1 NEW AIRCRAFT, 5 NEW ROUTES & OVER 1,300 JOBS

Ryanair, Europe’s and Bulgaria’s No.1 airline today (08 May) celebrated its record Sofia schedule for S24, with 40 total routes, including 5 exciting new destinations to Alicante, Bristol, Copenhagen, Skiathos and Valencia. This record schedule sees Ryanair base 1 new aircraft for S24 (an additional $100M investment), bringing Ryanair’s total Sofia fleet to 4 based aircraft – supporting over 1,300 jobs (including 120 high-paying aviation jobs) in the Region.

Ryanair’s Sofia S24 schedule delivers:

• 5 new routes – Alicante, Bristol, Copenhagen, Skiathos and Valencia
• 40 total routes
• 1 new based a/c (4 total – US$400M invest.)
• 1.6M pax for S24 (+23% growth vs. S23)
• Supp. over 1,300 jobs

As part of this record S24 schedule, Ryanair is adding an additional Boeing 737 aircraft in Sofia (4 aircraft in total) and growing traffic by +23% to 1.6M passengers in S24 (vs. S23).  Ryanair is committed to being Bulgaria’s largest and most reliable airline, continuing to provide the best choice for Sofia’s citizens / visitors at Europe’s lowest fares. To celebrate its record S24 schedule and the 5 new routes in Sofia (Alicante, Bristol, Copenhagen, Skiathos and Valencia), Ryanair has launched a 3-day seat sale with fares from €21.99 on sale only at ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Country Manager Alicja Wojcik Golebiowska said:

“As Europe’s and Bulgaria’s No.1 airline, Ryanair is pleased to celebrate our record S24 Sofia schedule with 40 routes – including 5 new routes to Alicante, Bristol, Copenhagen, Skiathos and Valencia – offering Sofia’s citizens / visitors the best choice for their summer holidays at Europe’s lowest fares. With the addition of 1 new Boeing 737 aircraft from S24, Ryanair is basing a total of 4 aircraft in Sofia (a US$400M investment), delivering 1.6M passengers this summer (+23% growth) and supporting over 1,300 jobs, including 120 highly paid aviation jobs. While other airlines cut capacity and reduce much-needed connectivity in Sofia, Ryanair continues to reliably deliver more traffic, more jobs, and lower fares than any other airline. To celebrate its S24 schedule for Sofia, Ryanair has launched a 3-day seat sale with fares from €21.99 on sale only at ryanair.com.”

SOF Connect’s CEO Jesus Caballero said:

“We are extremely happy and thankful about the fourth Ryanair aircraft based and the new destinations. This is great news for our airport, Bulgaria, and mostly for the Bulgarian travelers. Ryanair’s decision to significantly expand the flights is also confirmation of the excellent work of our teams and the great potential of Sofia airport.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (8 May) welcomed the EU General Court’s ruling on discriminatory State aid favouring Condor over all other EU airlines.

The German Govt granted Condor over €525m in illegal State Aid in 2021, including over €204m for Covid-19 related damages and over €321m for restructuring support.

The General Court already annulled the European Commission’s unjustified initial decision regarding most of the Covid-19 compensation in 2021, and today’s judgement confirms that the over €321m State Aid received by Condor as liquidity support was also unlawful.

Over €40bn in discriminatory State subsidies were handed out to EU flag carriers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The EU General Court has ruled that the billions of euros in State aid received by SAS, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and certain Italian airlines were unlawful.

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 German aid to Condor went against the fundamental principles of EU law. Today’s judgment confirms once again that the Commission must act as a guardian of the level playing field in air transport and cannot sign-off discriminatory State aid promoted by national Govts. The EU General Court’s intervention is a triumph for fair competition and consumers across the EU.

The Commission’s scrutiny of State aid in the aviation sector is now particularly relevant, given that during the Covid-19 pandemic, over €40bn in discriminatory State subsidies were handed out to EU flag carriers. The EU General Court has already ruled that billions of euros in State aid received by SAS, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and certain Italian airlines were unlawful.

The European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition has still not taken action to force recovery of this unlawful State aid, nor has it imposed any measures to remedy the damage to competition caused by the Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, French, and Italian Govts. favouring their local airlines over other EU airlines, in breach of EU law. Today’s judgment further underlines 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 and consumers.”

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, today (7 May) launched a campaign at Brussels Zaventem Airport to encourage all EU citizens to turn out and vote in the EU elections on 6 – 9 June next. Ryanair pointed out that the enormous growth of low fare airline travel across the EU would not have been possible without the success of the EU single market and the deregulation of air travel, which freed EU citizens from the State-owned high fare flag carriers in the 1970s and 80s.

Ryanair has led this revolution in low fare air travel and together with other low-cost airlines, such as easyJet, Wizz, Jet2, and others. Air travel across Europe and tourism in the peripheral states of Europe have grown dramatically over the last 30 years thanks to the widespread availability of Ryanair’s fares.  Ryanair believes it is vital that EU citizens turn out and vote in the EU elections on 6 – 9 June and signal their strong support for the EU single market and for the continued growth and development of low fare air travel and tourism jobs in the regions of Europe.

