Ryanair today (20 Dec) welcomed the EU General Court’s rulings that €7bn Covid-19 State aid granted to Air France-KLM in 2020 and €4bn in 2021 was illegal. Ryanair now calls on the European Commission to order France to immediately recover this multi-billion euro illegal State aid package from Air France-KLM and impose adequate remedies to repair at least some of the damage to competition done by this massive State bailout.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

“One of the EU’s greatest achievements is the creation of a true single market for air transport.  The European Commission’s approval of the French State aid to Air France-KLM went against the fundamental principles of EU law, like the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of nationality. Today’s judgments confirm that the Commission must act as a guardian of the level playing field in air transport and cannot sign-off discriminatory State aid issued by national governments. The Court’s intervention is a triumph for fair competition and consumers across the EU. 

The EU Commission’s spineless approach to State aid since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis allowed Member States to write open-ended cheques to their inefficient zombie flag carriers in the name of faded national prestige.

During the Covid-19 pandemic over €40bn in discriminatory State subsidies was gifted to EU flag carriers. The EU General Court has already ruled in other cases concerning Covid-19 State aid that billions of euros in aid received by SAS, Lufthansa and certain Italian airlines were unlawful.

The European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition has still not acted to force recovery of the unlawful aid, nor has it imposed any measures to remedy the damage to competition caused by the Swedish, Danish, German, and Italian governments favouring their local airlines over other EU airlines, in breach of EU law. Today’s judgments underline the need for the European Commission to immediately act to recover these illegal State aid packages and order remedies to restore at least some of the damage done to competition.

Undistorted competition eliminates inefficiency and benefits consumers through low fares and choice. Unjustified subsidies, on the other hand, encourage ineffectiveness and will harm consumers for decades to come.”

RYANAIR CALLS ON EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT TO TAKE ACTION OR RESIGN

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (18 Dec) called on the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to take urgent action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during ATC strikes with passengers facing further unnecessary disruption today due to French ATC strikes.

There has been no action from the EU Commission to date, who continue to ignore over 2 million fed-up EU passengers who have signed Ryanair’s “Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open” petition calling on Ursula von der Leyen to take immediate action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during repeated ATC strikes.

So far in 2023, there have been 67 days of ATC strikes (13 times more than in 2022), forcing airlines to cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK, while France uses Minimum Service Laws to protect French local flights. This is unfair. France (and all other EU states) should protect overflights during ATC strikes as they do in Spain, Italy and Greece and cancel flights to/from the affected State.

Ryanair again calls on Ursula von der Leyen to act on the petition of over 2 million EU passengers as follows;

• Respect the strike rights of ATC unions
• Protect 100% of flights overflying strike-affected countries
• Require 21-day advance notice of ATC strikes
• Require 72-hour advance notice of participation in ATC strikes

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

‘We are still waiting on Ursula von der Leyen to take action to protect EU passengers’ Freedom of Movement by keeping EU skies open by protecting overflights during repeated ATC strikes. It is unacceptable that passengers face more disruption from French ATC strikes again this Mon, (18^thDec) which is the 67^th  day of ATC strikes in 2023 alone.

As a result, even more passengers will have their flights delayed due to this French ATC strike, disrupting millions of EU passengers’ Christmas travel plans despite not even flying to/from France. This is because France unfairly uses Minimum Service Laws to protect French flights while forcing disruption on overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK. We have no problem with French ATC unions exercising their right to strike, but the EU Commission should insist that cancellations due to national French strikes are allocated to French flights, not those overflying France flying to another EU destination.

The EU Commission President continues to ignore over 2m EU citizens who have signed our Protect Passengers – Keep EU Skies Open petition. It is disgraceful that Ursula von der Leyen has failed to act on this petition which Ryanair has delivered directly to the EU Commission offices in both May and Sept last.

EU passengers are sick and tired of suffering unnecessary overflight cancellations during ATC strikes. The EU Commission must now act upon the petition of more than 2m EU passengers’ signatures – there is no excuse for EU passengers not flying to/from the affected member state to bear the burden of national ATC strikes that are completely unrelated to them. Ursula von der Leyen must immediately put a stop to this or answer to the 2m passengers who she has failed to protect, by offering her resignation.”

INDUSTRY-LEADING ROUTE NETWORK, FREQUENCIES, AND FARES FOR CORPORATE TRAVEL

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, has today (15 Dec) announced a ground-breaking new agreement with SAP Concur, the world’s leading brand for travel, expense, and invoice management, to integrate Ryanair’s low fares and unrivalled network of over 3,300 daily flights to over 230 destinations across 36 countries directly with Concur Travel, further expanding access to Ryanair’s fares and network for corporate travellers.

