Includes 0.5m Lauda Traffic For First Time
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (4 Sep) released August traffic statistics as follows:
– Total traffic grew 9% to 13.8m with a 97% load factor
– Ryanair traffic grew 5% to 13.3m customers with a 97% load factor
– Lauda traffic was 0.5m customers with a 92% load factor
– ATC staff shortages and one unnecessary pilot strike (10 Aug) caused almost 550 flight cancellations in August compared to just 27 cancellations in August 17
|
|
Aug 17
Customers (LF) |
Aug 18
Customers (LF) |
Growth |
| Ryanair |
12.7M (97%) |
13.3M (97%) |
+5% |
| Lauda |
– – |
0.5M (92%) |
– |
| Total |
12.7M (97%) |
13.8M (97%) |
+9% |
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:
“Ryanair’s August traffic (which includes Lauda traffic for the first time) grew by 9% to 13.8m customers, while our load factor was unchanged at 97%, on the back of even lower fares.
Regrettably, over 100,000 Ryanair customers had their flights cancelled in August because of repeated ATC staff shortages in the UK, Germany and France, and one day of unnecessary pilot strikes. Ryanair, together with other European airlines, calls for urgent action by the EU Commission and Governments to correct these ATC staff shortages which are disrupting the travel plans of millions of Europe’s consumers this summer.”
Over 65% Of Ryanair Cabin Crew Now Covered By Union Recognition Agreements
Ryanair today (30 Aug) announced that it has signed its fourth cabin crew union recognition agreement with Forsa, who will be the representative body for Ryanair’s directly employed cabin crew in Ireland.
Ryanair looks forward to working with Forsa and the elected Ryanair (Cabin Crew) Company Council to conclude an early CLA for Ryanair’s directly employed cabin crew based in Ireland. This agreement follows Ryanair’s cabin crew recognition deals with the Italian ANPAC, ANPAV and Fit-Cisl unions, UNITE the union in the UK and the Ver.di union in Germany.
Ryanair’s Chief People Officer, Eddie Wilson said:
“We are pleased to sign this cabin crew recognition agreement with Forsa in Ireland. We look forward to working closely with both Forsa and their Company Council to address issues of concern to our directly employed Irish based cabin crew. This is a further sign of the progress Ryanair is making with trade unions since our December 2017 decision to recognise unions, with over 65% of our cabin crew now covered by recognition agreements and we hope to sign more agreements in the coming weeks.”
Laudamotion, Austria’s No. 1 low fare airline, today (Wed, 29th Aug) announced that it would double its Airbus fleet from 9 to 18 aircraft in Summer 2019 following the completion of Ryanair’s purchase of 75% shareholding in Laudamotion GmbH from Niki Lauda in August.
Laudamotion also announced a series of initiatives to support Laudamotion’s continued growth, which include:
– Confirmed delivery dates for 9 additional Airbus A320 aircraft for Summer 2019
– A new aircraft livery which reflects Laudamotion’s Austrian heritage
– New Vienna offices to accommodate more, high paid, high quality jobs
– Pilot pay increases and basic pay guarantees
Guaranteed Captain starting basic pay of €90,000 p.a., (higher than Wizz €56k, Level €72k andEurowings €78k)
Up to €180,000 total Capt pay p.a. including flight pay/allowances
Guaranteed First Officer starting basic pay of €46,000k p.a., (higher than Wizz €26k, Level €38k and Eurowings €44k)
Up to €70k total First Officer pay p.a. including flight pay
– Roll out of a stable winter roster 5 days on, 3 days off (a bank holiday every weekend)
– A new Personnel Director Christian Euler Rolle who starts on 1st Sept 2018.
Speaking in Vienna today, Laudamotion’s CEO, Andreas Gruber, said:
“Laudamotion now faces the future with great confidence, backed by the enormous financial strength of Ryanair, our new majority shareholder and Europe’s largest airline. Laudamotion has already achieved load factors over 90% in its first summer season, thanks to the efforts of over 500 Laudamotion colleagues. These 9 additional 2019 Airbus deliveries ensure that Laudamotion will grow again by at least 20% in 2019 to 5m guests p.a. We look forward to offering even more low fare choices to Austrian and German customers.”
Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, David O’Brien, added:
“Ryanair is pleased to complete the purchase of a 75% shareholding in Laudamotion GmbH from Niki Lauda and his team. We applaud the extraordinary work of Niki Lauda, Andreas Gruber and all the Laudamotion team in the face of very difficult market circumstances and unfair competitor activity to deliver this flying programme this summer, which has provided low fares for the first time ever on over 53 routes. We look forward to fulfilling Niki Lauda’s vision of Laudamotion as Austria’s No. 1 low fare airline and providing competition and choice to the high fare airlines which have for too long fleeced Austrian and German consumers/visitors. We also wish Niki a very speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming him back as soon as possible.”
Italy Accounts For 20% Of Ryanair’s Fleet And Pilots
Ryanair today (28 Aug) confirmed that its Italian pilots had voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) which was negotiated and signed between Ryanair and ANPAC (Italian Airline Pilots Association) on 9 August last.
Ryanair welcomes this first pilot CLA in one of its largest EU markets. Today’s vote in Italy comes shortly after Irish union FORSA has signed, and recommended, a mediation agreement to Ryanair’s Irish pilots, who are currently voting to approve this agreement.
