The Board of Ryanair Holdings plc today (Tues 28th March) announced that Ms Elisabeth Köstinger, an Austrian citizen, and Mr Eamonn Brennan, an Irish citizen, have agreed to join the Board of Ryanair Holdings plc as non-executive directors effective from 1 April 2023.

Elisabeth Köstinger is a former Austrian politician who was an MEP from 2009 to 2017, and subsequently served as Minister for Agriculture, Sustainability and Tourism in the Government of Chancellors Kurz, Schallenberg and Nehammer. She retired from politics in 2022 to become CEO of an Austrian ESG-Fintech. 

Eamonn Brennan was formerly Chief Executive of the Irish Aviation Authority, and more recently the Director General of Eurocontrol from 2018 to 2022. Mr Brennan has been a central figure in European aviation over the past 5 years.

Ryanair’s Chairman Stan McCarthy said:

“We are pleased that Elisabeth and Eamonn have accepted our invitation to join the Board of Ryanair Holdings plc from 1 April 2023. Elisabeth brings significant political, environmental and business experience, and is our first Continental European Board Member since 2013. Eamonn brings enormous aviation expertise to the Board as former CEO of the Irish Aviation Authority and DG of Eurocontrol. We look forward to both Elisabeth and Eamonn making a significant contribution to our Board, as we develop our strategy for growth of low fare services across Europe for the next decade.” 

ENDS

Ryanair, Europe’s largest passenger airline, today (Mon 27^th Mar) condemned the continuing cancellation of flights over France due to repeated French ATC strikes. As always, French Minimum Service Legislation is used to protect French domestic flights, but EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland are cancelled solely because a tiny French ATC union repeatedly closes the skies over Europe.

Over this past weekend, over 25% of Ryanair’s 9,000 scheduled flights were delayed due to French ATC disruptions, and 230 flights (41,000 passengers) were cancelled to comply with French ATC capacity restrictions. These repeated disruptions of EU overflights is unacceptable.

Last year, Eurocontrol recommended the Commission take modest action to respond to ATC strikes (without affecting the right to strike) as follows; 

• Impose ATC minimum service requirements with a clear reduction of domestic flights
• All overflights allowed with no ATC delays
• Minimum advance strike notice to allow airlines to reschedule flights or advise passengers

Sadly, to date, the EU Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen have failed to take any action on these measures to protect EU citizens and overflights.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said:

“Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission repeatedly claim that the Single Market is a priority for Europe. In negotiations around Brexit, the Single Market was the EU Commissions priority. However, every time French ATC goes on strike, the Single Market for air travel over Europe is disrupted, yet the EU Commission sits on its hands taking no action.

When the French Government uses Minimum Service Legislation to protect French flights, why does Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission stand idly by and allow EU overflights to be disproportionately cancelled on a daily basis? We call on the Commission to take legal action against France and its ATC unions, to protect EU overflights. Innocent EU passengers travelling from Germany to Spain, or from Ireland to Italy, are entitled to rely on the EU’s Single Market for air travel, and their overflights should not be repeatedly cancelled because the EU Commissions fails to take action to defend the Single Market.

Europe’s Single European Sky (SESAR) project has been a 20 year catalogue of failure. No progress has been made in 2 decades. Eurocontrol has already recommended that the Commission take legal action to protect overflights, and it is about time that Ursula von der Leyen and her Commission stopped hiding and started acting to defend the Single Market for air travel across Europe. We have no difficulty with French unions exercising their right to strike, but we expect the European Commission to defend and protect the Single Market, and not have it repeatedly shut down or EU overflights cancelled just because French ATC unions engage in these recreational strikes.”

ENDS

 

CALLING ON URSULA VON DER LEYEN TO PROTECT PASSENGER FLIGHTS AND KEEP EU SKIES OPEN DURING FRENCH ATC STRIKES

Following repeated inaction by the EU Commission under Ursula von der Leyen, who have failed to take action to protect EU passenger flights during French Air Traffic Control (ATC) strikes, Ryanair is now calling on EU passengers to sign its ‘PROTECT PASSENGERS – KEEP EU SKIES OPEN’ petition, and join its call on the EU Commission to protect passengers by protecting overflights during French ATC strikes.

So far in 2023, French ATC strikes have delayed/cancelled the flights of over 1m airline passengers, while the EU Commission have failed to protect these passengers’ flights. 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 – Spain, Italy, Greece). While French law unfairly protects domestic flights, which means French flights are protected but non-French flights get cancelled. This is unfair.

