Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, has today (13 Dec) accused OTA pirate Trip.com of the biggest ever rip-off, charging €6,699 for an €18 one-way Ryanair flight from Dublin to London Stansted. Trip.com’s egregious and 37,100% overcharge on Ryanair’s popular Dublin to London Stansted route on Monday (11 Dec) highlights the urgent need for Govts and consumer agencies to outlaw the illegal digital piracy which allows these OTA pirates to dupe, scam, and rip-off unsuspecting consumers.

Ryanair calls again on the UK and Irish Govts and consumer agencies to take action to prevent this internet piracy and blatant anti-consumer mis-selling.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“This is a prime example of how unsuspecting consumers are being duped and scammed by the unlawful practices of these OTA pirates. It is completely inexplicable that Trip.com charges a staggering €6,699 for an €18 one-way Ryanair flight from Dublin to London Stansted. We are baffled that Govts and consumer protection agencies have failed to act and adjust the dishonest and egregious practices of these OTA internet pirates who masquerade as price comparison websites when in reality they are scammers and rip-off merchants overcharging unsuspecting consumers. Where is Which? Magazine on this issue? Nowhere as usual when it comes to protecting consumers from OTA pirates.

The UK and Irish Govts and consumer agencies have been so far useless taking action to protect consumers from these OTA pirates and their mis-selling of illegally obtained flight inventories. We urge on consumers to always book directly with Ryanair or the other airline websites to avoid falling victim to OTA pirate scams and overcharges, such as this Trip.com example, where they overcharged a staggering €6,699 for an €18 one-way Ryanair flight. The authorities must now act urgently to stop this OTA pirate scam and protect Irish and UK consumers.”

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 the UK’s no 1 airline renewed its call for NATS CEO Martin Rolfe to quit (or be removed by the UK govt) as the Gatwick Air Traffic Control (ATC) system collapsed again today (9 Dec) delaying hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers at London Gatwick airport today.

Today’s NATS failure comes just over 3 months after Martin Rolfe presided over another NATS system failure on 28 August. These repeated failures show its time for overpaid CEO Martin Rolfe to quit or be dismissed.

Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary said:

“After the August NATS system failure Martin Rolfe claimed it was a 1 in 15 million tech glitch. Yet here we are again 3 months later, and UK NATS fails again at Gatwick. Thousands of passengers today face long delays, diversions, and cancellations as NATS under Martin Rolfe’s incompetent leadership fails again. It’s time for Martin Rolfe to go. At an annual package of over £1.5m this clown has repeatedly shown he is incompetent. If he won’t quit, then transport minister Mark Harper (who owns 50% of NATS) should fire him. These repeated UK NATS system failures are unique to the UK and are not repeated in any other European ATC service. Our passengers want a competent UK ATCH service and Martin Rolfe has repeatedly shown he can’t deliver it. He should go and let someone competent run UK ATC.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (8 Dec) introduced a new quick and easy customer account verification initiative to enhance customer experience and protect customers from ‘ghost brokering’, ‘phishing’, other malicious technology scams employed by online fraudsters, and from pirate OTAs who use fake customer details (emails & credit cards) to prevent Ryanair sending email messages to passengers while they overcharge them. From 8^th Dec, new myRyanair account users will be required to complete a once-off, free of charge account verification which takes less than 30 seconds and is similar to the existing verification process on AirBnB and Revolut.

This new “Know Your Passenger” (KYP) initiative will help ensure that customers get the best Ryanair care and prices.  It also guarantees that a myRyanair account is being set up by a real person which will help prevent online fraudsters from incorporating Ryanair bookings into their ‘ghost brokering’, ‘phishing’ or other malicious technology scams.  In addition, KYP will help ensure that Ryanair customers have direct access and control over their booking at all times in order to manage any changes to bookings directly, receiving all notifications about their bookings directly, including safety, security (especially online check-in reminders) and all disruption information.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said:

“We are pleased to roll out our new Know Your Passenger initiative which ensures that our customers have direct access and control over their bookings.  KYP helps protect customers from the rise of ‘ghost brokering’, ‘phishing’ and other malicious technology scams employed by online fraudsters, and also from the overcharging scams of pirate OTAs – with new free of charge customer account verification. This quick and easy, once-off verification process takes less than 30 seconds to complete.

Ryanair’s new customer account verification will help protect our customers by ensuring that they get access to the lowest fares, have direct access to manage their bookings, and receive up to date flight information and online check in reminders. KYP will apply to new myRyanair account users from today, 8^th Dec.”