Unveiling its campaign at Brussels Zaventem today, Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said:

“Low fare air travel has been one of the great successes of the EU single market. Brexit has shown, however, that these freedoms and gains can be lost so is imperative that all EU citizens, particularly Ryanair’s 200m passengers, turn out to vote in the EU elections on 6 – 9 June. We strongly encourage all EU citizens to vote in favour of those parties who support the deregulation of air travel and who support the growth of low fare air travel, the freedom of movement of EU citizens across Europe. We wish to see tourism and jobs across the regions of Europe grow and thrive over the next decade and Ryanair is investing heavily in new fuel-efficient aircraft to deliver this growth in air travel while reducing our fuel consumption and CO2 emissions on a per passenger basis.”

RYANAIR’S LOW FARE FLIGHTS NOW AVAILABLE TO BOOK AS PART OF ON THE BEACH PACKAGE HOLIDAYS

Following the announcement of their “Approved OTA” (online travel agent) partnership Feb last, Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Thurs, 2^nd May) announced that its low fare flights are now available to book as part of On the Beach holiday packages, just in time for the peak Summer holiday season. For On the Beach customers who wish to book Ryanair flights/ancillaries as part of their On the Beach package holiday, this exciting new partnership means;

• Customers benefit from Ryanair’s low fares combined with On the Beach’s flexible payment plans, customer perks (including free lounge and fast track), and ATOL protection.
• Customers receive all flight-related communications directly from Ryanair, including T&Cs & important flight updates.
• Customers have direct access to their myRyanair account to manage their booking.
• Customers don’t have to complete Ryanair’s customer verification.

Over the past few months, Ryanair has signed “Approved OTA” distribution agreements with six large OTAs, including this partnership with On the Beach, demonstrating how OTAs can work transparently with Ryanair to benefit consumers.

Speaking from On the Beach’s Headquarters in Manchester, Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, said:

“We’re delighted to be in Manchester with the On the Beach team this morning to launch our partnership with Ryanair flights now available to book as part of On the Beach package holidays. This is great news for On the Beach customers who will now be able to book Ryanair’s low fares as part of their On the Beach package holiday with full price transparency (no overcharges or hidden mark-ups) and direct access to their booking through their myRyanair account.

With the peak summer season just around the corner, we look forward to seeing lots of happy On the Beach customers onboard our low fare Ryanair flights to over 170 destinations from our 22 UK airports.”

Shaun Morton, CEO of On the Beach Group plc said:

“Ryanair is leading the way in showing how low-cost airlines and online travel agents can work together to give customers choice and value for their holidays. As the number one airline in Europe, Ryanair offers an extensive variety of routes at competitive prices, and we are so pleased to have successfully integrated this into our offer to customers.

This partnership means that our customers will have a seamless experience when booking a package holiday with a Ryanair flight, while still enjoying all of the benefits and protections that come with booking with an online travel agent. This industry-leading, collaborative approach with Ryanair is a blueprint for how the industry can work together to ensure consumers have choice and free, fair access to flights across the market.”

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.”

RYANAIR ANNOUNCES UK GROWTH PLAN – 1,000 NEW JOBS & 22% GROWTH TO 65M PAX BY 2030

Ryanair, Europe’s largest & fastest growing airline, today (24 Apr) published an independent report by York Aviation, which shows that Ryanair contributes £14bn p.a. to UK economic growth and development as follows;

• £14bn p.a. in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy
• 98,000 UK jobs supported by Ryanair traffic
• 53m Ryanair passengers in 2023 to/from the UK (20% of UK traffic)
• 22 UK Airports
• 600 routes to/from UK
• $11.5bn investment in 115 UK-based aircraft

At today’s launch of the York Aviation Report, Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary set out ambitious growth plans in the UK for the rest of the decade, including;

1. UK traffic to grow by 22% from 53m to 65m passengers p.a. by 2030
2. Over 1,000 new jobs created for UK pilots, cabin crew, and engineers by 2030
3. New engineering training facility opens at Prestwick
4. 20 new Boeing MAX-10 aircraft (135 total) worth $2 billion based at UK airports
5. New B737 aircraft deliver 20% less fuel & 50% less noise

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“Today’s York Aviation Report quantifies the substantial contribution made by Ryanair, our people, and our passengers each year to the UK economy, including a £14bn annual contribution in Gross Value Added (GVA) while our traffic supports over 98,000 jobs across all regions of the UK.

From modest beginnings with our first 14 seat aircraft flying from Gatwick to Waterford in 1985, Ryanair has grown to become Europe’s largest airline. We plan to deliver more growth and investment in the UK over the rest of this decade, during which we expect to grow our UK traffic by 22% from 53m in 2023 to 65m by 2030 and create another 1,000 UK jobs across our 22 UK airports. These new passengers will travel on a fleet of new Boeing 737 MAX-10 aircraft, which cut fuel and CO2 emissions by 20% and reduce noise by 50%.

As an island economy on the periphery of Europe, it is vital that Ryanair continues to deliver low-cost air access to/from Europe for our UK citizens/visitors. In 2023 alone, Ryanair’s European visitors spent over £4.7bn in the UK, and we will continue to bring millions of European visitors to the UK for the benefit of UK tourism and job creation across all regions of the UK.

While halving APD on domestic flights from Apr ‘23 allowed Ryanair to add more domestic routes (and bases) to our UK schedule, UK airports and passengers are still suffering an enormous penalty when UK APD imposes £13 tax on all UK tickets for 2024. Ryanair can continue to grow UK traffic, jobs, and tourism but the Govt must scrap this unfair and unjustified tax for all travel and instead pursue air travel growth policies to promote low-fare connectivity to/from Europe, including an urgent reform of UK NATS inefficient but expensive ATC system starting with a clean out of the incompetent “leadership” of NATS.”