As there is currently no EU reg to protect flights over French airspace during French ATC strikes, Ryanair and its 168m passengers demand that the EU Commission take the following measures:

1. Protect French overflights during ATC strikes (using min services laws) 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 engage in binding arbitration before calling of strikes

Ryanair also confirmed today that it will submit its ‘PROTECT PASSENGERS – KEEP EU SKIES OPEN’ petition to the EU Commission when it reaches 1 million signatures to demand that they take action to protect European passengers and their families by keeping EU skies open during French ATC strikes.

Ryanair’s Eddie Wilson said:

“While we respect the right to strike, it is completely unacceptable that Europe’s passenger flights that overfly France are repeatedly delayed or cancelled by French ATC strikes. So far in 2023, more than 1,000,000 EU passengers have faced unnecessary delays/cancellations as a result of 14 separate French ATC strikes, with zero action taken by Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission to protect them. It’s just not fair that flights to and from France are protected by min.

Despite multiple unanswered calls on the EU Commission to protect passenger flights by keeping the EU skies open during French ATC strikes, Ryanair has launched an EU wide petition to ‘PROTECT PASSENGERS – KEEP EU SKIES OPEN, where passengers are asked to support our call on the EU Commission to take action to protect Europeans and their families and their travel plans during French ATC strikes, which have become an almost weekly occurrence.

Afterall, if the EU won’t listen to its airlines, perhaps they’ll listen to millions of Europe’s passengers instead.”

OPENS 1 NEW ROUTE (22 TOT.) AND ESTIMATES 1M PAX

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today, (15 Mar) announced its Bratislava schedule for Summer ’23, with 22 routes, incl. 1 new destination to lovely city of Kaunas.

Ryanair’s Bratislava Summer ‘23 schedule will deliver:

– 2 based aircraft

– $200m investment in Bratislava

– 22 routes incl. 1 new – Kaunas

– 1m passengers p.a.

– 21% growth vs S22

Supporting over 960 jobs, incl. 60 high skill aviation jobs

In Summer ‘23, Ryanair will operate over 130 weekly flights to/from Bratislava carrying 1 million passengers p.a., driving connectivity, tourism and traffic growth. This growth is underpinned by Ryanair’s $200 investment in Bratislava, incl. 2 based aircraft and generating over 960 local jobs, including 60 high skill aviation jobs  

To celebrate the launch of its Bratislava schedule for Summer ‘23, Ryanair has launched a limited-time seat sale for customers looking to bag themselves a bargain on their Summer ‘23 holiday with fares from just €29.99 available now on Ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Alicja Wójcik-Gołębiowska, Country Manager CEE & Baltics said:

“As Europe no. 1 airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce our latest Bratislava schedule for Summer ’23, with over 130 weekly flights across 22 routes, incl. 1 new route to Kaunas, offering Slovakian citizens/visitors even more choice for their summer holidays at the lowest air fares in Europe.

This unrivalled growth at Bratislava is underpinned by Ryanair’s $200m investment in based aircraft for Bratislava creating 60 jobs and supporting over 960.  

To celebrate Ryanair’s new Bratislava routes for Summer ‘23, we are launching a special seat sale with fares from just €29.99  for travel between Apr and Oct ‘23, which must be booked by midnight 17 Mar on Ryanair.com.”

BTS CEO Dušan Keketi said:

“We consider Ryanair to be long-term and reliable partner that operates several interesting and traditional destinations available this summer flight season as well. Slovakian citizens can thus get to the popular London, beautiful and historical Malta or the Turkish Dalaman, which successfully proved itself as a novelty from the last year.

I am especially looking forward about the new destination in Lithuania, the city of Kaunas. This regular air connection will allow Slovaks to discover a new destination such as the Baltic region.”

4 NEW ROUTES (66 TOTAL) & INCREASED FREQUENCIES ON 20+ ROUTES

Ryanair, Malta’s No. 1 airline, today (15 Mar) announced its biggest ever schedule for Malta with 66 routes, incl. 4 new routes to exciting destinations like Baden, East Midlands, Memmingen, and Stockholm and increased frequencies on 20 other popular routes from/to capital cities.

Ryanair’s Malta Summer‘23 schedule will deliver:

– 6 based aircraft ($600M investment), incl. 4 Gamechangers

– 66 routes incl. 4 new routes to Baden, East Midlands, Memmingen, and Stockholm

– Increased frequencies on 20+ routes, incl. Barcelona, Ciampino, Catania, Milan, Valencia, and Vienna

– 470+ weekly flights (+26% growth vs S22)

– 3.5M passengers to/from Malta p.a.