This exciting new partnership means that corporate customers can now access Ryanair’s industry leading low fares, network of key city connections across Europe with regular morning and evening flights to ensure convenient low-cost corporate travel conveniently through the market-leading Concur Travel online booking tool as well as a dedicated Concur TripLink booking flow on Ryanair’s website/app.  

Corporate customers who book Ryanair flights directly through this state-of-the-art travel solution will benefit from significant efficiencies, including automated expense management and the convenience of their booking details being fed into SAP Concur solutions, reducing any unnecessary admin. Through this agreement, registered users will not have to complete Ryanair’s customer verification making their travel experience even more seamless.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“We are pleased to announce our exciting new partnership with SAP Concur, which will enable corporates to access Ryanair’s low fares and industry leading network of 3,300 daily flights across over 230 destinations. Our low fares and high frequency schedules cater perfectly for business travel, saving money and time for businesses.

We look forward to working further with SAP Concur over the coming years as Ryanair continues to grow to carry 300m passengers p.a. by 2034.”

Paul Dear, Regional VP Supplier Services EMEA, SAP Concur added:

“We are happy to be working directly with Ryanair on these initiatives to deliver increased value to our corporate travel and expense customers. Everyone is looking forward to an exciting 2024 with the continued evolution of Concur Travel and new partnership with Ryanair.

These agreements show the Ryanair commitment to business travellers and corporate travel managers. We look forward to a long and successful relationship that delivers real value to the corporate travel community.”

RECORD SUMMER SCHEDULE, NEW TANGIER BASE, 35 NEW ROUTES (INCL. 11 DOMESTICS)

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, has today (13 Dec) announced its biggest ever Summer schedule to Morocco, operating over 1,100 weekly flights across 175 routes, including 35 new routes. As part of this $1.4 billion investment, Ryanair is also proud to announce the arrival of its legendary ultra-low fares on 11 Moroccan domestic routes – boosting internal connectivity and stimulating traffic growth across the Kingdom.

As part of this record Summer 2024 schedule, which will deliver over 5m passengers (+33% growth) to/from, and now within the Kingdom, Ryanair is pleased to announce its 4^th Moroccan base, with 2 new aircraft in Tangier (a US$200m investment), as well as Ryanair’s first flights to Beni-Mellal and Errachidia airports.

Ryanair’s investment in Morocco now exceeds over US$1.4bn in aircraft – supporting over 500 highly paid direct jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers and 1,000’s of support jobs in tourism, delivering economic growth across 12 cities including Rabat, Marrakesh, Fez, Agadir, Tangier, Ouarzazate, and Essaouira.

Ryanair’s S24 Morocco schedule delivers:

• 14 based aircraft (7 Marrakesh, 3 Fez, 2 Agadir and 2 Tangier)
• Over 5m passengers to/from and within the Kingdom (33% growth)
• 175 routes, incl. 35 new routes (24 internat and 11 doms)
• A new 2 aircraft base in Tangier (US$200m inv)
• 2 new airports – Beni Mellal and Errachidia (12 Moroccan airports served)
• 11 new domestic routes from just MAD330 each way
• Over 500 direct highly paid aviation professional jobs

Ryanair DAC’s CEO, Eddie Wilson, said:

“This is a historic day for the partnership between Ryanair and the Kingdom of Morocco. Ryanair is proud to unveil a $1.4bn major investment in Morocco for Summer ’24 which with our biggest Summer schedule delivers more than 5m passengers to/from, and within the Kingdom of Morocco.

This record S24 schedule will see Ryanair operate over 175 routes, launch 35 new routes incl. 11 domestic routes at low fares, which will boost tourism and connectivity within the Kingdom with fares from just MAD330 each way. Ryanair will also open a new 2 aircraft base in Tangier (4^th Morocco base), creating over 60 highly paid aviation jobs in Tangier. This will take Ryanair’s total investment in the Kingdom to over US$1.4bn, employing 500 people directly, and supporting thousands of jobs in the local tourism economy.

Ryanair is also excited this Summer to launch flights to 2 new airports – Beni Mellal and Errachidia. We are confident with the Kingdoms continued support that today will be one of many exciting announcements we will be making together, as Ryanair supports the development of tourism infrastructure in Morocco in advance of the 2030 World Cup – with Ryanair cheering on the Atlas Lions.

