Ryanair today (13th Sept) rejected false claims made by Belgian union CNE that strike action by its small minority of cabin crew on the 28th September would cause “travel chaos”.
Ryanair pointed to its experience during previous strikes which included five days of strikes by less than 25% of its Irish pilots this summer, and on each of those days, Ryanair completed 280 of its 300 flights to/from Ireland, because over 75% of its Irish pilots continued to work normally. In total yesterday Ryanair operated over 2,200 flights and carried over 380,000 customers with no “chaos”.
Yesterday in Germany, despite a strike by pilots and cabin crew, over 70% of Ryanair’s German based pilots and cabin crew reported for work and Ryanair completed over 250 of its daily schedule of 400 flights, because 150 flights had been pre-cancelled on Tuesday 11th with the small group of affected passengers being reaccommodated and/or refunded.
Ryanair expects that even if there is another limited cabin crew strike on 28th September, the vast majority of its cabin crew across Europe will work as normal. It also expects a significant majority of its cabin crew in Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal will also work normally, as they have during previous strikes, and accordingly there will not be any “travel chaos” or “widespread disruptions”.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:
“Repeated false claims made by these unions about “travel chaos” have proven to be unfounded. While we regret the limited strike actions that have taken place this summer, in all cases we have judiciously pre-cancelled a small number of our 2,500 daily flights in order to minimise customer disruption and inconvenience.
We object to these lurid and inaccurate press headlines which wrongly refer to “travel chaos”, despite the fact that during the seven days of partial strikes by a small minority of our pilots and cabin crew this summer, there has been very little disruption and absolutely no “chaos”.
If there is a further unsuccessful cabin crew strike on the 28th Sept next then, as we demonstrated in Germany yesterday, Ryanair will pre-advise customers of a small number of flight cancellations, and the overwhelming majority of Ryanair’s flights and services that day will operate as normal, and we will carry the overwhelming majority of the 400,000 passengers who will be scheduled to fly with us that day.”
23 New Routes (180 Total), 26m Customers P.A. (Up 5%)
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (12 Sep) launched its biggest ever London S 2019 schedule, with 23 new routes (over 180 in total), which will deliver 26m customers p.a. through Ryanair’s 4 London airports – Stansted, Luton, Southend and Gatwick.
Ryanair’s London S19 schedule will deliver:
– A new 3 aircraft base at Southend
– 2 more aircraft at Luton (6 in total)
– 23 new routes including:
> 3 at Stansted: Kiev, Lviv & Nantes
> 6 at Luton: Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Bologna, Cork, Malaga
> 14 at Southend: Alicante, Bilbao, Brest, Copenhagen, Cluj, Corfu, Dublin, Faro, Kosice, Malaga, Milan, Palma, Reus & Venice
– Over 180 routes in total
– 26m customers p.a. (up 5%)
– 20,000* “on-site” jobs p.a.
Last week Ryanair submitted a complaint to the European Commission over discrimination by UK airline controlled NATS at Stansted, who refuse to explain why 52% of all London ATC delays in Q1 were at Stansted while there was zero such delays at Heathrow and just 10% at Gatwick where (NATS’ shareholders) BA and Easyjet are the main airlines.
We call on the UK Govt and EU to take prompt action against NATS who continue to deliver an atrocious service to airlines despite having amongst the highest ATC fees in the EU, and who are blatantly protecting Heathrow at the expense of all other London airports, especially Stansted. We expect the EU to act quickly to ensure a fairer allocation of NATS resources (and delays) to all 5 London airports, instead of protecting Heathrow.
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:
“Ryanair is pleased to launch our biggest ever London S 2019 schedule with over 180 routes from our 4 London airports, including 1 new base at Southend and 23 new routes to exciting destinations such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Copenhagen and Kiev. Our S2019 schedule will deliver 26m customers p.a. through Stansted, Luton, Southend and Gatwick, all at the lowest fares, as we continue to grow London traffic, tourism and jobs.
We remain concerned at the increasing risk of a hard (no-deal) Brexit in March 2019. While we hope that a 21-month transition agreement from March 2019 will be agreed, recent events in the UK have added uncertainty, and we believe that the risk of a hard Brexit (which could lead to flights being grounded for a period of days or weeks) is being underestimated.”