– Supp. over 3,000 local jobs, incl. direct pilot, cabin crew & engineering jobs

This Summer Ryanair will operate over 470 weekly flights to/from Malta (26% growth on S22), supporting the recovery of inbound tourism to pre covid levels and offering its Malta citizens/visitors the widest choice and the lowest fares when booking their summer getaways. This unrivalled growth is underpinned by Ryanair’s $600M investment in Malta, with 6 based aircraft and support of over 3,000 local jobs. Malta’s island economy where tourism directly and indirectly generates over 30% of GDP*, is reliant on the support of airlines like Ryanair to sustain the industry.

Malta’s customers/visitors can now book one of Ryanair’s 4 new routes from just €29.99 for travel between Apr and Oct 2023 on www.Ryanair.com.

Malta Air CEO, David O’Brien said:

“As Malta’s no. 1 airline, Ryanair is pleased to announce its biggest ever Malta schedule for Summer’23, with 4 new routes from/to Baden, East Midlands, Memmingen and Stockholm, offering Malta’s citizens/visitors even more choice for their Summer holidays at the lowest fares in Europe. The introduction of new routes further demonstrates Ryanair’s commitment to support inbound tourism from key markets and offer the Maltese improved connectivity across Europe.

With this record 2023 schedule underpinned by Ryanair’s 6 based aircraft – a $600m investment in Malta and supporting over 3,000 local jobs including highly paid pilot, cabin crew & engineering jobs – Ryanair continues to deliver more growth and lower fares than any other airline in Malta and Europe.

To celebrate the launch of Ryanair’s Summer ‘23 schedule for Malta, we are launching a limited-time promo with fares from just €29.99 for travel between Apr and Sep ’23 on www.Ryanair.com.”

MTA CEO Carlo Micallef said:

 “Following a successful 2022 which saw tourism recover to 2.3 million arrivals in a year which had commenced facing the challenges and restrictions of the Omicron variant, we are looking forward to an even stronger recovery during 2023 which should get us very close to 2019 record results.  This positive attitude is underpinned by strong airline capacity increases both in terms of numbers of routes and in terms of frequencies. Ryanair and its Maltese subsidiary Malta Air are important contributors to this surge in airline connectivity and the announcement of their Summer 2023 schedule is testament to their faith in the regrowing of Malta’s important tourism industry.”

TWICE AS MANY DESTINATIONS VS. ANY OTHER AIRLINE FROM/TO DUBLIN

Ryanair, Ireland’s No. 1 airline, today (14 Mar) announced its biggest ever summer schedule to/from Dublin, with 130 routes, incl. 14 new exciting destinations to sun hotspots like Asturias and Castellon in Spain, Kos and Zakynthos in Greece, and exciting city break destinations like Stockholm, Genoa and Leipzig. Ryanair’s record Dublin schedule offers the lowest fares and more than twice as many destinations as any other carrier operating to/from Dublin Airport this Summer, delivering over 16m passengers and supporting over 13,000 local jobs.

Ryanair’s Dublin Summer‘23 schedule will deliver:

– 33 based aircraft – incl. up to 16 B737 Gamechangers

– $3.3bn investment

– 130 destinations incl. 14 new

– Over 2,000 weekly flights

– 10% traffic growth on S22

– 16m passengers p.a.

– Over 13,000 jobs incl. over 1,000 direct pilot, cabin crew & engineering jobs

With 14 extra routes compared to last Summer, Ryanair will operate over 2,000 weekly flights to/from Dublin Airport this Summer, connecting 130 destinations across 27 countries, incl. top European destinations across Croatia, Greece, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain among many more. This traffic growth (+10% on S22) will deliver not just inbound tourism but will also offer Irish customers the widest choice and the lowest fares when booking their Summer ‘23 getaways – whether trying city breaks in Berlin (24 weekly flights), Krakow (18 weekly flights) or Lisbon (32 weekly flights), or sun holidays in Dubrovnik (8 weekly flights), Lanzarote (28 weekly flights) or Santorini (4 weekly flights).

This expanded Summer schedule is underpinned by an increase in the number of B737 Gamechangers based at Dublin rising from 11 up to 16. These more enviro efficient aircraft carry 4% more passengers, burn 16% less fuel and most importantly, generate 40% less noise on Dublin Airport’s new north runway.

