Tag Archives: ryanair dublin

Ryanair is close to a new major Boeing 737NG order

Ryanair (Dublin) is on the verge of a major order for around 170 current generation Boeing 737 aircraft according to this report by Reuters.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Boeing 737-8AS WL EI-CSY (msn 32779) lands at the Dublin hub. This aircraft was returned to the lessor on November 19, 2008 and is currently with UTair Aviation of Russia operating as VQ-BJG.

Ryanair:

Ryanair to cut its London Stansted hub by 9%

Ryanair (Dublin) in a protest over airport fees has announced it will cut its London Stansted hub by 9 percent. The airline has often used this threat to cut services and jobs to put pressure on airports to lower their fees. The opinionated airline issued this statement over the fee hikes:

Ryanair announced that it will cut its London Stansted traffic by 9% over the coming year (from 12.5 million to 11.4 million) after the Ferrovial/BAA Stansted monopoly announced a further unjustified increase of Stansted’s already high charges of 6% from April 2013, despite the fact that Ferrovial/BAA has sold Stansted to Manchester Airport Group (MAG) who will take over the airport sometime before the end of March.

Ryanair has called on Stansted’s regulator, the CAA, to investigate whether this unjustified and unwarranted 6% price hike was a “sweetener” by Ferrovial/BAA’s sale of Stansted, which raised £1.5 billion in proceeds for Ferrovial, despite the fact that Stansted’s traffic has declined from 24 million per year to 17.5 million per year over the last 6 years.

Ryanair, which had planned to grow its Stansted traffic by 5% from April 2013, will now cut frequencies on 43 of its routes and reduce its weekly operations by over 170 flights, with the loss of 1.1 million passengers (-9%) and over 1,100 jobs at Stansted, in direct response to this unwarranted and unjustified 6% price hike. Ryanair called on the CAA regulator to explain why Ferrovial/BAA is allowed to hike charges by 6% when UK inflation is less than 3% and Stansted’s traffic continues to decline.

Ryanair also called on Ferrovial/BAA to reverse this unjustified and unwarranted price increase before the sale to MAG is concluded and further called on MAG to confirm that it will not permit any further price increases at Stansted unless, or until, the traffic declines of the past 6 years (during which the Ferrovial/BAA monopoly has doubled Stansted’s fees) are reversed.

Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Boeing 737-8AS EI-DCD (msn 33562) “Pride of Scotland” turns to depart from Dublin’s runway.

Ryanair:

European Commission intends to deny the Ryanair takeover of Aer Lingus

Ryanair (Dublin) is planning to appeal if it is denied its goal of acquiring rival Aer Lingus (Dublin). The airline issued the following statement today:

Ryanair was notified this morning (February 12) at a State of Play meeting with the EU Commission, that the EU Commission intends to prohibit Ryanair’s offer for Aer Lingus, despite the fact that Ryanair has met every competition concern raised in the EU’s Statement of Objections and during the review process, including providing the EU – at its request – with irrevocable commitments from not one, but two, upfront buyers to eliminate all competitive overlaps between Ryanair and Aer Lingus. IAG has committed that they would take over divestments of Ryanair’s and Aer Lingus’ entire London-Gatwick operations, and Flybe has committed to take over 43 Aer Lingus UK and European routes.

Given that the EU Commission recently approved IAG’s acquisition of BMI at London-Heathrow on the basis of three year commitments, the EU’s claim that it could not be satisfied of IAG’s and Flybe’s commitments to these Irish routes after three years is another example of the EU holding Ryanair to a much higher standard than any other EU airline. Ryanair’s remedies package is unprecedented. For the first time in EU airline history, Ryanair delivered not one, but two, substantial upfront EU airline buyers who have agreed to come to Ireland to compete against a combined Ryanair/Aer Lingus.

Ryanair has today instructed its lawyers to appeal any prohibition decision to the European Courts.

Top Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Ryanair accurately predicted the demis of bmibaby but it is not getting its way with Ryanair. Boeing 737-8AS EI-DLN (msn 33595) with the “Bye Bye Baby” banner on the fuselage arrives at the Dublin base.

Ryanair:

Aer Lingus:

Bottom Copyright Photo: SM Fitzwilliams Collection. Aer Lingus’ Airbus A330-301 EI-JFK (msn 086) prepares to depart from the DUB hub bound for its registration namesake, New York (JFK).

Ryanair to help establish Flybe Ireland if it is able to acquire Aer Lingus

Ryanair (Dublin) is proposing to sell a new company and transfer Airbus A320 aircraft in order to establish Flybe Ireland (Dublin) as a new Irish competitor if it is able to acquire rival Aer Lingus (Dublin). The European Commission has previously denied the acquisition because of its competitive concerns for the Irish market.

Flybe‘s (Exeter) board has accepted the offer. The details have been announced by Flybe:

THE DEAL

Flybe has agreed to acquire a new company, Flybe Ireland, from Ryanair for €1 million.

