June Traffic Grows 7% To 12.6m Customers

03 Jul 2018

Load Factor Unchanged At 96% On Lower Fares

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (3 July) released June traffic statistics as follows:

– Traffic grew 7% to 12.6m customers
– ATC strikes and staff shortages caused over 1,100 flight cancellations in June compared to just 41 cancellations in June 17
– Rolling annual traffic to June grew 7% to 132.9m customers

  June 17 June 18 Change
Customers 11.8M 12.6M +7%
Load Factor 96% 96%

 Ryanairs Kenny Jacobs said:

“Ryanair’s June traffic grew by 7% to 12.6m customers, while our load factor remained strong at 96%, on the back of lower fares.

Regrettably over 210,000 Ryanair customers had their flights cancelled in June because of 4 weekends of ATC strikes and repeated UK, German and French ATC staff shortages. Ryanair calls for urgent action by the EU Commission and European governments to ameliorate the effect of ATC strikes and staff shortages in the UK, Germany and France from disrupting the travel plans of millions of Europe’s consumers this summer.”

Flights Can Now Be Booked With UATP

29 Jun 2018

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (29 June) announced a new acceptance agreement with UATP, the global corporate travel payment solution, providing its corporate clients with even more ways to book the lowest fares on the Ryanair.com website.

Ryanair will now accept the UATP corporate card across all markets and in all currencies on both its desktop website and mobile app.

Ryanair customers can book their business or leisure breaks as far out as October 2019, on even lower fares, and enjoy the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:

– Price Promise – find a cheaper fare and we’ll refund the difference + €5 to your My Ryanair account
– Punctuality Promise – 90% of our flights will be on time
– Reduced checked-in bag fees – lower €25 fee, bigger 20kg bag allowance
– Connecting flights at Rome, Milan & Porto with more airports to follow
– Ryanair Rooms with “10% back” Travel Credit

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“We are pleased to announce that we now accept UATP corporate cards, providing our business customers with even more ways to book the lowest fares on Ryanair.com. With the global acceptance of the UATP corporate card, we are making it even simpler and more attractive for our international corporate customers to book their flights.”

UATP’s Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Wendy Ward said:

“We’re looking forward to working with Ryanair to accept UATP, their corporate clients preferred form of payment. Ryanair is a strategic player for the Network and accepting UATP across all channels is a winning situation for all our corporate clients.”

New London Stansted Route To Dole Launched

28 Jun 2018

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (28 June) announced a new weekly London Stansted ski route to/from Dole, France commencing in December 2018. Ryanair’s London Stansted Winter 2018 schedule includes 124 routes in total, with three other new routes to Belfast, Edinburgh and Nantes.

London Stansted consumers and visitors can now enjoy even lower fares and the latest “Always Getting Better” improvements including:

– Reduced checked-in bag fees – lower €25 fee, bigger 20kg bag allowance
– Connecting flights at Rome, Milan & Porto with more airports to follow
– 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
– Price Promise – find a cheaper fare and Ryanair will refund the difference + €5 to your My Ryanair account

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“Ryanair is pleased to announce a new London Stansted to Dole route commencing in December 2018, which will operate once weekly as part of our Winter 2018 schedule. Customers can now book their trip to Dole as far out as March 2019 getting to the slopes on the lowest fares this winter.

To celebrate, we are releasing seats for sale from London Stansted from just £19.99 for travel until October 2018 which are available for booking until midnight Saturday (30 June). These seats are sure to sell quickly so customers should log on to Ryanair.com today to avoid missing out.”

London Stansted’s Mark Davison said:

It’s great news that Ryanair is adding another new service to its extensive route network already availablefrom London Stansted. Dole is an exciting new destination which I’m sure will prove to be very popular with     passengers looking for even more choice when heading off to France.”

First Dublin Flight to Dalaman (Turkey) Takes Off

25 Jun 2018

Ryanair, Ireland’s No. 1 airline, today (25 June) celebrated the first flight on its new weekly Dublin service to Dalaman, Turkey, its newest destination. Ryanair’s Dublin summer 2018 schedule offers 90 routes in total, including five other new routes to Marrakesh, Munich, Naples, Stuttgart and Paphos.

