TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHTS

[curtiejoe]

My prayers have finally been answered! Ryanair just announced a few days ago that come June this year they'll be starting to offer direct flights across the Atlantic between London, England (Stansted Airport) and select US airports in the New York, Chicago, and LA markets for the absolutely amazing introductory price of $12 one-way per person plus taxes and fees!!! AMAZING!



Based on the amazing success of this discount airline over the past 30 years in serving most major European cities at incredibly low rates, this announcement bodes very well for travellers who've had to pay anywhere from $500 or much more for a transatlantic flight up to now. My own personal experience flying Ryanair from London to several European destination for deeply-discounted fares has been absolutely delightful. The flights were all on time, the planes new and comfortable Boeing 737s, the staff polite and helpful, and best of all, the fares were ridiculously low. I now look forward to much more frequents visits to Europe, thanks to this fabulous announcement.



Curt

Message Edited by curtiejoe on 04-17-200701:12 PM

[claassenam]

Curtiejoe - that is fantastic news - thanks for posting! Wow, at those prices I'd fly to Europe each weekend. How on earth do these companies do it? With US companies United, Delta, American, etc. barely able to make a buck charging hundreds per ticket, how do the European companies make a profit? I understand that they charge for every little thing - soda, entertainment, etc. - but really, how do they survive?

[kyshel]

they won't

This is part of the potential problem to develop thru "open skies" agreement--sorry--that was a very "curt" reply(teehee) ,
but the reality is that they still have to pay for their gate space and other perhaps not-built-in-yet expenditures, etc once they land in the states, which is not always configured into the grand scheme of their financial cost/miles and so on in the long run.
...Then they have to have someone (probably union here) to maintain their aircraft (some of which may be new, but when no longer new, have serious cost ramifications), spare crews when a pilot or one or more FA falls ill or doesn't get enought required rest time, or whatever, and when they don't have that, where do you go for a ticket?
We are seeing the situation in the states with Jet Blue--their aircraft need work since they are no longer spring chickens (meaning more costs from bottom line), so they are no longer the potential darlings of the profitable aviation industry. We have seen this situation deteriorate over the years until there are only a few major "legacy" carriers in the US and all new-comers are at risk. Europe is so incredibly different, so I guess, grab your tickets, hope you make it both ways w/out extra expense and ride it while you can. I don't believe it will last. I am a firm believer of being thrifty, just understand that it may look like a discounttairline and act like a discount airline but it can go out of business in a heartbeat, just like a discount airline, too. Caveat emptor, y'all.
Message Edited by kyshel on 04-17-200708:21 PM

[fredhashway]

Kyshel, that was a fabulous, informative post. You're so right. People who are lucky enough to jump on this in the early days will get an incredible deal. But it can't last. And I don't even want to think about safety being given short shrift in the quest for cutting fares to the bone.

[curtiejoe]

Hi claasenam



Yes indeed. I have been waiting for Ryanair to launch its transatlantic service for several years now. Having flown them across Europe with great success and at incredibly low rates, I have told everyone I know about their fantastic service. Now, I can hardly wait for the first time I "commute" to London with Ryan. Frankly, I too wonder how they manage to do it for such incredibly low fares. But, as they've now been in business for over 30 years and look stronger than ever, they must be doing it right. Plus, they have one of the highest safety records of any European airline. I am totally hooked.



Curt

[lhbrown]

Hi C,
Are you sure that RyanAir is flying across the Atlantic as early as June of 2007 or was it 2008 or 2009? The problem with London is that the airport taxes are incredibly high and we have started to avoid London for this reason. The base price of $12 sounds great, but the taxes will probably add several hundred dollars each way. I will be interested to see the final offer.

PS :I think kyshel is quite right... they won't.... I just checked Google and came up with the following:
"Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary has said that the airline intends to begin transatlantic flights within three to four years. In an interview with Flight International, Mr O'Leary said the airline was looking at flying to up to six US cities from European airports where it has bases. Mr O'Leary said the cheapest flights for US passengers to be around $12, but revenues would be increased by sales of food, duty free goods and inflight entertainment."












