EUROPE’S NO.1 AIRLINE WARNS GERMANY WILL LOSE 1.5M SEATS IF ITS BROKEN AIR TRAVEL MARKET NOT FIXED

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (August 20), called on the German Govt. to urgently cut its sky-high air access costs by reversing the recent 24% increase in Aviation Tax (and ultimately abolish it) or lose another 10% of Ryanair’s German capacity (1.5 million seats) for Summer 2025. Whilst other EU markets, such as Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, are cutting or abolishing their Aviation Taxes, Germany’s Aviation Tax, which recently increased by 24%, is the second highest in the EU and is damaging Germany’s air travel industry. Germany’s air travel recovery lags far behind the rest of Europe at just 82% of its pre-Covid levels – the lowest in Europe.

In addition, to scrapping the Aviation Tax, Ryanair also called on the Govt. to urgently reduce its soaring ATC charges, which have doubled since 2019, and defer the 50% increase in Security Fees, scheduled for January 2025. These very high Govt fees continue to damage German air travel, tourism, its economy, and consumers, and only serve to prop up Lufthansa’s high-fare monopoly. If Germany won’t reduce these high and damaging air travel taxes/fees, then Ryanair will further cut capacity by 1.5m seats in Germany for Summer 2025 and switch this capacity to other lower cost EU countries like Italy, Poland, Spain, and Portugal.

Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:

“Germany’s air travel market is broken and needs an urgent fix. Germany has only recovered 82% of its pre-Covid traffic which is by far the worst performance of any EU State. As a result of these high Govt taxes/fees (the highest in Europe), and Lufthansa’s high-fare monopoly, German citizens/visitors now pay the highest air fares in Europe.

Ryanair again calls on the German Govt. to cut its very high aviation taxes and fees. If these very high taxes are not reduced, Ryanair will cut another 1.5m seats from its German capacity (-10%) for Summer 2025. These reductions will further damage inbound tourism, and Germany’s post-Covid recovery, whilst other competitor EU States, with much lower or zero aviation taxes/fees, enjoy the benefit of traffic growth which is being switched from high cost uncompetitive Germany.”

IAA PROPOSAL TO CUT S2025 TRAFFIC BY 1M PAX WILL RAISE FARES FOR ALL IRISH FAMILY HOLIDAYS

Ryanair, Ireland’s No.1 airline, today (16 Aug) called on the Irish Govt to scrap the 32m Dublin Airport traffic cap, which is now damaging growth in Irish tourism, and increasing the cost of air travel. Over the past 2 weeks, the airlines at Dublin Airport have been warned they will not receive extra slots for Christmas flights this winter or sporting events such as Rugby Internationals and Premier League matches. Now the IAA has suggested that in order to comply with the 32m traffic cap, Summer 2025 traffic at Dublin must be reduced by up to 1m passengers. Any such reductions will damage Irish tourism and jobs, and will lead to much higher fares for passengers and Irish families going on holidays in 2025.

Ryanair highlighted that this 17-year-old traffic cap should no longer apply because it was introduced in 2007 to address then concerns that road traffic to/from Dublin Airport would exceed road capacity when Dublin reached 32m passengers. No such strain exists and road traffic around Dublin Airport is moving freely, thanks to a large switch to public transport (bus services) to/from the airport. Since the circumstances have changed, and there is no threat to road traffic, the Irish Govt should now act to scrap this unnecessary but deeply damaging 2007 traffic cap.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“We have been calling for 2 years on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to scrap this stupid 2007 traffic cap. Sadly, he has failed to act, preferring to hide behind “the planning process”. This planning restriction, which dates from 2007, was designed to address fears that road access to/from the airport would not be able to facilitate traffic over 32m per year. It is clear that this concern is no longer valid and since road traffic is not an issue, Minister Ryan should instruct the IAA to ignore this 17-year-old cap.

Dublin Airport has recently opened a 2^nd runway, taking Dublin’s capacity up to 60m passengers p.a. yet our Transport Minister refuses to act to scrap this outdated traffic cap to let Dublin Airport grow. Since the Transport Minister won’t act, we now call on the wider Govt, led by Simon Harris to take urgent action to scrap the cap to allow Irish tourism and jobs to grow in 2025. It is vital that Dublin Airport traffic is allowed to grow so that we can keep air fares low for Irish families going on holidays in 2025.

If the latest proposals from the IAA to comply with this outdated cap proceed, then airlines based at Dublin will not be able to add extra flights this Christmas, and more worryingly, the number at seats at Dublin Airport will be cut by 1m in Summer 2025. Any such cuts will do real damage to Irish tourism and Irish jobs, and will result in much higher air fares for Irish citizens and their families going abroad in Summer 2025.

Irish tourism and Irish jobs should not be damaged by a 17-year-old, defective planning restriction, or an incompetent Transport Minister. An effective Transport Minister would scrap this cap. Since he won’t, we now call on the wider Irish Govt to scrap this cap and allow Dublin Airport, Irish airlines and Irish tourism to continue to grow Irish traffic and jobs in Winter 2024 and Summer 2025.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (15 Aug) apologised to its passengers for the excessive delays and cancellations at Palma de Mallorca following the nonsensical decision by Spanish Air Traffic Control (ATC) to block inbound aircraft from landing this morning due to “weather”, which makes no sense given there were no weather issues in Palma this morning as confirmed by the fact that flights departing Palma were allowed to continue as normal. Passengers were allowed to leave Palma de Mallorca but those coming on holiday were not allowed to arrive.

Ryanair has been unable to contact the Head of Spanish ATC this morning to reverse this nonsensical decision and now calls on the Spanish Minister of Transport to explain why Palma de Mallorca was closed for arriving passengers due to non-existent weather issues.