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 ANNOUNCES FLIGHTS TO ALICANTE, FARO & MALTA FROM APRIL 2024

Ryanair, the UK’s No.1 airline, today (6^th Dec) announced that it will begin operations at Norwich Airport for the first time ever this Summer, with 3 exciting new Summer sunshine routes – Alicante, Faro, and Malta – commencing from 1^st April 2024. Norwich will become Ryanair’s 22^nd UK airport, providing competitive fares, increased connectivity, and unbeatable choice to customers in Norwich and the wider Norfolk region who have traditionally been forced to pay sky high fares by the high fare carriers who dominate at Norwich Airport. In addition, Ryanair’s new Norwich operation will drive invaluable inbound tourism for the region and create over 60 local jobs from Summer ’24, supporting important regional growth and development.

Ryanair’s brand-new Norwich Summer 2024 schedule will deliver:

• 3 new routes – Alicante, Faro & Malta
• 12 flights per week to/from Norwich
• 60,000 passengers in Summer 2024
• Over 60 new local jobs

Ryanair is the UK’s No.1 airline operating over 440 routes and carrying over 52m passengers p.a. to/from the UK on its fleet of 107 UK-based aircraft ($10.7bn investment), driving year-round connectivity and inbound tourism which supports over 37,000 UK jobs. While competitor airline capacity throughout Europe stagnates, Ryanair will continue to grow to carry 300 million passengers p.a. by 2034, as it takes delivery of a further 400 aircraft (incl. 300 Boeing MAX-10 aircraft) making it the only airline that can deliver real meaningful growth over the next 5 years at least.

To celebrate Ryanair’s arrival to Norwich, the airline has launched a limited-time seat sale on its 3 new routes to/from Norwich with fares for travel from April 2024 until October 2024 from just £29.99, which must be booked by Saturday 9^th December, available only on Ryanair’s app/website.

Speaking from Norwich Airport, Ryanair’s Head of Communication, Jade Kirwan, said:

“As the UK’s No.1 airline, we are delighted to announce that Ryanair’s low fares have finally arrived in Norwich. From 1^st April 2024, we will operate 3 exciting new Summer sunshine routes to/from Norwich – Alicante, Faro, and Malta. Our new Norwich operation will not only bring competitive fares and a wider selection of Summer routes to our customers in Norwich and the wider Norfolk region, but will support important regional development through increased connectivity, inbound tourism, and local job creation.

We have worked productively with our new partners at Norwich Airport to agree terms which enable Ryanair to deliver this growth and investment for the region, and we look forward to further developing our partnership with Norwich Airport and welcoming Norfolk customers/visitors onboard our Ryanair flights to/from Norwich as we continue to grow to 300 million p.a. by 2034.”

Richard Pace, Managing Director of Norwich Airport, said:

“This is fantastic news for passengers and the first time that Ryanair has flown from Norwich Airport. Alicante, Faro and Malta are hugely popular destinations and with twice-weekly flights it means we can offer passengers even more great choice from their local airport. We’re delighted to be increasing connectivity for local communities and look forward to growing our partnership with Ryanair.”

RECRUITMENT OPEN DAY ON TUES, 12^TH DECEMBER

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline group, has today (6^th Dec) announced a major recruitment drive for 40 new cabin crew to join its subsidiary airline, Lauda, at its bases in Zagreb and Zadar as the Ryanair Group grows to carry 300m passengers p.a. by 2034.

To find the perfect candidates, Lauda will host a cabin crew recruitment open day on Tuesday, 12^th December at 10am in the Hilton Conference & Event Center, Radnicka Cesta 21, Zagreb. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the talent behind the brand and to learn more about the exciting life of a Lauda cabin crew member.

Lauda’s cabin crew enjoy excellent remuneration packages, fantastic career development opportunities and benefits, as well as discounted travel across the Ryanair Group’s 230+ destination wide network.

Those interested in attending should click here to apply

Lauda’s, Andreas Gruber, said:

“As part of the biggest airline group in Europe – Ryanair – Lauda are delighted to announce that we are recruiting for 40 new cabin crew to join our bases in Zagreb and Zadar in response to strong bookings and fantastic growth across Europe.

To help find the perfect candidates for these exciting roles, we are holding an open day in Zagreb on Tuesday, 12^th December. Our stellar cabin crew receive fantastic pay, excellent conditions, as well as discounted flights and travel perks across the Ryanair Group network of 230+ destinations. We look forward to meeting enthusiastic and hard-working future team members in December.”