Posts Tagged ‘Ryanair’
Friday, January 6th, 2012
International Airlines Group, the airline formed by the merger of Iberia and British Airways at the beginning of last year, said that it has recorded a 7.2 per cent rise in passenger traffic. Traffic on British Airways rose by 10.6 per cent, which offset the 0.1 per cent gain by Iberia.
Through 2011, IAG carried 51.7 million customers, which was a 2.1 per cent increase on 2010. IAG is currently the third-largest carrier in Europe behind Air France-KLM and Lufthansa. During the year, British Airways achieved an increase in capacity of 9.8 per cent, where Iberia only pushed up its capacity by 1.2 per cent.
Europe’s number-one budget carrier Ryanair managed to increase its passenger total by five per cent in 2011 compared to a year earlier. The Dublin-based airline sold 76.4 million seats compared to 72.7 million in 2010. However, its load factor remained at 82 per cent.
In December, Ryanair’s passenger numbers dropped by five per cent to 4.8 million because the airline decided that it would take 80 jets out of service for the winter season. The carrier did so because the high price of jet fuel meant that some routes were failing to turn a profit.
IAG is currently valued at £2.7 billion, and Ryanair has a 5.41 billion euros market value. Although many airlines have performed slightly better than expected over the past 12 months, the International Air Transport Association has said that 2012 is expected to be more difficult against still high oil prices and a backdrop of economic uncertainty.
Tags: Air France KLM, British Airways, IAG, Iberia, Lufthansa, Ryanair
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Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
As the government announces that Air Passenger Duty will go up by 8 per cent from next April, British Airways has said it will be cutting the number of staff it will be taking on in 2012 from 800 to 400. IAG, the parent company of BA, said that the cuts were a direct result of the Chancellor’s decision.
An unprecedented alliance between four of the UK’s largest carriers is calling for the controversial tax to be scrapped. IAG head Willie Walsh, and the bosses of easyJet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic are calling on the government to initiate an independent review into the economic impact of APD.
Mr Walsh said that he believed the negative impact of APD on the economy would far outweigh any benefits for the Treasury. Many other airlines are also supporting an abolition of the charge.
A spokesman for the Treasury defended the tax, saying that the airline industry had to do its bit to help the recovery of the UK economy. A spokesman for the prime minister said Downing Street was disappointed that BA would be cutting the number of new jobs it would be creating, adding that APD had brought in around £2.5 billion which was an important contribution to battling the financial deficit.
The government has also pointed out that aviation fuel and domestic flights were not subject to VAT. It also said that a reduction in corporation tax would benefit airlines. As of next year, APD will also apply to those travelling in private jets.
Tags: air passenger duty, BA, British Airways, Easyjet, IAG, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic, Willie Walsh
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Monday, December 5th, 2011
Consumer watchdog Which? Has published a report in which it claims that controversial charges made by airlines when a customer purchases a ticket using a credit or debit card have skyrocketed over the last seven years by as much as 1,400 per cent. Which? Has asked the Office of Fair Trading to immediately look into the matter and do away with the unfair fees.
The inquiry, which began in June this year after the watchdog issued a supercomplaint is currently ongoing. Which? Says that action needs to be taken immediately as customers are losing what amounts to millions of pounds.
The study shows that in 2004, the most a customer was paying in plastic surcharges was £4. This charge was being made by BMI and easyJet. In the same year, Ryanair was charging £3.50 on a return trip if booked on a credit card and 80 pence for those choosing the debit option. Travellers booking with easyJet today are being charged £8 for a return trip, plus 2.5 per cent for using a credit card.
Passengers using debit and credit cards with Ryanair are now being charged £12 for a round trip. According to Which? Processing a credit card should cost no more than two per cent, and processing a debit card transaction costs around 20 pence.
Consumer Focus director of financial services, Sarah Brooks, said there was no reason why customers were being charged such high surcharges, and pointed out that the money was being used to increase airline profits.
Tags: BMI, Easyjet, office of fair trading, Ryanair, Which?
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Friday, November 18th, 2011
A group of airlines in the UK and Ireland have come together to ask the government to abolish Air Passenger Duty. The tax was first added to tickets in 1994 as a way of offsetting the carbon emitted by jet engines. What was between £5 and £40 added to the price of a ticket is now between £24 and £170 depending on the destination and the class which is being flown.
Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are all saying that the charge is extremely damaging and needs to be scrapped. They say that holidaymakers in the UK are being unfairly penalised, and that the country has become far less attractive to overseas visitors.
The Treasury, which stands to make around £2 billion from APD this year, has defended the tax. A spokesperson said that UK travellers were not required to pay VAT for their flights, unlike people in a number of other European countries.
Conservation groups have also defended APD, saying that it is necessary for combating the damage done by aircraft engines. Although the Chancellor made the decision not to raise the price of APD this year, many expect that it will be hiked next year by around 10 per cent.
Willie Walsh, boss of International Airlines Group and former head of British Airways, said he had contacted George Osborne to ask him to rethink APD. The Treasury said that it had already examined a number of ways of simplifying the tax and that announcements would be made in the coming weeks.
Tags: airlines, APD, British Airways, Easyjet, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic
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Friday, October 14th, 2011
Belfast City and International airports have been finding it difficult to make a profit as competition increases. Many are now wondering if it is viable to have two airports in the region. The idea behind City airport was to concentrate on making high margins off low volumes by attracting business customers. However, it looks like the corporate traveller is shying away from using air travel for regional trips.
This has left City with the task of widening its customer appeal. The airport has been trying to have a cap on passenger numbers lifted and its runway extended, but the plans have been thwarted by Stormont.
The decision not to extend the runway at City airport is the main reason budget carrier Ryanair decided to pull out at the end of last year. A public enquiry into the scheme is still expected, but not until 2012. City airport also recently lost its BMI Baby route to Manchester and its Flybe service to Liverpool.
Easyjet has announced that it will be running a new Manchester route out of the International airport. BMI has also said that it plans to introduce services from the City airport to Geneva and Amsterdam by the end of 2011 and to add Malaga, Palma, Ibiza and Faro to its timetables next year.
Airline industry sources say that Stormont needs to be more proactive in creating a regional strategy to help the airports. Connecting them to the rail network is one idea as it would help customers to reach their doors.
Tags: airports, Belfast, BMI Baby, Easyjet, Flybe, Ryanair, Stormont
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Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Ministers are considering plans to link Gatwick and Heathrow airports via a high speed railway service. The idea is to create a virtual hub, currently being called Heathwick, which could help to tackle the problem of diminishing capacity at airports in the south east. The trains would travel at up to 180mph meaning the journey time between Heathrow and Gatwick would be just 15 minutes. The project has been budgeted at £5 billion.
The track, which would mostly be underground, would follow the M25 and could stretch beyond Heathrow to RAF Northolt. Gatwick bosses have said that they welcome the scheme and look forward to examining it further. However, BAA, which owns Heathrow, said there were enormous political, technical and financial hurdles to be crossed.
Ryanair and easyJet said they would oppose the project. Both are worried that if a hub is created then low-cost carriers could be forced away from Gatwick. Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, dismissed the idea as prohibitively expensive and predicted that it would not be constructed in his lifetime.
Willie Walsh, CEO of International Airlines Group, British Airways’ parent company, said it was almost impossible to say how much the Heathwick project would cost or how long it would take to complete. He added that the government could end up regretting not going forward with constructing another runway at Heathrow.
Boris Johnson has said he will support further examination of the Heathwick proposals. However, the mayor added that he still thinks the best way of increasing capacity in the south east is through the building of a brand new Thames Estuary airport.
Tags: BAA, Boris Johnson, British Airways, Easyjet, Gatwick, Heathrow, Heathwick, michael o'leary, Ryanair, Willie Walsh
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Friday, May 27th, 2011
Holidaymakers setting off for the bank holiday and half-term have been told that the threat from the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud is unlikely to result in disruption to flight schedules. The Met Office said the ash was dispersing and the Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that all services should run as normal.
Although the eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano appears to have stopped, the Met Office is still advising passengers to double check with tour operators or airlines before setting out for the airport. The organisation came under fire from Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, this week for its predictions that the ash threat would be more severe than it was.
He said it was wrong to close airspace based on totally inaccurate forecasts and said it was obvious that the Met’s predictive modelling was unreliable. Earlier in the week around 500 flights in Scotland and the north of England were disrupted because of safety concerns. Airports in northern Germany were also closed for a period.
