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Cmon down, we're dealing!

Europe's biggest budget carrier Ryanair (RYAOF) is planning to launch cheap transatlantic flights by 2020.

The airline is in talks with manufacturers over a long-haul fleet. If they secure the aircraft -- likely provided by Boeing (BA) and Airbus (EADSF) -- Ryanair plans to offer budget flights to Europe from up to 14 American cities.

"European consumers want lower cost travel to the U.S.A. and the same for Americans coming to Europe," head of communications Robin Kiely said. "We see it as a logical development in the European market."

Tickets would start at £10 ($15). But don't get too excited by the rock bottom fare: passengers will end up paying much more than that.

Passenger taxes add about $200 to a flight from the U.K. to the U.S. And there are "extras" charged by the airline, such as fees for baggage or reserving a seat.

Like other no-frills carriers, Ryanair drives profits by charging passengers for services not included in the ticket price

Posted by
8889 posts

I would take this with ½Kg of salt. Ryanair has a reputation of B---sh-t advertising. They work on the principle of any publicity is good publicity, and have in the past made statements just to get headlines.
Anyway, 2020 is a long way off.

The European model for budget airlines would not work well for long haul flights. One of the ways they save money is running all of their timetables so planes and crew get back to base within the 8 hour limit. No expensive layovers for crew or planes in distant airports, and no "downtime". Everbody gets home, 2 x 8 hour shifts per day, and 8 hours overnight for maintenance. The crews never get off the aircraft, they are on the plane for the 8 hour shift until they return home!
This limits flights to 4 hours, any longer and they need a second crew to fly the plane back, hotel costs etc.. This is why it is difficult to apply their business model to intercontinental flights.

Posted by
14811 posts

Most of the media was focusing on the $15 fare but Ryanair's finance people said to make money they would need to change their operating model and offer premium economy or even business class seating. The prices for these would still be lower than the competition.

Ryanair still needs to get aircraft and they are hardly known at all in the U.S. except for some who travel to Europe. They claim they have flown 89 million passengers last year but only "thousands" of Americans.

I'll bet they are also closely watching both Norwegian Air and Wow to see how they do on their transatlantic runs.

Posted by
32173 posts

Air Canada has also started a low-cost carrier to some European destinations under the new Air Canada Rouge brand. It's very much a "no frills" model, and just about anything including entertainment is extra cost. That model might work well for short haul flights within Europe, but it's quite another matter to be stuck in an uncomfortable seat with no amenities for a 10 hour international flight.

I've never flown with Rouge but the passenger reviews have been so dismal, it's not likely that I will ever fly with them. I'd rather pay more and get a decent level of comfort for longer flights.

Posted by
4324 posts

it's quite another matter to be stuck in an uncomfortable seat with no amenities for a 10 hour international flight

Good ol' Freddie Laker! And People's Express!

Posted by
7209 posts

"...stuck in an uncomfortable seat with no amenities for a 10 hour international flight" That's not just Ryan Air. That's true for most airlines going most places.

Posted by
32173 posts

Tim,

At least with the regular Air Canada flights, some amenities are provided with the cost of the ticket. Being able to distract myself with movies for a few hours does help. I'm going to try their Premium Economy this year to see how much better that is. Hopefully it's worth the considerable extra cost.

Posted by
23178 posts

Chris beat me to it. I think he has earlier access to BBC. I think Ryanair just does this for the publicity. They claim these flights have been on the board for a number of years and, probably, will continue to be so for many years.

Posted by
32173 posts

Some of the other tactics that RyanAir have considered are.....

  • charging € / £ 1 to use the WC in flight.
  • having some passengers stand during flights and hold on to straps as on a bus (total rubbish as that would never be allowed for safety reasons).
  • dispensing with co-pilots.
  • and finally, one of the most laughable, flying passengers in the hold.

I find these ridiculous publicity stunts to be annoying and these are one of the reasons I won't use RyanAir unless there's absolutely no other option. There are also the issues of being "nickel & dimed" by their pricing schemes and having to use out-of-the-way airports in some cases. I'll continue using easyJet or other airlines such as Vueling whenever possible.