FED UP PASSENGERS CALL ON EU COMMISSION TO PROTECT OVERFLIGHTS AHEAD OF ANOTHER FRENCH ATC STRIKE ON MON, 1ST MAY

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 airline, today (28 Apr) confirmed that over 600,000 passengers have signed its “Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open” petition calling on the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take immediate action to protect European citizen’s Freedom of Movement and overflights during French ATC strikes.

When Ryanair’s petition reaches 1 million signatures, the airline will submit it to the EU Commission and demand that President Ursula von der Leyen finally takes action to protect EU citizen’s Freedom of Movement when French ATC repeatedly strike.

Despite only launching just 5 weeks ago, Ryanair has already collected over 600,000 signatures from passengers who are sick and tired of having their travel plans cancelled at short notice due to French ATC strikes, and all because the EU Commission has failed to protect their right to the Freedom of Movement. EU citizens now understand that their travel plans are being disrupted unnecessarily by French ATC unions and are demanding action from the EU Commission.

In the first 4 months of 2023, there have been over 50 days of French ATC strikes (10 times more than all of 2022) which have forced Ryanair to cancel over 3,700 flights, cancelling over 666,000 passengers’ flights at short notice. France uses Minimum Service Legislation to protect French domestic flights, while EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland are disproportionately cancelled. This is unfair and must change. Italy and Greece already protect overflights during ATC strikes and the EU Commission must now insist that France does likewise.

A Ryanair spokesperson said:

“We are overwhelmed by the support for our Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open petition with over 600,000 signatures already from passengers calling on EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take immediate action to protect their Freedom of Movement and overflights by keeping EU skies open during repeated French ATC strikes. We are rapidly approaching the 1 million signatures we need to force the EU Commission to take action to protect overflights and EU citizens’ Freedom of Movement.

French ATC strikes are the No.1 risk to EU citizens’ travel plans this Summer and passengers are really starting to understand that the EU Commission is doing nothing to mitigate that risk and protect their Freedom of Movement. EU citizens are now signing our petition to demand action from the EU Commission to protect them and their family’s travel plans this Summer. The EU’s Single Market for air travel should not be repeatedly disrupted by tiny French ATC unions because the EU Commission fails to take action. It’s time to protect overflights during French ATC strikes as Italy and Greece already do. If French ATC unions insist to strike (as is their right) then cancel French flights and protect overflights.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (27Apr) announced that it is adding 3 “Gamechanger” aircraft to its London Luton Airport (LLA) based fleet. These 3 brand new 737 8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft are more environmentally friendly and will reduce noise by 40% and CO₂ emissions by 16% while delivering greater capacity to carry 4% more passengers per flight.

The airline’s decision to allocate these brand new “Gamechanger” aircraft to London Luton Airport forms part of its joint strategy with LLA to deliver growth in a sustainable way.

Ryanair will operate over 140 weekly flights across 27 routes to/from London Luton Airport for Summer ‘23, incl. 9 new routes by Ryanair to Bezier, Bologna, Malta, and Seville, offering unbeatable choice at the lowest fares in Europe.

Speaking at Luton Airport, Ryanair DAC’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:

“As Europe’s and the UK’s No.1 airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce the addition of 3 “Gamechanger” aircraft to our fleet at London Luton Airport, making our operations at LLA even more sustainable by reducing noise emissions by 40% and fuel consumption by 16% delivering 4% more capacity per aircraft.

This significant investment at London Luton Airport forms part of a longer-term strategy between Ryanair and the Airport’s management team to deliver sustainable growth at LLA.

Ryanair will operate over 140 weekly flights across 27 routes to/from LLA this Summer and offer London’s citizens/visitors unbeatable choice at the lowest fares in Europe for Summer ‘23 getaways. We are launching a special promo travel sale with seats available from just £29.99 for travel between Apr and Jul ’23 on www.Ryanair.com.”

Jonathan Rayner, Chief Commercial Officer at London Luton Airport, added:

“We are delighted to welcome the arrival of these three new fuel-efficient Ryanair aircraft at London Luton Airport. As well as our commitment to achieve Net Zero Carbon for our own airport emissions by 2040, we are working closely with our airlines to reduce their emissions and Ryanair’s investment in these next generation aircraft is an exciting development that underlines its commitment to working sustainably with LLA.