Prior to its acquisition by Flybe, Ryanair has agreed to transfer to Flybe Ireland:

43 routes, all within Europe, many to or from current Flybe destinations;
The requisite number of slots and licences to operate the routes;
A minimum of 9 Airbus A320 aircraft;
The requisite number of flight crew, aircraft engineers, management and facilities to operate the business;
A cash injection of $135 million (€100 million);
All forward sales cash and liabilities, estimated at a further circa €50 million in working capital funding.

Ryanair in consultation with Flybe will undertake to develop a one year business plan to deliver a cost structure that, based on the assumption that the preceding year’s revenue remains the same, would provide €20 million in pre-tax profits in the 12 months following the transfer to Flybe Ireland. In the event that the business plan does not project €20 million in pre-tax profits, there is an agreed adjustment mechanism factored into the €100 million cash contribution referred to above.

FLYBE IRELAND

Flybe Ireland will:
- Operate from bases in Dublin and Cork.;
- Operate 43 routes to 34 destinations in Europe. Flybe currently operates to circa 50% of those destinations in its Flybe UK business;
- Deploy Flybe’s frequency model on the major city pairs, and its leisure model on the European leisure markets;
- Have the right to use the Aer Lingus brand for up to three years post the transaction. This will allow it to develop its own brand position in Ireland during a realistic transition period.

COMMITMENTS MADE BY FLYBE TO RYANAIR AS PART OF THE EC REMEDY PACKAGE

Flybe Ireland will be committed to operating an agreed frequency on routes, with the ability to terminate a certain number of routes per year whilst maintaining stable capacity in the Irish market.
If Flybe Ireland exceeds the route termination threshold, it will pay a contractual penalty.

THE EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Outlined below is the expected timetable:

March 2013
- On 6 March 2013, EC is scheduled to give a decision on the competition aspects of Ryanair’s bid for Aer Lingus.
- If the EC gives the agreement for Ryanair’s bid for Aer Lingus to proceed, Ryanair may then re-activate its bid with a view to gaining sufficient acceptances from Aer Lingus shareholders.

May 2013
- If the Ryanair bid is reactivated and is successful, Flybe would expect the deal to close on or around mid May.

Summer 2013:
- If the Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus has been successful, Flybe will undertake due diligence on the new entity.
- It is expected that the Class 1 Circular will be completed and posted to Shareholders in August 2013, followed by an EGM for shareholders to vote.

October 2013:
- The effective date of the transaction is envisaged to be October 2013 with Flybe Ireland commencing operations under Flybe’s ownership at the beginning of the 2013/14 IATA winter season.

The Board of Flybe believes that the transaction offers the following benefits to its shareholders:

As stated at IPO, the Group’s strategy is to diversify away from its reliance upon UK revenue. This opportunity is a good mixture of diversification, and overlap with our existing route network, to fulfil this goal.

Flybe has existing presence and network points at circa 50% of the 34 destinations in the 43 route package.

Flybe Ireland will be a well-capitalised company, with circa €150m of cash on the balance sheet, including the one off capitalisation by Ryanair, and the transfer of the forward sales cash within Aer Lingus at the time of the transaction.

Flybe Ireland will increase Flybe’s ability to drive further economies of scale from fleet basing, suppliers and airports, as part of this transaction.

Flybe has proven expertise in the acquisition and turnaround of acquired entities:

In March 2007, Flybe acquired British Airways’ UK regional airline, BA Connect, a business losing £40m per year at acquisition. The business was fully integrated into Flybe within 12 months, and made profits by the end of its first year of ownership. At the time of its acquisition the business had 39 aircraft, 1,700 staff and £350m of revenue.

Ryanair’s motivation for this deal and transaction is to remove the last competitive concerns in the Irish market by the European Commission. Will it work?

Ryanair:

Flybe:

Ryanair reports third quarter profits of $24.1 million

Ryanair (Dublin) announced third quarter profits of $24.1 million (€18 million), up $4 million (€3 million) on last year despite an $109 million (€81 million) increase in fuel costs. Revenues rose 15% to $1.3 billion (€969 million) as traffic grew 3% to 17.3 million passengers. Unit costs rose 11% mainly due to a 24% (€81 million) increase in fuel. Excluding fuel third quarter unit costs rose by 4%, while average fares improved by 8%.

Summary Q3 Results (IFRS) in Euro.

Q3 Results (IFRS) €	Dec 31, 2011	Dec 31, 2012	% Change
Passengers	16.7m	17.3m	+3%
Revenue	€844m	€969m	+15%
Profit after Tax	€14.9m	€18.1m	+21%
Basic EPS(euro cent)	1.02	1.25	+23%

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“Our Q3 profit of €18m was ahead of expectations due to strong pre-Christmas bookings at higher yields. The 8% rise in avg. fares reflects our improved customer service, record punctuality and the successful roll out of our reserved seating service. Our fuel costs rose €81m, (+24%), slightly less than expected as oil prices increased 22% (from $84pbl) to $102pbl. Excluding fuel, Q3 unit costs rose 4% due to excessive increases in Italian ATC costs, Spanish airport charges, and the strength of Sterling to the Euro. Ancillary revenue performed strongly and rose 24% to approx. €13 per pax.