Message Edited by lhbrown on 04-20-200709:02 AM

Message Edited by lhbrown on 04-20-200709:03 AM

[curtiejoe]

Hi L



The newspaper article I recently read quoted Michael O'Leary and it had him saying that transatlantic flight would be starting in June of THIS year. From my knowledge of the history of Ryanair, its flight operations, its ambitious expansion plans,and its track record for fulfilling its promises over the past 30 years, I have no reason to doubt what O'Leary announced. However, even if it doesn't happen this June, I'm very excited by the prospect of deep-discounted flights between major cities in the USA and Canada and Ryan's chief hub at Stansted outside London. Not only will such service, when it does come about, provide MUCH less expensive flights to England, but will allow travellers like me to connect at Stansted to already existing deep-discount flights to a myriad of fabulous destination throughout Europe. As far as taxes are concerned, I see no reason why these can't be kept quite low at US and Canadian airports in the same way as they are now kept very low at all the major cities in Europe like Paris, Rome, Barcelona, and a host of others (by landing at airfields quite a distance from the city centre). You just recently posted information on the LL Community abouta flight you took into Paris on Ryanair and, as I recall, you saidit saved a bundle over a flight on one of the "traditional" airlines. I too will await with interest the start of this new service and the actual total cost of the transatlantic flights. And, I hope that Kyshel isn't right.



Curt

[curtiejoe]

Hi Jenna



Don't see why you and others say that this new venture by Ryanair "won't last". I guess you haven't flown on this, the largest airline in Europe and are not aware of the fact that it has been operating routes all across Europe for over 20 years now with one of the best safety records of any airline. Like Southwest Airlines in the USA (on which Ryan's modelled), it has been building a vast and loyal customer base over the long-run and has managed to keep fares incredibly low (through very high volumes) and safety factors high. It's not as if Ryanair is a brand new, fly-by-night operation that's trying to break into a whole new market without any experience. They started out as a tiny, four plane outfit flying out of Dublin to other cities in Ireland. Before long, they expanded into England with dirt-cheap flights into London. Then, years later, they very successfully broke into the Continental European market (certainly a very different and very competitive one). People then scoffed at the up-start and predicted doom and gloom and failure in no time at all. Yet, now Ryanair is THE largest airline by volume in all of Europe. So, with an impressive track record like that, I just don't understand the rationale for your dire predictions. After all, you Boston Red Sox fans waited faithfully through thick and thin formore than 80 years for your team to make it big.



Curt

[lhbrown]

Hi C,

Don't get me wrong, I too hope Ryan Air will be able to start introducing $12 air fares across the Atlantic. Only, I think it won't be as early as June of 2007. The other problem I have, is flying through London, which, for me is not as direct as Paris.... But for a fraction of the price, who knows, I might change my mind... There is no question in my mind that Ryan Air will save you money over traditional airlines like Delta, and USAir, American Airlines, etc. as you noticed in my recent post. Delta was offering $500 or $600 round trip fairs to and from Paris from the US, but wanted a bundle to fly into Paris and return from Naples. In that case, our friends flew round trip US-Paris-US and got the cheap air fare from Delta and the Round trip on RyanAir Paris-Rome-Paris amounted to only a pittance. The only thing is, I think it will be a while before RyanAir is going to be able to attack the US routes. As to the airport taxes, London airport taxes have been traditionally very high for the traditional US airlines. It remains to be seen if Ryan Air can use the smaller airports around London, etc. since they will be using larger planes, and the runways might not be able to accommodate them, thus forcing Ryan Air using LHR airport, etc. In any case, we will soon find out....

[curtiejoe]

Hi L



I find your comments quite interesting but feel that we've beaten this horse just about to death. Whether Ryanair succeeds or fails in its proposed venture into transatlantic air service will depend on a lot of different factors, the final effects of which frankly no one can possibly predict. Is their bold initiative crashes, as so many already believe, at least they will have tried. If they succeed, so much the better for travellers everywhere, and I'll be the first one to applaud their chutzpah. Enough said.



Curt