All Affected Customers Have Been Emailed This Morning
The VC pilot union has called a surprise (just 24 hours’ notice) and unnecessary strike in Germany on Wed, 12 Sep. While Ryanair hopes to complete much of its schedule, in the interest of minimising customer disruptions we have regrettably been forced to cancel 150 of 400 flights to/from Germany on Wed, 12 Sep.
All affected customers have received emails and SMS text notices this morning (11 Sep) and offered a refund, free move on to the next available flight or reroute options. Customers who have not received notices will not be disrupted and should travel to the airport as scheduled tomorrow.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:
“We condemn the short notice decision of the VC to call a strike on Wed 12th when Ryanair has already agreed to independent mediation/arbitration in Germany, has agreed to negotiate local contracts and has agreed to increase basic pay for German pilots.
To minimise customer disruption, Ryanair have been forced to cancel 150 flights of 400 flights to/from Germany tomorrow, Wed 12 Sep and all affected customers have been notified this morning and informed of their options. We apologise sincerely to our customers for this unnecessary strike and regrettable disruptions which Ryanair has done everything in its power to avoid.”
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (11 Sep) announced a new route from Oslo Torp to Malta, with one weekly service commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 2019 schedule.
Norwegian consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
– Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower €25 x 20kg check bag
– lower €8 x 10kg check bag
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers – wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
– Punctuality Promise – 90% of Ryanair flights will be on time
Ryanair’s Chris Lundshøj said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Oslo Torp route to Malta, commencing in April 2019, which will operate with one weekly service as part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
To celebrate we are extending our “up to 20% off sale” for booking until Tuesday Midnight 11th September. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (11 Sep) announced a new route from Cardiff to Malta, with a twice-weekly service commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 2019 schedule.
British consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower €25 x 20kg check bag
– lower €8 x 10kg check bag
Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
Ryanair Transfers – wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
Punctuality Promise – 90% of Ryanair flights will be on time
Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Cardiff route to Malta, commencing in April 2019, which will operate twice weekly as part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
To celebrate we are extending our “up to 20% off sale” for booking until Tuesday Midnight 11th September. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Deb Barber, CEO of Cardiff Airport, added:
“Our customers have been asking for the return of flights to Malta for some time, so we’re absolutely thrilled with today’s announcement that Ryanair will operate regular, low-cost services to this popular Mediterranean destination from early 2019.
“South Wales is home to a thriving Maltese community and so this service makes it easier to travel between both destinations, whilst also serving as another access point for European visitors seeking to explore Wales.”
Ryanair, Ireland’s No.1 airline, today (11 Sep) announced a new route from Cork to Malta, with a twice-weekly service commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 2019 schedule.
Irish consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
– Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower €25 x 20kg check bag
– lower €8 x 10kg check bag
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers – wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
– Punctuality Promise – 90% of Ryanair flights will be on time
Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Cork route to Malta, commencing in April 2019, which will operate twice weekly as part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
To celebrate we are extending our “up to 20% off sale” for booking until Tuesday Midnight 11th September. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Welcoming the new route, Cork Airport Managing Director, Niall MacCarthy said:
“We are really thrilled to see our partners Ryanair add Malta as the latest new destination to their extensive route network from Cork. Malta is a fantastic destination famous for its beautiful coastline, amazing heritage sites and the capital city Valetta is a real gem. We see Malta as a strong, safe outbound destination which combines food, sun and amazing sights. This is the fourth Ryanair route announcement in as many weeks in Cork Airport following the recent good news that London Luton and Faro will operate from October, while a new service to Poznań, Poland will commence in March 2019.”
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (11 Sep) announced a new route from Thessaloniki to Malta, with a twice-weekly service commencing in April 2019, which will be a part of Ryanair’s Summer 2019 schedule.
Greek consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:
– Reduced checked-in bag fees
– lower €25 x 20kg check bag
– lower €8 x 10kg check bag
– Ryanair Rooms with 10% off Travel Credit
– Ryanair Transfers – wider choice of ground transport with new partner Car Trawler
– Punctuality Promise – 90% of Ryanair flights will be on time
Ryanair’s Nikolas Lardis said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new Thessaloniki route to Malta,, commencing in April 2019, which will operate twice weekly as part of our Summer 2019 schedule.
To celebrate we are extending our “up to 20% off sale” for booking until Tuesday Midnight 11th September. Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”