Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Wed, 5 Nov) called on EU President, Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” to urgently reform EU’s broken ATC services, as 33m passengers suffer ATC delays so far this year. This comes as Ryanair released its October ATC Delays League, showing that France, Spain, Germany & the UK are the worst ATCs for delays/cancellations because their Govts fail to ensure their ATC services are properly staffed and managed.

There is no excuse for these worst ATC delays when Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium & Denmark, are all delivering efficient ATC services (without mismanagement or staff shortages) and are responsible for the fewest ATC delays/cancellations in Europe this year.

Ryanair and A4E have repeatedly called for EU ATC reform, but Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” ignores these ATC delays/cancellations. Over 33m passengers have already suffered delays this year. Ryanair calls on all EU passengers to visit the ‘Air Traffic Control Ruined Your Flight’ webpage and demand that Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” take urgent action to reform the EU’s broken ATC by (1) mandatory that national ATC services are fully staffed for the first wave of morning flights or face fines, and (2) the EU Comm must protect overflights during national ATC strikes.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“It is inexcusable that Europe’s worst performing ATCs in France, Spain, Germany and the UK continue to inflict avoidable delays and cancellations on millions of EU citizens every month. Despite warnings, Europe’s ATC performance is not improving, as national providers fail to properly staff and manage their operations.

EU ATC needs reform and its passengers who are paying the price. ATC delays have already disrupted 33m citizens so far this year, with France, Spain, Germany and the UK consistently failing to staff and manage their services properly.

Ursula von der Leyen has done nothing to fix this ATC crisis and EU passengers deserve better. It’s time the Commission took action to end this ATC  chaos and protect EU passengers’ freedom of movement.”

Ryanair today (Tue, 7 Oct) released its Oct OTA Survey, which again exposes OTAs, such as eDreams, Tix & Vola, for overcharging customers up to 176% over Ryanair’s prices. These OTAs, do not have distribution agreements with Ryanair, because they wish to continue overcharging consumers. eDreams is the worst offender, selling a reserved seat that costs just €5.67 on Ryanair.com for €15.67 – almost 3 times the Ryanair price. eDreams is overcharging its unsuspecting customers €27.07 for a 10kg bag which costs just €12.99 on Ryanair, an overcharge of more than double Ryanair’s price. 

Ryanair continues to campaign to protect EU consumers from harmful practices used by OTAs such as eDreams, Tix & Vola. Ryanair urges EU Govts and Consumer Protection Agencies to finally take action, and insist on mandatory price transparency from all OTAs, in line with the transparent pricing being delivered by all Ryanair’s “Approved OTA” partners. Despite repeated warnings, many of Europe’s Consumer Agencies and Govts continue to ignore the consumer harm caused by these overcharging OTAs. It is extraordinary that eDreams – a Spanish OTA – continues to overcharge its unsuspecting Spanish consumers while Spain’s useless Consumer Minister, Pablo Bustinduy fails to take any action to defend or protect his own citizens from overcharging.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“Ryanair’s October OTA survey shows that eDreams, Tix & Vola continue to harm unsuspecting consumers with overcharges of almost 3 times the prices on Ryanair’s website. Despite this evidence of consumer harm, many EU Govts and Consumer Protection Authorities, most notably Spain’s useless Consumer Minister Bustinduy, do nothing to prevent this harm to thousands of Spanish consumers as a result of this overcharging.

Despite this clear overcharging evidence, EU Govts and Consumer Protection Authorities including Spain’s useless Consumer Minister have taken zero action to prevent this overcharging, which continues to harm consumers across Spain and the EU. Ryanair calls on EU Govts and Consumer Protection Agencies to take action to address these OTA overcharges, which are imposing avoidable additional costs for consumers across Europe, and particularly in Spain where eDreams has a large presence.”

ATC CAPACITY SLASHED 50%, DELAYING THOUSANDS OF PASSENGERS

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Fri, 3 Oct) called on EU President, Ursula von “Derlayed-Again”, to urgently reform Europe’s broken ATC system and protect of overflights. This comes as thousands of EU passengers – the vast majority of whom are travelling on overflights – are expected to suffer avoidable flight delays/cancellations due to the Slovenian ATC strike on 6-7 Oct. This is because Slovenia’s minimum service laws do not protect overflights during national ATC strikes, as they do in Italy, Spain, and Greece. As a result, thousands of EU passengers, who are not flying to/from Slovenia but simply overflying Slovenian airspace en route to their destination (e.g., Warsaw to Rome or Athens to Frankfurt, etc. – not Slovenia), will be forced to suffer avoidable delays/cancellations due to national strike that has nothing to do with them.

This is grossly unfair, yet Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” sits in Brussels doing nothing to protect EU passengers or the Single market for air travel. Ryanair is now calling on EU passengers to visit the ‘Air Traffic Control Ruined Your Flight’ webpage and demand that Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” take urgent action to reform the EU’s broken ATC by (1) mandating that national ATC services are fully staffed for the first wave of morning flights or face fines, and (2) protecting overflights (and the Single Market) during national ATC strikes.

