Ryanair Holdings plc today (Thurs, 2 May) released Apr 2024 traffic stats as follows:

RYANAIR CALLS AGAIN ON URSULA VON DER LEYEN TO PROTECT OVERFLIGHTS AND KEEP EU SKIES OPEN

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (24 Apr) announced cancellations of over 300 flights, due to tomorrow’s French ATC strike on Thursday, 25^th April. This is due to France’s failure to protect overflights during its national air strikes. Even though it’s French ATC that are striking, most disrupted passengers are not flying to/from France but overfly French airspace en route to their destination (e.g., UK – Greece, Spain, Italy). French law unfairly protects domestic flights which means French flights are protected but non-French flights get cancelled. Ryanair again calls on the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to take urgent action to protect overflights, which she has failed to do for the last 5 years. EU citizens’ freedom of movement is being denied by these ATC strikes and we call on passengers to join our campaign by signing our ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition, which has over 2.1m signatures from Europe’s fed up passengers.

Ryanair and its 200m passengers demand that the EU Commission take the following measures in order to protect overflights during French ATC strikes;

1. Protect French overflights by law during ATC strikes as they do in Greece, Italy and Spain
2. Allow Europe’s other ATCs to manage flights over France while French ATC are on strike
3. Mandate that French ATC unions must engage in binding arbitration before calling strikes

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“French air traffic controllers are free to go on strike, that’s their right, but we should be cancelling French flights, not flights leaving Ireland, going to Italy, or flights from Germany to Spain or Scandinavia to Portugal. The European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has failed for 5 years to take any action to protect overflights and the single market for air travel. We’re again calling on her to take action to protect overflights which will eliminate over 90% of these flight cancellations.

In June, we will have European elections, we encourage everyone to vote in these elections and demand your MEP and the European Commission to take action to protect overflights. We can’t have the skies over Europe repeatedly closed because French Air Traffic Controllers are going on strike.

Protect overflights during national ATC strikes, reduce flight cancellations and disruptions and let’s have a better summer for all of Europe’s citizens and visitors.”

Following Ben Gurion International Airport’s decision to re-open low-cost Terminal 1, Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (4 Apr) announced that it will resume operations to/from Tel Aviv from Mon, 3^rd June. The airline will operate 40 flights per week to/from Athens, Bari, Berlin, Budapest, Malta, Milan and Paphos.  

Ryanair flights to/from Tel Aviv are available to book now at ryanair.com.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

“It is great news that Ben Gurion Airport is re-opening Terminal 1, which has enabled Ryanair to resume our Tel Aviv operations from Mon, 3^rd June, with 40 weekly flights to/from key markets such as Cyprus, Germany, Greece, and Italy available to book now at ryanair.com.”

Ryanair, Europe’s no. 1 airline, today (28 Mar) announced that it has purchased 1,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from global energy group, Shell, (enough SAF to fuel over 200 flights from Stansted to Madrid), which will be supplied to the airline at its Stansted Airport base. This purchase follows the MoU agreement made between the companies in 2022, providing Ryanair with unique access to purchase up to 360,000 tonnes of SAF from Shell between 2025 and 2030, which could save up to 900,000 tonnes in CO₂ emissions¹.

Today’s announcement, as part of an event showcasing the tools Ryanair is using to decarbonise, demonstrates Ryanair’s continued commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. Ryanair has already significantly advanced its decarbonisation commitments through its work with Trinity College Dublin in the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre, and by investing heavily in new technology aircraft, including a $22bn investment in its ‘Gamechanger’ fleet, which reduce CO₂ emissions by 16%, and a further $40bn investment for 300 Boeing 737 MAX-10 aircraft which reduce CO₂ emissions by 20% and noise by 50% while carrying 21% more passengers.  

Speaking at Stansted Airport, Ryanair’s Director of Sustainability and Finance, Thomas Fowler said:  

“Ryanair continues to lead the way in sustainable aviation. As demonstrated today at Stansted, by using SAF, the latest engine technologies and electric ground handling equipment, we are making significant investments to decarbonise our operations and achieve our commitments of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and 25% less CO₂ emissions per passenger/km by 2031. Our partners at Shell and MAG are key enablers of these goals, and today’s announcement of Ryanair’s purchase of 1,000 tonnes of SAF from Shell is testament to that. We will continue to work with our partners across the network to make every Ryanair flight as environmentally efficient as possible.”  

  Shell’s GM Aviation Europe and South Africa, Ashleigh McDougall said: 

“Shell is delighted to have started supplying sustainable aviation fuel to Ryanair at Stansted Airport, helping a valued customer reduce emissions on flights from a crucial UK transport hub. Having signed a Memorandum of Understanding to supply SAF to Ryanair in 2022, we’re pleased to see intentions converted into actions as we continue to support our customers on their decarbonisation journeys.”  

¹ based on the lifecycle CO₂ emissions reduction from using neat SAF versus conventional jet being up to 80%

LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH DAVE CALHOUN AND STEPHANIE POPE TO ELIMINATE BOEING DELIVERY DELAYS

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (25 Mar) said it welcomes today’s immediate management changes in the Boeing management team in Seattle. Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead Boeing Commercial Aeroplanes effective today, replacing Stan Deal who has retired. Ryanair believes these changes are necessary and good for Boeing and its customers.

Ryanair looks forward to continuing to work with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and BCA CEO Stephanie Pope to eliminate the Boeing 737 delivery delays, which is slowing Ryanair’s growth through 2024.

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“We welcome these much-needed management changes in Seattle. We look forward to working with Stephanie Pope to accelerate B737 aircraft deliveries to customers, including Ryanair in Europe, for Summer and Autumn 2024. We also look forward to continuing to work with Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and CFO Brian West, and to helping Boeing recover its aircraft deliveries so that Ryanair can continue to grow strongly as Boeing’s no.1 customer here in Europe.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (11 Mar) renewed its partnership with Vistair, a market leading provider of advanced Operational Content Management and Safety Management Systems for the aviation industry, for a further 5 years. As part of this renewed agreement, Ryanair will continue to use Vistair’s industry leading document management system, DocuNet, to streamline the creation, distribution, and maintenance of operational manuals as the airline continues to grow to 800 aircraft and 300 million passengers by 2034.

Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer, Neal McMahon, said:

“We are pleased to announce a 5 year extension to our longstanding partnership with Vistair. As Europe’s No.1 airline, Vistair’s reliable and efficient document management system, DocuNet, has helped us maintain operational efficiency and responsiveness across our vast fleet and complex operations. DocuNet continues to meet our high expectations, contributing to our ongoing strong operational performance ensuring that Ryanair remains at the forefront of operational and compliance standards as we continue to grow to 800 aircraft and 300 million passengers by 2034.”

Dominic Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer at Vistair, added:

“We are delighted to extend our partnership with Ryanair. The renewal of this agreement reflects the trust Ryanair places in Vistair and DocuNet. As Europe’s largest airline group, superior operational performance is paramount. We look forward to continuing to support Ryanair in achieving operational excellence and maintaining the highest standards of compliance.”

In January 2024, Vistair and Comply365 announced their merger creating a leading global provider of compliance, safety and data intelligence technologies serving the aviation, defence, and rail industries.