Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary

2. He created competition in the short haul sector that FORCED the national carriers to lower their prices :thumb2

That may be true, but as a result the national carriers now no longer fly from regional airports to shorthaul destinations within Europe, Instead, in the case of British Airways, you now have to fly to London first adding hours to the journey. For example, time was I was able to fly to many airports in Italy, at reasonbale prices though not as cheap as the budgets, from Manchester, now I am basically restricted to either Milan or Pisa without going to London. The same applies for many other destinations.

Effectively my choice has been restricted (unless I want to spend 8 hours or more travelling to what used to be 2 to 3 hour destinations), mainly due to budget airlines who only have an interest in flying to 'popular' destinations where they can fill their seats, with some reducing their schedules during the 'non-holiday' periods.

It will be interesting to see how many budget carriers survive the current recession. I suspect that if a few fail you may see the costs going up somewhat with the remaining carriers having less competition to deal with. :rolleyes: :augie

Bob
 
All of the extra costs are discretionary. Anyone who buys water/sandwidge/coffee/etc. on a Ryanair flight has nothing to complain about.
Similarly with the priority boarding charge. Sit down, read your paper, drink your coffee and wait til everyone else is on. No Q'ing. No extra charge.
 
I had to book some flights last night. Ryanair credit card charge per person of €10. Couldn't believe it - I can understand a fee per transaction but not €10 each when booking 2 flights on the one transaction.

Ryanair are probably being charged a max of 3% (€5)

Sure I suppose thats how they make their money
 
2. He created competition in the short haul sector that FORCED the national carriers to lower their prices :thumb2
Well technically all he did was replicate the business model of Southwest airlines from the US, who were the actual pioneers of the 'low cost' model.

What he did do was go up against the big carriers in Europe though and made it stick, in an era when air travel was horrendously expensive. It also coincided with the internet as a travel tool which also helped bring prices down.

It's not hard to travel cheaper than them these days, and with a bit more dignity.
 
Whatever you say about the fella, he is definitely a boy done good.

1. He made himself into a millionaire :thumb2
2. He created competition in the short haul sector that FORCED the national carriers to lower their prices :thumb2

Sure it is now actually more expensive or more painful to fly his airline but who cares. We can all now enjoy national carriers at lower prices, and for that I say keep him. (because the moment his airline is gone, the national carriers will raise their prices again)


He may well be rich and he may well have had the effect of reducing prices but he will never acknowledge that Ryanair only got off the ground because of a significant input of taxpayer's money. The word asshole has a tendency to come to mind each time his name is mentioned.

Oh - I forgot - does anybody remember the one millionth customer who was promised free flights for life and who eventually had to take her case to the courts? I suppose if you screw people for long enough you will eventually become a millionaire.

He makes me :mad:
 
He may well be rich and he may well have had the effect of reducing prices but he will never acknowledge that Ryanair only got off the ground because of a significant input of taxpayer's money. The word asshole has a tendency to come to mind each time his name is mentioned.

Oh - I forgot - does anybody remember the one millionth customer who was promised free flights for life and who eventually had to take her case to the courts? I suppose if you screw people for long enough you will eventually become a millionaire.

He makes me :mad:

Not only the one millionth customer which they treated like dirt after using her as a huge publicity attention media excercise...then there is their fcuk off attitude to wheelchairs and the list goes on and on.

The Knut is looking for the quick, get on, no luggage, buy lunch and a drink, other assorted rubbish on plane and get off quick type passenger. If you fit that model then you have no complaints, but for those 9/10 its ok, the rest of society expect and are entitled to some respect and courtesy when dealing with any company they choose to spend their hard earned with... i gave them up a long long time ago.
 
<img src="http://img.skitch.com/20090305-kd5axdpipdhcajq7cwruasym9s.jpg" alt="C6682731"/>
 


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