Ryanair’s Chief Ops Officer, Neal McMahon said:

“This is the latest example of terrible Air Traffic Control performance this summer, which has caused repeated and unnecessary disruption to passengers. Ryanair once again calls on Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, to reform the shambolic ATC services.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (13 Aug) celebrated over 20 million passengers through Shannon Airport since it began operations to/from Shannon in 1987. Ryanair was the first low-cost airline to operate at Shannon Airport and over the past 37 years, has grown its operation from a single route to/from London Luton to 26 routes connecting 10 countries across Europe. Ryanair has invested heavily in the region, including its 3 Shannon based aircraft – an investment of $300 million and supporting over 1,250 local jobs, including 90 highly paid aviation jobs – as well its state-of-the-art 3-bay maintenance facility – a €10 million investment which created a further 200 high-skill local jobs.

This Summer Ryanair is operating a robust schedule at Shannon Airport with over 90 weekly flights across 26 routes, including an exciting new route to Gran Canaria, providing customers in the mid-west with unbeatable choice at the lowest fares when booking their Summer ’24 getaways.

Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Jade Kirwan said:

“We are delighted to celebrate over 20 million Ryanair passengers through Shannon Airport. This significant milestone showcases Ryanair’s continued growth and investment at Shannon, where Ryanair has operated proudly since 1987, delivering growth, investment, and jobs for the mid-west.

This Summer, Ryanair is operating a robust schedule at Shannon Airport with over 90 weekly flights across 26 routes, including our new Gran Canaria route, on our 3 Shannon based aircraft – an investment of $300m and supporting over 1,250 local jobs. We look forward to carrying millions more passengers on Ryanair’s low-fare flights to/from Shannon over the years to come.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (09^th Aug) celebrates the double milestone of reaching 10 years of operations at Bucharest airport and 15 million passengers, since our first ever flight in 2014. As part of Ryanair’s Summer schedule in Otopeni, Ryanair is operating its biggest ever schedule with over 370 weekly flights across 35 routes, including 3 new exciting routes to popular hotspots Leeds, Malaga & Skiathos.

To celebrate these significant milestones in Bucharest, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares starting from €19.99 available for booking only on ryanair.com until Sunday, 11^th of August.

A Ryanair’s spokesperson said:

“We are delighted to celebrate 10 years of operations and 15 million Ryanair passengers through our Otopeni base. These significant milestones resound Ryanair’s continued growth and investment in Bucharest, with 2 aircraft based at the airport this Summer – an investment of $200m, supporting over 1,500 local jobs. This Summer Ryanair is operating our biggest ever schedule to/from Otopeni Airport with over 370 weekly flights across 35 fantastic routes, including Ryanair’s 3 new summer routes to Leeds, Malaga & Skiathos.

While other carriers reduce capacity, Ryanair continues to grow in Romania by over 20% this year. Ryanair has the resources to expand even further in Romania subject to competitive costs at Romanian Airports. We look forward to working with our airport partners to continue delivering more low-fare growth to Romania in the coming years.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (09 August) announced its latest “Approved OTA” partnership with Omio, the leading global transportation platform – who will now be authorised to provide Ryanair’s low-fare flights to their customers, enhancing traveller choices and experiences for those seeking value and convenience.

This is great news for Omio customers who want to access Ryanair’s low fares, unbeatable choice of 240+ destinations, and impeccable service. Similar to Ryanair’s existing “Approved OTA” agreements, this latest deal guarantees Omio customers who book Ryanair flights via Omio, that their correct contact and payment info is provided to Ryanair, ensuring that they have access to their myRyanair account and receive important flight information directly without needing to complete Ryanair’s customer verification process, which unauthorised OTA customers must continue to do.

Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady, said:

“We are pleased to announce our latest “Approved OTA” partnership with global transportation platform, Omio. Through this new agreement, Omio customers will be able to book Ryanair’s low-fare flights, with the guarantee of full price transparency and full access to their booking. We look forward to working with Omio and carrying their customers onboard our market-leading network of Ryanair flights in the coming months.”

Veronica Diquattro, President B2C Europe at Omio said:

“This is a major milestone in our collaboration with Ryanair. Travellers will have direct access to Ryanair flights on Omio, which enables customers with options and empowers choice. By combining Ryanair’s wide range of budget-friendly flights with Omio’s extensive travel options, Ryanair and Omio’s alliance helps our goal for travellers which is to offer seamless, convenient, and multimodal travel experiences to people worldwide.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (07 August) celebrated carrying over 10 million passengers through Bournemouth Airport since it began operations to/from Bournemouth in 1996. Ryanair was the first low-cost airline to operate at Bournemouth Airport and has grown its presence from a single route to/from Dublin to a 20-route operation connecting 9 countries across Europe with its 2 Bournemouth based aircraft – an investment of $200m and supporting 600 local jobs, including 60 highly paid, high skilled aviation jobs.  

This Summer Ryanair is operating its biggest ever schedule at Bournemouth Airport with over 120 weekly flights spanning 20 routes, including 3 new routes to Agadir, Lanzarote, and Nantes, providing customers with unbeatable choice at the lowest fares when booking their Summer ’24 getaways.

Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Jade Kirwan said:

“We are delighted to celebrate over 10 million Ryanair passengers through Bournemouth Airport. This significant milestone showcases Ryanair’s continued growth and investment at Bournemouth, where Ryanair has operated since 1996. This summer, Ryanair is operating 120 weekly flights across 20 routes on our 2 Bournemouth based aircraft – an investment of $200m and supporting over 600 local jobs.

We look forward to carrying millions more passengers on Ryanair’s low-fare flights to/from Bournemouth over the years to come.”