We are looking forward to the busy summer months and our focus as ever is on delivering a simple and friendly passenger experience.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No 1 airline, has today (21 Apr) announced that is has added over 51,000 extra seats across multiple French routes incl. Dublin – Bordeaux, Dublin – Paris, Edinburgh – Paris, London Stansted – Marseille, Manchester – Marseille, and more ahead of 2023’s highly anticipated Rugby World Cup taking place in September and October.

Secure your Ryanair flight to France and cheer on your team from a stadium seat for the ultimate match day experience.

Ryanair’s Jade Kirwan said:

“We’ve had record bookings from Rugby fans travelling for what is set to be a spectacular Rugby World Cup in France. To fulfil this overwhelming demand, we have added over 51,000 seats across multiple France routes from both Ireland and the UK, including Dublin – Bordeaux, Dublin – Nantes, and Dublin – Paris, Edinburgh – Paris, London Stansted – Marseille, and Manchester – Marseille, among many others.

While we’re adding lots of additional capacity, we expect these seats to sell out fast and encourage all rugby fans to book their low-fare Ryanair seats now to avoid missing out.”

Ryanair, Hungary’s No.1 airline, today (21 Apr) regrets that the Hungarian Constitutional Court has reversed its previous decision to accept Ryanair’s constitutional challenge of the Hungarian Govt’s failed and illogical “excess profits” tax on loss making airlines in Hungary. 

However, the Constitutional Court’s decision is of no consequence as the Hungarian Govt had already replaced its illogical “excess profits” tax on airlines, with an equally ridiculous fake “eco tax” of up to €32 per passenger! This flagrant attempt to dress up their money grab up as an “eco tax”, when it is just an excessive tax on tourism, visitors and Hungarian families. Point-to-point airlines like Ryanair already pay millions of euros every year under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme which covers emissions on flights to/from Hungary. The Hungarian Govt’s greenwashing is just a double taxation at a time when low-cost air access to/from Hungary is essential for the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy, which is suffering record inflation.

During a cost-of-living crisis in Hungary, these unjustified taxes do nothing but further squeeze Hungarian citizens/visitors and damage the Hungarian economy which is dependent on low fare air access and tourism. Ryanair already cancelled 8 routes and reduced frequencies on a further 7 routes from Budapest for Winter ’22 in direct response to the Hungarian Govt’s bizarre “excess profits” tax and its replacement fake “eco tax”.

A Ryanair Spokesperson said:

“We call again on the Hungarian Govt to scrap this stupid “eco tax” on flights to/from Hungary which will damage tourism and jobs, while penalizing Hungarian visitors and citizens at a time of record price inflation in Hungary.”

Ryanair, Europe’s no. 1 airline has today (18 Apr) donated €10,000 to its charity partner, the Puttinu Cares Foundation, to support the charity’s invaluable work of caring for sick children, adults and their families. Ryanair has been proudly working with the Puttinu Cares Foundation in Malta through its scratch card programme since 2022, and with the support of its generous customers, has so far raised €10,000 for the charity.

Ryanair’s scratch card programme has proven very popular among its Maltese customers, giving passengers the chance to win amazing prizes including luxury cars and cash prizes as well as a chance to scoop €1m in Ryanair’s annual ‘Win a Mill’ event held at the airline’s HQ in Dublin, Ireland.

Having first launched its charity scratch card programme in 2009, Ryanair has raised a grand total of €1.6m for charities throughout Europe to date.

Speaking of Ryanair’s support of the Puttinu Cares Foundation, Dara Brady, Ryanair’s Director of Marketing said:

“It is a great honour to be presenting the Puttinu Cares Foundation with this €10,000 donation, which represents the contributions of our generous customers both here in Malta and across Europe throughout the past year.

Having partnered with the Puttinu Cares Foundation since 2022, and having raised €10,000 throughout that time, we have a strong connection to this charity and our crews are hugely passionate about supporting the incredible work that they carry out in Malta.

Through our scratch card programme, Ryanair has contributed over €1.6m to charities across Europe and we want to say a special thank you to all our customers who purchased a charity scratch card on board a Ryanair flight, helping both the Puttinu Cares Foundation and a range of other deserving charities across Europe. We look forward to continuing our scratch card programme and supporting even more charities throughout 2023 and beyond.”