Philip Hammond, the UK’s transport minister, said he was working with the CAA and air traffic control to find a better way of dealing with future threats. Flights coming into and leaving the UK may now be allowed to fly beneath ash clouds until it is safe to gain altitude.
The Met Office and CAA will be consulting with easyJet and British Airways, both of which sent up test planes, to come up with more accurate ways of determining the threat to aircraft from future eruptions.
Tags: airlines, ash cloud, British Airways, CAA, Easyjet, Grimsvotn, met office, Philip Hammond, Ryanair
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Friday, April 15th, 2011
The European Commission has announced that it will be reviewing the regulations which allow passengers to claim food and hotel expenses if the plane they have booked a ticket on is grounded for some reason. The airline industry has been lobbying for a change in the law since the eruption of a volcano in Iceland caused the closure of European airspace for nearly a week last year.
More than 100,000 services had to be cancelled costing the industry some £2.2 billion. A large chunk of the bill came from compensation claims made by stranded travellers. The denied boarding regulation was first introduced to protect customers from airlines suspected of deliberately delaying or cancelling services because the flights were not full.
However carriers are claiming that the legislation is being misapplied when it comes to unforeseen disruptions such as volcanic ash in the atmosphere. Following the eruption, a number of major airlines demanded compensation from the governments which made the decision to ground fleets.
Complaints about who should pay passenger compensation also came after air traffic control staff decided to strike and sever snow storms caused airports to close. Ryanair has long made it clear that it is opposed to the passenger rights rule. Airline spokesman, Stephen McNamara, said it was not up to airlines to bear the cost of airports being unable to clear snow, workers walking out of their jobs or governmental decisions to close the skies.
An official at the European Commission said the legislation was not introduced to deal with events such as a week long closure of airspace.
Tags: European Commission, flights, hotel, Ryanair, strike, volcanic ash
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Friday, March 25th, 2011
British Airways is asking all passengers who have booked flights to Tripoli to get in contact as it suspends operations to the Libyan capital. In a statement the carrier said it would not risk the safety of its staff or passengers and that services would not be resuming until after the summer. The airline confirmed that those holding tickets would be able to rebook to another destination or receive a refund.
Ryanair was recently forced to redirect flights from an airport in the south of Sicily after the Italian military commandeered it for operations into Libya. The budget carrier apologised to customers explaining that the matter was out of its control.
Travel companies are continuing to assess the impact or the recent troubles in North Africa and the Middle East on their business. Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt caused many to suspend holidays to the region. Although the situation is now much more stable it appears that travellers are still wary about adding the countries to their schedules.
Luxury operator Kuoni said it had seen booking volumes drop since 13 March by around seven per cent on the same period in 2010. The firm’s chief executive, Peter Rothwell, said that the rest of the year was likely to be extremely unpredictable because of the uncertain situation in some Arab nations and because the results of Japan’s massive earthquake were still to be assessed.
Although seen by travel companies as a safe alternative, bookings to Turkey have also nosedived because customers are worried that the trouble might spread.
Tags: airline, British Airways, earthquake, Kuoni, Libya, Ryanair, Tripoli, turkey
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Thursday, March 10th, 2011
A decision by airport workers in Spain to go ahead with a number of planned strikes could spell misery for many Brits planning to visit the country over Easter. Last year, Spain was the most popular destination with holidaymakers from the UK with 28 million boarding planes to soak up some sun, according to the CAA.
The walkouts have been announced because airport staff are unhappy with the government’s plans to privatise the country’s airports authority, Aena. If the industrial action gets the go-ahead, strikes could start on 20 April and run through the summer. Additional travel misery could be added if air traffic controllers also decide to walk out in support. This would mean the closure of Spanish airspace and disruption to services flying to Malta and Portugal.
Ryanair has said that it would be forced to cancel 300 flights over Easter if the strikes happen. This would affect 57,000 passengers. Because it serves 17 airports in Spain, easyJet would also be hit hard by the industrial action.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, has already demanded that the Spanish government prevents the stoppages. He said that the airline had also contacted the EU over the matter. He added that the Aena workers were behaving in a selfish manner.
British Airways, also being threatened with strike action by its cabin crew, has also been in contact with the Spanish authorities over the issue. The flag-carrier said it would do everything in its power to make sure that its customers suffered as little disruption as possible.
Tags: Aena, British Airways, CAA, Easter, Easyjet, michael o'leary, Ryanair, strikes
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