Ryanair continues to deliver more traffic, more jobs, and more low fares than any other airline at Dublin this Summer as we respond  to continued traffic recovery incentives. Future growth at Dublin is dependent on competitive airport charges. Airports across Europe continue to incentivise traffic recovery, Ryanair is the only airline of scale, with 110 aircraft still to be delivered that can meaningfully deliver traffic recovery and will locate those aircraft at the most competitive airports. Sadly charges are set to rise by up to 45% at Dublin Airport and that will inevitably mean  Ryanair locating future aircraft and route expansion elsewhere in Europe. The post covid recovery incentives in Ireland clearly demonstrated that Ryanair responds to lower costs with more seat capacity and new routes. That winning formula of lower costs was central to the post covid recovery of air traffic in Ireland which was driven by Ryanair, with more connectivity and tourism growth. Dublin Airport needs to remain competitive vs. other European airports, with low cost, efficient facilities and services to support the Irish economy which is highly dependent on low cost air access.

Speaking from Dublin, Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, said:

“As Ireland’s no. 1 airline, Ryanair is pleased to announce our biggest ever Dublin schedule for Summer ‘23, with over 2,000 weekly flights to 130 top destinations across 27 countries, incl. 14 new routes to the likes of Stockholm, Genoa, Kos and Zakynthos, offering Dublin customers/visitors even more choice for their Summer holidays at the lowest fares in Europe.

Ryanair will offer more than double the destinations of any other carrier operating to/from Dublin this summer and is the only airline operating to the likes of Zakynthos – a Greek island in the Ionian Sea with its iconic white-sand beaches or Asturias – a tranquil region in north-western Spain with mountain trails and world-class cuisine. Ryanair is offering the most varied selection of destinations and this additional growth will be delivered on more enviro efficient aircraft, which will reduce noise by 40% on Dublin airport’s new north runway.

Ryanair will carry over 16m passenger to/from Dublin this year, delivering more traffic, more jobs, and more low fares than any other airline. However, if we are to continue to grow and to drive recovery and connectivity to Dublin in the long term, the daa must keep airport charges competitive. Projects, like the €200m tunnel that increase costs unnecessarily, are not wanted by airlines and only damage the economy by driving capacity to more competitive  European airports.

To celebrate the launch of Ryanair’s Summer ‘23 schedule for Dublin, we are launching a special promo with seats from just €29.99 for travel between Apr and Oct ’23, which must be booked by midnight 16  Mar on www.Ryanair.com.”

Speaking from Dublin, daa CEO, Kenny Jacobs, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Ryanair’s biggest ever summer schedule from Dublin Airport with 14 new destinations and the resultant jobs this growth brings to the Irish economy. Ryanair is an incredible success story, and daa wants to support their future growth at Dublin and Cork airports. We take a necessary long-term view on infrastructure and we are progressing our €1.9 billion capital investment programme to ensure Dublin Airport continues to grow in a safe and efficient way to support all our current and future airline customers. Aeronautical charges at Dublin Airport are one of the lowest among our peer airports in Europe and we wish to remain a low-cost airport whilst securing a modest increase to ensure a resilient offering for our airline partners and passengers.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today, (2 Mar) announced its biggest ever Prague schedule for Summer ’23, with 33 routes, incl. 4 new bustling city break destinations like Gdańsk, and sunny hotspot destinations like Rimini, Seville and Skiathos, giving its Prague customers/visitors unbeatable choice at the lowest fares when booking their Summer holidays.

Ryanair’s Prague Summer ‘23 schedule will deliver:

– 33 routes incl. 4 new – Gdańsk, Rimini, Seville & Skiathos

– 2.3m passengers p.a.

– 21% growth vs S22

– Supporting over 1,800 jobs, incl. 120 high skill aviation jobs

In Summer ‘23, Ryanair will operate over 285 weekly flights to/from Prague (21% growth vs Summer ’22) carrying 2.3 million passengers p.a., driving connectivity, tourism and traffic growth.

Ryanair’s Alicja Wójcik-Gołębiowska, Country Manager CEE said:

“As Europe no. 1 airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce our biggest ever Prague schedule for Summer ’23, with over 285 weekly flights across 33 routes, incl. 4 new routes to Gdańsk, Rimini, Seville and Skiathos, offering Prague’s citizens/visitors even more choice for their summer holidays at the lowest air fares in Europe.