Ryanair’s Director of Communications, Jade Kirwan, said:

“It is completely unacceptable that EU passengers not even flying to/from Slovenia but overflying Slovenian airspace en route to their destination (e.g., Warsaw to Rome) are being forced to suffer avoidable flight  delays/cancellations as a result of a Slovenian ATC strike, which has nothing to do with them. This is because Slovenia does not protect overflights during national ATC strikes, like they do in Italy, Spain, and Greece.

Europe’s airlines are united in calling for 2 effective ATC reforms; (1) mandate that national ATC services are fully staffed for the first wave of morning flights or face fines, and (2) protect overflights (and the Single Market) during national ATC strikes. Ryanair calls on Ursula von “Derlayed-Again” to take urgent action to implement these two simple reforms, or step aside and let someone competent do her job.”

RECORD BREAKING SCHEDULE: 31 AIRCRAFT, 120 ROUTES (5 NEW) & 19M PAX P.A.

Ryanair, Europe and Italy’s No.1 airline, today (Thurs, 2 Oct) announced three additional based aircraft – 2 more in Bergamo & 1 in Malpensa – for Winter ’25.  This year’s record-breaking Winter schedule at Milans’ Airports will see a record 31 based aircraft – representing a US$3.1bn invest. – 120 routes (5 new) and will deliver 19m million passengers annually (+4%), supporting over 15,400 jobs across the Lombardy region, further strengthening Ryanair’s position as the leading carrier in Northern Italy.

Building on this record schedule, Ryanair has also added extra flights on almost 40 popular existing routes across Bergamo & Malpensa on both international and vital domestic routes, giving customers throughout Europe and Italy even greater choice at Europe’s lowest fares positioning Milans’ airports as a key gateway for leisure and business travel across the wider Region and Nationwide.

Ryanair’s Milan Winter 2025 schedule will deliver:

• 31 based aircraft (US$3.1bn invest.) – 22 (+2) in Bergamo and 9 (+1) in Malpensa, incl. 8 Next-Gen aircraft.
• 120 total routes (incl. 5 new):
• 80 in Bergamo, incl. incr. freq. on 30 existing routes like Amman, Trapani, Warsaw & the reinstated Pescara.
• 40 in Malpensa, incl. 5 new routes to Bratislava, Gothenburg, Pescara, Warsaw and Plovdiv.
• 23 domestic routes to Milan, incl. increased frequency on 6 routes.
• 400,000 additional low fare seats.
• 19M passengers p.a. (+4%).
• Supp. over 15,400 local jobs in the Lombardy Region, incl. over 900 highly paid aviation jobs.

Ryanair continues to invest and grow across cost competitive regions in Italy, offering lower fares than any other airline. However, the regressive Municipal Tax (incl. the recent €0.50pdp incr. on non-EU flights at Italy’s biggest airports, incl. Bergamo & Malpensa) continues to damage the country’s traffic, tourism, and jobs growth at a time when other EU countries like Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, and Albania have abolished aviation taxes, and reduced airport fees to attract growth. Ryanair calls on the Italian Govt to scrap the Municipal Tax at all Italian airports and follow the lead of the Abruzzo, Calabria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Sicily Regions which have all scrapped the Municipal Tax to deliver growth. If removed, Ryanair will respond with an additional 40 aircraft (+US$4bn invest.), 20m additional annual passengers, 250 new routes – supporting 15,000 additional jobs throughout Italy.

Ryanair DAC CEO, Eddie Wilson, said:

“Ryanair continues to deliver record growth across Italy, investing in key regions like Lombardy. This Winter marks a record-breaking schedule with three additional based aircraft (+2 in Bergamo & +1 in Malpensa), bringing our total Milan fleet to 31 aircraft – a US$3.1bn invest. – operating 120 routes across Bergamo and Malpensa, including 5 new from Malpensa to Bratislava, Gothenburg, Pescara, Warsaw, and Plovdiv, along with increased frequencies on 30 popular Bergamo destinations – incl. Amman, Athens, Agadir, Edinburgh, Trapani & Warsaw, as well as the reinstated Pescara route – underlining our commitment to enhancing both international and domestic low-fare connectivity as well as inbound tourism.

This significant investment underpins our long-term strategy of supporting the growth of Italy’s regional airports, as evidenced by the 19m passengers (+4%) we will deliver in Milan this year – boosting inbound tourism to Lombardy and maintaining year-round international connectivity. We’ve worked closely with the SACBO and SEA teams to make this growth possible – proving that competitive conditions and efficient operations are key to unlocking real growth. Our partnership with Milans’ airports stretches back over two decades and, after years of successful collaboration, we remain committed to continuing to grow in the Region.

To further build on this success and unlock even greater opportunities for Italian aviation, tourism and jobs, Ryanair again calls on the Italian Govt to scrap the Municipal Tax across all Italian airports to stimulate further traffic, tourism, and jobs growth. If removed, Ryanair will respond with an additional 40 aircraft (+US$4bn investment), 20 million additional annual passengers, 250 new routes and 15,000 additional jobs throughout Italy.”