Ryanair’s Chief People Officer, Eddie Wilson said:
“We welcome this first CLA with our Italian pilots and hope that it will be shortly followed by a similar agreement covering our Irish pilots. We have invited our UK, German and Spanish unions to meet with us in the coming days so that we can negotiate and hopefully agree similar pilot CLAs in these other larger markets. These agreements demonstrate the real progress being made by Ryanair in its negotiations with its pilots and their unions across different EU markets.”
– Up to 50% of customers will continue to bring two free carry-on bags from 1 Nov as they travel on Priority Boarding.
– Our new lower cost €8 x 10kg checked bag (compared to the current €25 x 20kg checked bag) means that checked bag income will probably decline as we deliver more savings to Ryanair customers.
Read more here: https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/new-bag-policy-from-november-will-cut-check-bag-fees-reduce-boarding-delays/
Read more here: Guardian Article 3 Sep 18
21 New Routes Including Casablanca, Kiev, Moscow, Tunis & Zurich Now On Sale On Ryanair.Com
Ryanair, Malta’s No.1 airline, today (21 Aug) announced a new flight partnership with Air Malta, which will allow Ryanair’s 139m customers to book Air Malta flights on the Ryanair.com website. From today, Maltese customers can browse and book Air Malta flights on 21 new routes from Malta to 8 different countries across Africa, Asia and Europe, including Russia and Tunisia.
This new Air Malta partnership is the latest initiative delivered under Ryanair’s “Always Getting Better” customer experience programme. Ryanair already offers 53 routes to/from Malta and will deliver 2.7m annual customers.
In Malta, Ryanair CCO David O’Brien said:
“We are pleased to announce this exciting partnership with Air Malta, which allows our 139m customers to browse and book flights on 21 new routes from Malta to exciting cities in Austria, Czechia, Israel, Morocco, Russia, Switzerland, Tunisia and Ukraine, in addition to over 300 existing destinations available on the Ryanair.com website, the world’s largest travel website, which receives over 50m unique visitors every month.
This partnership is the latest AGB enhancement as we continue our journey to becoming the ‘Amazon of travel.’ Ryanair offers 53 routes to/from Malta, and now our customers can enjoy even more routes, making Ryanair.com the ideal choice for families, leisure travel and business customers.
To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale from €14.99 for travel from September until October 2018, which are available for booking by midnight Thursday (23 Aug). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Air Malta’s Chairman Dr Charles Mangion said:
“This is a landmark agreement were both airlines are cooperating together for the benefit of their mutual customers. Over the last year Air Malta has made significant improvements not only to expand its network of destinations with more frequencies and destinations but also changing its product in terms of fare structure and onboard service. This agreement will also help Air Malta increase its visibility in overseas markets and tap into new revenue streams. We look forward to further cooperation between the two airlines for the benefit of our clients”.
Dr Konrad Mizzi, Malta’s Minister for Tourism said:
“This strategic initiative is an important development which will give Air Malta access to a new sales channel. This partnership will further accelerate Air Malta’s growth strategy and ambitions.”
VC Refuse To Give 7 Days’ Notice Of Strike So Ryanair Can Minimize Customer Disruption
– Affected customers will be notified by 3pm on Wednesday (8 Aug) and can take refund, free move or reroute.
– This strike is unnecessary when Ryanair has already sent VC a revised proposal (on Friday 3 August) on a Collective Labour Agreement.
– Ryanair calls on VC to meet and continue meaningful negotiations rather than call strikes.
The VC pilot union has called for a strike at Ryanair airports in Germany on Friday, 10th August 2018, forcing Ryanair to cancel 250 out of over 2,400 flights scheduled to operate that day.
Customers affected by these unnecessary cancellations will be contacted by email and SMS text message this afternoon (8 Aug) before 3pm and advised of their options of a refund, free move on to the next available flight or reroute. Flight operations are scheduled to resume normal services on Saturday 11 August 2018.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said:
“We regret the decision of the VC to go ahead with this unnecessary strike action given that we sent through a revised proposal on a Collective Labour Agreement (on Fri 3 Aug) and stated our intention to work towards achieving a CLA together. We also invited VC to meet us on Tuesday (7 Aug) but they did not respond to this invitation.
Our pilots in Germany enjoy excellent working conditions. They are paid up to €190,000 p.a. and, as well as additional benefits, they received a 20% pay increase at the start of this year. Ryanair pilots earn at least 30% more than Eurowings and 20% more than Norwegian pilots.
We asked VC to provide us with at least 7 days’ notice of any planned strike action so that we could notify our customers of cancelled flights in advance and offer them alternative flights or refunds, but they have refused to do this and instead call an unnecessary strike in Germany in just two days’ time.
Ryanair is ready to continue these negotiations (as confirmed by our Aug 3 proposal). We again call on the VC to remove the threat of an unjustified and unnecessary strike, to commit to providing reasonable (7 days) notice of strike action and to accept our invitations to meet for meaningful negotiations on a CLA for our German pilots and minimise disruption to German customers.
Ryanair is now forced to cancel 250 flights of over 2,400 flights scheduled to operate on Friday 10 August. We apologise to our customers for this unnecessary strike and regrettable disruption.”