Commenting on the donation and what it means for the charity, Rennie Zerafa CEO from the Puttinu Cares Foundation said:

“We are so grateful for this generous donation and continued support from Ryanair. Hundreds of families are benefitting from donations of caring donors. Through donations, Puttinu Cares purchases apartments in the UK near hospitals and offers free accommodation to patients and their families in time of need. The aim of the apartments will always be for patients and their families to focus on treatment and recovery while Puttinu bears some of the load of their suffering and offering a HOME AWAY FROM HOME.”

Ryanair, Ireland’s No. 1 airline, today (Mon, 17^th Apr) announced plans to expand its aircraft maintenance facility at Dublin Airport with the construction of a new state-of-the-art 4 bay hangar – a €40m investment and creating over 200 new highly paid and high skilled jobs for engineers and mechanics.

This new 120,000sq foot hangar will be one of the most environmentally friendly hangars in the EU with gas absorption heat pumps reducing energy use by up to 35%. The hangar will facilitate the heavy and line maintenance of Ryanair’s fleet at Dublin Airport as the airline grow its fleet to 600 aircraft with the delivery of more efficient new technology 737-8200 “Gamechanger” aircraft, which carry 4% more passengers while burning 16% less fuel and emitting 40% less noise.

Construction of the new facility will commence in Q4 of 2023 with aircraft maintenance operations planned to start in Q2 2025.

Ryanair CEO, Eddie Wilson, said:

“As Ireland’s No.1 airline, we are delighted to announce our plans to invest a further €40 million in Dublin which will see significant expansion of our Dublin maintenance base and will create a further 200 highly paid jobs for engineers and mechanics. This facility will be state of the art and one of the most environmentally friendly hangars in Europe and will facilitate the maintenance of our growing fleet.

Ryanair is the ‘go-to’ airline for highly skilled engineering jobs with our industry leading rosters for engineers and the opportunity to work with the biggest operator of Boeing 737s in Europe. We are pleased to announce the expansion of Ryanair maintenance in Ireland as Ryanair continues to grow to over 600 aircraft and 225 million passengers by 2026.”

FRENCH ATC STRIKES HAVE UNFAIRLY CANCELLED OVER 627,000 PASSENGERS’ FLIGHTS

On the 38^th day of French ATC strikes in just 3 months, Ryanair has condemned EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen for her inexcusable failure to protect EU citizens/visitors’ fundamental right to the Freedom of Movement, by irresponsibly allowing EU skies to be closed repeatedly during French ATC strikes.

President von der Leyen has shown how little she cares about EU citizens/visitors and their rights by allowing over 627,000 Ryanair passengers’ flights in the first 3 months of 2023 alone to be cancelled at short notice due to French ATC strikes, disrupting travel plans, diminishing essential intra-European connectivity and damaging tourism. However, these passengers could easily be protected without impeding on French ATC unions’ right to strike with the following measures:

1. Protect French overflights during ATC strikes (using min services laws) like in Greece, Italy & Spain
2. Allow Europe’s other ATCs to manage flights over France while French ATC strike
3. Mandate that French ATC unions engage in binding arbitration before calling of strikes
4. Mandate advanced notification of strike participation

French unions can exercise their right to strike without being allowed to close the entire upper French airspace, as ATC unions in Spain, Italy and Greece avoid by protecting overflights. It is completely disproportionate and unfair that internal French flights are protected under Min. Services Legislation, but EU citizens/visitors’ overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland are cancelled.

President von der Leyen and the EU Commission have a duty to protect EU citizens’ right to the Freedom of Movement. Ryanair is calling on EU passengers to sign its Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open petition and demand that the EU Commission and President von der Leyen take immediate action to protect their rights as EU citizens.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said:

“Today, French ATC are striking for the 38^th day in just 3 months with thousands more EU passengers having their flights to see friends and family unfairly cancelled at short notice. While we have no difficulty with French unions exercising their right to strike, we do expect President von der Leyen to do her job and defend and protect EU citizens/visitors’ fundamental right to the Freedom of Movement, which she and her College of Commissioners have inexplicably failed to do.

It is completely disproportionate and unfair that the French Govt can use Min. Services Legislation to protect internal French flights but force the cancellation of flights over France. President von der Leyen should protect EU citizens/visitors on non-French flights overflying French Airspace from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and Ireland. The EU’s Single Market for air travel and overflights should not be repeatedly cancelled because the EU Commission fails to take action.

Ryanair is calling on EU passengers to join our call on President von der Leyen and sign our Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open petition to demand that the EU Commission take action to protect their rights as EU citizens.”