To mark the start of this new Dalaman route and the summer season, Ryanair has released seats for sale from Dublin at prices starting from just €19.99, for travel until the end of October, which are only available for booking on the Ryanair.com website until midnight Wednesday (27th June).

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“We’re pleased to officially launch our new weekly summer service from Dublin to Dalaman, our newest airport.. To celebrate the start of this new route, we are releasing seats for sale from Dublin from just €19.99 for travel until the end of October, which are only available for booking on the Ryanair.com website until midnight Wednesday (27th June). Since these amazing low prices will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com now and avoid missing out.”

DAA’s Siobhan O’Donnell said:

“Ryanair operates to 90 destinations from Dublin Airport and we are delighted to see its route network go from strength to strength with the addition of Dalaman. Turkey is a hugely popular destination for Irish people, so we have no doubt this new route will be a great success.” 

Extra Flights Scheduled for Denmark v Ireland Nations League Match

22 Jun 2018

Ryanair, Ireland’s No 1 airline, today (22 Jun) announced it has scheduled match specials from Dublin to Aarhus to accommodate Irish supporters travelling to watch Ireland’s UEFA Nations League match with Denmark, following strong demand from fans.

After Denmark shattered Ireland’s World Cup qualification hopes with a 5-1 victory in Dublin last winter, Irish fans won’t have to wait too long for another clash with the Danes on 19th November.

Seats are limited and selling fast, so Ryanair advises Irish fans to log on to www.ryanair.com and book these soccer specials as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“The World Cup is in full swing and Ireland fans still getting over the defeat to Denmark can look forward to a chance for revenge in November. We’ve scheduled return flights to Aarhus for Ireland’s Nations League match with the Danes in November. Seats are on sale now, only on the Ryanair.com website.”

Denmark v Ireland (19.45, 19 Nov)

Date Route Dept
Sat 19 Nov Dublin – Aarhus 06:40
Sun 20 Nov Aarhus – Dublin 15:15

 

Ryanair Hosts Digital Donation Day In Aid Of ISPCC Childline

21 Jun 2018

Ryanair, Ireland’s No 1 airline, today (21 Jun) announced it will host a digital donation day next week for 24 hours on the Ryanair.com website, in aid of ISPCC Childline, its 2018 chosen Irish charity partner.

This major fundraising initiative will invite all Ryanair customers in Ireland to make a donation to ISPCC Childline either by text to 50300 or online at https://www.ispcc.ie/donate-now/single-donation/282 – which can be accessed via the “donate now” buttons on the Ryanair website, in emails and on social media during the 24 hours.

Digital Donation Day will run on Wednesday 27 June on www.ryanair.com/ie.  As an added incentive, everyone who donates to ISPCC Childline during this digital donation day will be entered into a draw to win Ryanair flight vouchers.

Childline is the only 24-hour listening service which seeks to support and empower children and young people in Ireland. Over 90% of funding is raised through corporate and individual donations, and Ryanair is proud to be a corporate supporter in 2018 for the third successive year.

Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs said:

“Ryanair is proud to once again partner with ISPCC Childline and support the invaluable work they do to help children. This digital donation day will launch on Ryanair.com and our social media channels for 24 hours and give customers the opportunity to support our partnership by donating directly to Childline by text or via “donate now” buttons which will be located on the Ryanair.com website, in Ryanair emails and on our social media pages.”

ISPCC Corporate Account Manager, Marianne O’Donoghue said:

 “We’re delighted to have the support of Ryanair through their Digital Donation Day. Ryanair’s partnership is hugely significant to ISPCC Childline, as it allows us to ensure we can be there for children and young people across Ireland who seek a listening ear at any time of any day or night. For some of these children, it may feel as though there is nowhere else to turn. By supporting Ryanair’s Digital Donation Day, you can help to keep Childline supporting, empowering and listening to children always.”

