailouts in the EU Courts to protect fair competition in Europe’s aviation market, which has done so much to lower fares for consumers over the last 20 years.

    Ryanair has repeatedly called for any State Aid to be transparent and non-discriminatory, such as payroll support schemes. This could, for example in Germany, have involved cutting departure taxes or reducing airport taxes in France, which would have benefited all airlines and passengers equally and not just favoured the local flag carrier.

    In France, the State is refunding aviation taxes but only to “French” airlines where all other EU airlines flying in France (such as Ryanair, EasyJet & BA) must still pay these taxes. This bailout discrimination is clearly in breach of State Aid and competition rules.

  • Ryanair reveals top 10 most popular proposal spots in Europe

    Ryanair reveals top 10 most popular proposal spots in Europe

    Ryanair revealed that London Eye is the most popular marriage proposal location in Europe. The iconic observation wheel with 360-degree views over the UK’s capital, topped Ryanair’s list of „The 10 Most Popular Proposal Spots in Europe” – voted by over 5,000 of Ryanair’s customers in the lead up to St. Valentine’s Day.

    Juliet’s Balcony in Verona, home of Shakespeare’s tragic love story, took 2nd place while Seville’s Plaza De España, where movies such as Star Wars and Lawrence of Arabia were shot, took 3rd place in the list of most popular spots in Europe to pop the question.

    The list featured some old favourite spots such as the Eiffel Tower and the Spanish Steps in Rome but also some new and emerging locations such as Germany’s Schwerin Castle and the Charles Bridge in Prague.

    RYANAIR’S TOP 10 PROPOSAL SPOT’S
    The London Eye, London, UK
    Juliet’s Balcony, Verona, Italy 
    Plaza de España, Seville, Spain
    Schwerin Castle, Schwerin, Germany 
    Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
    Oia, Santorini, Greece
    Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic
    The Canals of Venice, Venice, Italy 
    The Spanish Steps, Rome, Italy
    Cliffs of Moher, Clare, Ireland

    Ryanair’s Alejandra Ruiz said: ”With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we asked our customers across Europe to choose the most romantic proposal spot in Europe and we are pleased to reveal the London Eye as Europe’s No. “Eye do” hotspot! Our list of the 10 most popular proposal spots features castles, cliffs and even some clichés so there’s plenty of inspiration for a proposal popping weekend getaway!”

  • 93% of Ryanair flights arrived on time in January

    93% of Ryanair flights arrived on time in January

    • 93% of January flights arrived on-time (up from 89% January 2019) excl. ATC delays;
    • ATC staff shortages delayed 1,975 Ryanair flights in January (3%).

    Ryanair also released its January ‘Rate My Flight’ customer experience scores, which show 89% of over 104,000 respondents rated their flight ‘Excellent/Very Good/Good’, with high ratings for crew friendliness (93%), onboard service (91%), range of food & drink (85%), and boarding (85%).

    Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: ”Ryanair Group Airlines carried over 10.8m customers in January with over 93% of our 62,000 flights arriving on-time excl. ATC delays. While these ATC delays improved significantly in January, there is still a needless impact on our punctuality – with France, Germany and Portugal as the worst affected countries. However, our industry-leading performance continues with improved year-on-year punctuality.”

    Mr. Jacobs added: ”We’re satisfied that 89% of customers surveyed (over 104,000) rated their Ryanair flight in January as ‘Excellent/Very Good /Good’ using Ryanair’s Rate My Flight feature, which allows all customers to provide real-time reviews of their flights via the Ryanair app and email. We welcome this feedback, which encourages us to continuously improve our customer service.”

  • Ryanair: A new Bucharest route to Edinburgh

    Ryanair: A new Bucharest route to Edinburgh

    Ryanair announced a new Bucharest route to Edinburgh, with a three times weekly service commencing in November 2019, as part of Ryanair’s extended Bucharest winter 2019 schedule.

    Customers in Bucharest can now book their holidays to Edinburgh as far out as March 2020, enjoying even lower fares and Ryanair’s customer care improvements.

    To celebrate Ryanair’s continued expansion in Central and Eastern Europe, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from just €22.99 for travel until the end of October 2019, which must be booked by midnight Saturday (10 Aug), only on the Ryanair.com website.