Ryanair wishes to thank His Excellency Mr. Aziz Akhannouch Head of Government of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, his Ministers of Transport and Tourism, Mr. Mohammed Abdeljalil and Ms. Fatim-Zahra Ammor, as well as Mr. Adel El-Fakir, CEO of the Moroccan National Tourist Office for their vision and trust in securing this record investment for Morocco. Together we will continue to develop Morocco’s infrastructure, connectivity and tourism, all of which will be underpinned and stimulated by Ryanair’s legendary low fares and industry leading punctuality”.

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (7 Dec) welcomes the judgement of the Irish High Court granting a permanent injunction prohibiting screenscraper Flightbox from breaching the binding Terms of Use of the Ryanair website by using bot technology to unlawfully scrape Ryanair’s website for OTAs.  

Ryanair has long campaigned to protect customers from price gouging by OTAs who continue to dupe unsuspecting consumers by unlawfully scraping Ryanair’s website, including by overcharging for air fares and ancillary services, using fake customer accounts, fake customer payment cards and fake customer emails. This can be hugely detrimental to customers who, apart from being overcharged, cannot access their Ryanair bookings, make the necessary security declarations, access refunds, or receive direct email communications (such as online check-in reminders) from Ryanair. This historical and precedent-setting Court ruling is a major step forward in protecting unsuspecting consumers from being overcharged by OTAs (see table below), and will help to ensure that Ryanair customers always get the lowest fares, the best customer service, and real time email communications.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“We welcome this High Court ruling which established that this screenscraper is bound by the Terms of Use of the Ryanair website, which prohibits screenscraping. Ryanair has been granted a permanent injunction to stop this unlawful screencraping of Ryanair’s data in breach of Ryanair’s Terms of Use. The Ryanair website is the only website authorised to sell Ryanair flights.

OTAs have for years relied upon screenscrapers (such as Flightbox), fake customer accounts, single-use payment cards and fake customer email addresses to make bookings on Ryanair’s website in breach of the Terms of Use. This can cause huge inconvenience and expense to customers as often OTAs not only overcharge for fares, bags and seats, but they also block customers from managing their bookings or receiving important flight updates from Ryanair (such as online check-in reminders).

This historic High Court ruling has reinforced Ryanair’s determination to pursue justice for our customers to ensure they get access to the lowest fares, cannot be overcharged by OTAs, and that they have direct access to manage their bookings and to receive up to date flight information.

Ryanair does not have a commercial relationship with any OTA or screenscraper and we strongly object to OTAs mis-selling our flights and overcharging consumers.  We encourage our customers to book directly with us through ryanair.com or our mobile app.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (19 Nov) called on the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to take urgent action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during the French ATC strike taking place Mon, 20^th Nov.

So far in 2023, there has been 65 days of ATC strikes (over 13 times more than in 2022) forcing airlines to cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK, while France in particular uses Minimum Service Laws to protect French flights. This is unfair. France (and all other EU states) should protect overflights during ATC strikes as they do in Spain, Italy and Greece, and cancel flights to/from the affected State.

Ryanair calls on the EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, to take urgent action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during ATC strikes and calls on passengers to join its call on the EU Commission by signing Ryanair’s “Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open” petition as over 2m fed up passengers have already done.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

‘It is completely unacceptable that there have been 65 days of ATC strikes this year (13 times more than in all of 2022) which have caused the cancellation of thousands of flights at short notice, unfairly disrupting EU passengers’ travel plans. Despite repeated calls on Ursula von der Leyen to protect passengers and overflights during these ATC strikes, she has failed to take any action to do so.

As a result, even more passengers will have their flights cancelled at short notice due to this French ATC strike on Mon, 20^th Nov, despite not even flying to/from France. This is because France unfairly uses Minimum Service Laws to protect French flights while forcing cancellations on overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK. We have no problem with French ATC unions exercising their right to strike, but the EU Commission should insist that cancellations due to French ATC strikes are allocated to French flights, not those overflying France en route to another unrelated EU destination.

EU passengers are sick and tired of suffering unnecessary overflight cancellations during ATC strikes, as evidenced by the 2m EU passenger signatures on our Protect Passengers – Keep EU Skies Open petition calling on Ursula von der Leyen to protect overflights and keep EU skies open during ATC strikes. There is no excuse for EU passengers not flying to/from the affected member state to bear the burden of ATC strikes that are completely unrelated to them and Ursula von der Leyen must immediately put a stop to this or answer to the 2m passengers who she has failed to protect by offering her resignation.”