 

Air Traffic Control (ATC) strikes are destroying air traffic and economies across Europe

21 Jun 2018

– 300 per cent increase in ATC strikes in France versus 2017
– 24 strike days in 2018 have caused 5,000 flight cancellations and thousands of delays, affecting millions of travellers
– Projected EU economic impact of EUR 13.4 billion* continues to grow
– A four-fold increase in flight delays over 15 minutes in May 2018 (56,000) compared to May 2017 (14,000)

An alarming increase in Air Traffic Control (ATC) strikes across Europe has wreaked havoc on airlines, their passengers and business. 2018 is shaping up to be one of the worst years ever for ATC strikes in Europe. Year-to-date, A4E member airlines have been forced to cancel nearly 5,000 flights as a result of the strikes, directly impacting around 784,000 passengers across Europe. In addition, millions of travellers have been affected by flight delays caused by airspace diversions and residual backups.

According to Eurocontrol, 39,000 flights – around 30 per cent of the total en-route delays in May- were delayed due to ATC strikes.  In addition, Eurocontrol projects total delay minutes for 2018 will be up by 53 per cent compared to 2017 as a result of strikes and capacity shortages (14.3 million in 2018 versus 9.3 million minutes in 2017).

ATC strikes have a costly impact on customers, European economies and the environment. They breach the principle of allowing people and goods to move freely across Europe, because:

 

  1. Customers’ journeys and supply chains are severely disrupted.
  2. Diversions to avoid closed air space result in much longer flights and burn more fuel, resulting in higher CO2 emissions.
  3. Tourism is most affected due to cancelled flights to prime holiday destinations, putting small and medium size businesses at risk.
  4. Airlines have to pay passengers compensation for the delays and rebook them on other flights, significantly disrupting customers’ travel plans and the airlines’ operations. Airlines don’t have the right to recover these costs from the ATC providers who have caused them.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed that the economic cost of ATC strikes in the EU between 2010-2017 was €13.4 billion*. Last summer, the European Commission said that since 2005 there have been around 357 air traffic control strikes in the EU, 254 of which have occurred in France (*).

Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, said: “IAG and Ryanair are planning to submit a complaint to the European Commission as ATC strikes represent the biggest challenge for our industry. They are destroying European air traffic and having a huge impact on consumers. It’s a really frustrating cause of disruption that affects all airlines but in particular has a significant negative impact on Spain’s tourism and economy. Continuous strikes by ATC staff in Marseille have a disproportionate impact on those airlines flying from Barcelona because they control flights over most of the Mediterranean airspace. For Vueling this means that 50 per cent of its flights are affected. The EU must act now to protect the rights of the consumers and prevent long term damage to European economies”.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said: “These disruptions are unacceptable, and we call on the Governments, and the EU Commission to take urgent and decisive action to ensure that ATC providers are fully staffed and that overflights are not affected when national strikes take place, as they repeatedly do in France.

“Europe’s ATC providers are approaching the point of meltdown with hundreds of flights being cancelled daily either because of ATC strikes or because Europe’s ATC don’t have enough staff. The situation is particularly acute at weekends where British and German ATC providers are hiding behind adverse weather and euphemisms such as “capacity restrictions” when the truth is they are not rostering enough ATC staff to cater for the number of flights that are scheduled to operate.

“Urgent action must now be taken by the UK and German Governments, and the EU Commission, otherwise thousands more flights and millions of passengers will be disrupted, particularly in the peak months of July and August, unless this ATC staffing crisis is addressed”.

In response to the continued ATC strike disruptions, A4E has proposed a mandatory 72-hour individual notification period for employees wishing to strike, protection of overflights while ensuring it does not come to the detriment of local services, and a guarantee on minimum services to be provided.

IAG and Ryanair’s complaint will argue that by not adequately protecting flights over France, EU law is infringed.

“We have been working constructively and quite intensively over the last several months with French government officials and Parliamentarians to establish a stable and long-term solution to these disruptions. In this context, we urge the French government to take decisive action to resolve this issue on behalf of all our passengers, ahead of this summer’s busy travel season”, said Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director, A4E.

Consumers can also demand swifter action by EU politicians by signing A4E’s online petition:  www.keepeuropesskiesopen.com. The petition will be presented to the relevant authorities in Brussels and EU capitals by the end of 2018.

Link to PriceWaterhouseCoopers Study on the Economic Impact of ATC Strikes in the EU: https://a4e.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/A4E-Economic-Impact-ATC-Strikes-Final-Report_160929-vf.pdf

Link to commission des finances du Sénat’s report.