RYANAIR PRIME MEMBERS ENJOY OVER €600 IN SAVINGS

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Tue, 30 Sept) released its exclusive “Prime Member” offer for October, giving members €50 off return flights operating between 4 November to 18 December. This exclusive 48hr sale is available only to Ryanair Prime members, so sign up before this 2-day sale goes live on Wed, 1 October, to save on fares and other Prime Member benefits, like free reserved seats and free travel insurance.

This October Prime Member sale is the seventh monthly seat sale since Ryanair launched its €79 subscriber discount scheme in March, with Prime members accumulating over €600 in savings to date for a 12-month membership cost of just €79. Ryanair’s seventh-monthly seat sales alone saved Prime members €310, four times €79 cost of Prime membership.

Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady said:

“We’re excited to launch our October Prime Member Seat Sale, going live on Wednesday, 1 October for just 48 hours. Prime members can now enjoy an incredible €50 off return flights for travel between Tuesday, 4 November and Thursday, 18 December, the perfect time to escape for a winter getaway or soak up Europe’s Christmas markets.

With Prime, members unlock unbeatable value all year round, from exclusive flight and seat savings to great deals on travel extras, all for just €79 a year. Don’t miss out. Sign up to Prime today and start enjoying the same amazing savings and benefits already loved by thousands of members.”

700 RYANAIR FLIGHTS AND 125,000 RYANAIR PASSENGERS FACING CANCELLATIONS NEXT WEEK

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Fri, 12Sep) called on Commission President Ursula “Von Derlayed-Again” to take urgent action to protect all EU overflights during 2 days of French ATC strikes on 17 / 18 Sept next. Already, Ryanair has been notified that it may be required by French ATC to cancel up to 700 overflights across France over those 2 days, cancelling the flights of more than 125,000 Ryanair passengers. These overflight cancellations would be avoided, if Ursula von der Leyen had taken any action over the last 2 years to separate the upper air space and allow Eurocontrol to manage overflights during national ATC strikes, as Airlines 4 Europe (A4E) has repeatedly called for. President von der Leyen wrongly claims that ATC is a “National Competence”, when overflights are a Single Market Competence, and therefore subject to protection by the EU Commission.

When the Draghi Report was published in Sept 2024, it highlighted the multi-billion cost of ATC inefficiencies and flight delays. Despite promising urgent action on the Draghi Report, Ursula von der Leyen has done nothing over the last 12 months to reform the EU’s broken ATC system. Europe’s airlines are united in calling for 2 effective reforms (1) require that national ATC services are fully staffed for the first wave of morning flights (no action taken) and (2) that the EU Commission protects overflights during national ATC strikes (again no action taken). This would not infringe the right of French Air Traffic Controllers to go on strike, but it would protect those flights that are only flying “over” France on 17 and 18 Sept next.

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:
“As usual, Ursula von der Leyen has done nothing over the last 12 months on the Draghi Report or ATC reform. Europe’s airlines are agreed on 2 simple and effective reforms, namely (1) ensuring that national ATC providers are fully staffed for the first daily wave of departures and (2) protecting overflights during national ATC strikes. President von der Leyen, who talks a lot about efficiency and competitiveness has repeatedly failed to do anything about it. It is not too late for her to stop talking and start doing. She needs now to authorise Eurocontrol to oversee all overflights over France on 17 and 18 of Sept next, so that thousands of European flights and millions of European passengers do not have their flights delayed or cancelled, because a small number of French Air Traffic Controllers wish to go on strike. The French can go on strike, but Europe must protect overflights, which are a Single Market Competence and not a “National Competence” as Ursula von der Leyen repeatedly claims.

Over the last 5 years, President von der Leyen has proven to be useless in promoting competitiveness or efficiency in Europe. Under her leadership European consumers suffer the highest enviro costs (while we exempt non-European airlines from their fair share of Enviro Taxes), the most burdensome regulation and the world’s least efficient ATC services. Thus far she has been useless at delivering ATC reform, and we call on her again today: Protect overflights next week or resign! If you are not willing to protect the Single Market, then return to Germany, to allow somebody competent to deliver efficiency and competitiveness and protect the Single Market for air travel.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Thurs, 11 Sept) announced its partnership agreement with Skyscanner, which guarantees that Skyscanner will now have direct access to Ryanair content, offering customers Ryanair’s low-fare flights to travellers as part of their dynamic product offerings.

This partnership is great news for Skyscanner customers who want to access Ryanair’s low fares, unbeatable choice of 235+ destinations, and impeccable service. Similar to Ryanair’s existing agreements, this new deal ensures that travellers searching for Ryanair flights via Skyscanner will have full price transparency of Ryanair’s flight and ancillary products.

Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady, said:

“We are pleased to announce our partnership agreement with Skyscanner –through this new agreement, Skyscanner customers will be able to search for Ryanair’s low-fare flights with the guarantee of full price transparency. We look forward to working with Skyscanner over the coming months.”

Catriona King, VP of Commercial, Skyscanner, said:

“We aim to give our travellers access to the best prices and widest choice, to take the hassle out of trip planning. Partnering with Ryanair will give our millions of travellers direct access to its vast route network for further travel inspiration and help them explore exciting destinations.”