New Routes and Bases.

Our new routes and bases are performing well in their first winter, although some smaller bases such as Budapest and Warsaw are doing so at very low prices. Our 51st base Maastricht opened in December, and we will open 6 new bases (total 57) from April in Eindhoven, Krakow, Zadar (Croatia), Chania (Greece), Marrakesh and Fez (Morocco). Significant capacity cuts by Legacy and other struggling EU carriers continue to offer us substantial growth opportunities across Europe. We expect further capacity cuts and restructurings in Europe as high fare, loss making carriers struggle to compete with Ryanair’s expansion at low prices. During Q.3 Iberia, AFKLM, Air Berlin, and Lufthansa all announced major restructurings. Both LOT and SAS are seeking further state support while the Swiss charter airline “Hello” has closed. These trends will create more growth opportunities for Ryanair to grow profitably to 120m passengers over the next decade.

Customer Service.

Our industry leading customer service continues to improve as demonstrated by the following YTD milestones:-

· 93% of all Ryanair flights arrived on time (a new record).

· Lost bags have fallen to less than 1 per 3,000 pax.

· We cancel less than 4 flights in every 1,000.

No other EU airline can match Ryanair’s fares or this level of passenger service. The addition of reserved seating to our priority boarding service in 2012 has been very well received and a recent survey of Ryanair’s traffic in Spain (where Ryanair is the largest carrier) highlighted that 22% of our passengers were travelling on business. A survey of 10,000 passengers in December also yielded the following results:-

· 87% were satisfied or very satisfied with their Ryanair flight.

· 93% said they would fly Ryanair again.

· 95% said Ryanair provide excellent value for money.

Ryanair Strengths.

Ryanair’s ex fuel passenger cost of €27 (ytd) is lower than any carrier in Europe. Our average fare of €50 is (by some distance) lower than any other EU carrier. Our tight cost management, at a time when competitor costs are rising faster, will enable Ryanair to expand our price and cost leadership over all other EU airlines for the foreseeable future. The combination of Ryanair’s industry leading costs and customer service, strong cash flows and balance sheet, gives Ryanair a unique platform to deliver its next decade of growth as we target a 20% share of the EU short-haul market by growing to over 120m pax p.a.

Stansted Airport Sale

The sale of Stansted should be completed by the end of Spring. We welcome its purchase by MAG and look forward to working with them (as we do currently in Manchester, East Midlands, and Bournemouth) to grow Stansted’s low fare traffic back over 23m, where it was in 2007 before the BAA monopoly doubled Stansted’s fees. We also welcome the CAA’s announcement that is “minded to” rule that Stansted has market power, and will need effective regulation to protect Stansted users from exploitation by the airport monopoly particularly when “there is evidence to suggest that Stansted is pricing above the competitive level”.

Aer Lingus Update.

Under Irish Takeover Panel rules we are unable in these results to update on our offer to acquire Aer Lingus. Accordingly we are issuing a separate announcement on this matter today.

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair has submitted a radical and unprecedented remedies package to the EU in support of its offer for Aer Lingus. We believe these remedies address every current Ryanair\Aer Lingus crossover route and all other competition issues raised by the Commission in its Statement of Objections. The remedies involve two upfront buyers each basing aircraft in Ireland to takeover and operate a substantial part of Aer Lingus’ existing route network and short-haul business. This will be the first EU airline merger which will deliver structural divestitures and multiple upfront buyers. We look forward to completing our offer for Aer Lingus subject to receiving approval from the EU competition authorities in early March”.

Hedging & Balance Sheet.

We have recently extended our fuel hedges to 75% of FY 14 at $97pbl and hedges on our fuel exposures at $1.32. At current rates our FY14 fuel cost per passenger will rise by approx. 5%, compared to a 14% increase in FY13.

A 2^nd special dividend of €492m (€0.34 per share) was paid to shareholders in Q3, bringing to €1.53bn the funds returned by Ryanair to shareholders over the last five years. Ryanair’s balance sheet remains one of the strongest in the industry, with closing Q3 gross cash of €3.15bn. We expect the year end net cash to be positive despite directly owning over 70% of our fleet of 305 young Boeing 737-800s.

Outlook.

Our Q3 yields were boosted by stronger pre-Christmas bookings, while lower than expected operating costs delivered slightly better profits than forecast. However Q4 traffic (as previously guided) will drop by approx.400,000 passengers (-3%)below last year’s Q4, due to our grounding up to 80 aircraft which limits the impact of high oil prices, high airport fees at Stansted and Dublin, and seasonally weaker Q4 demand. On the basis of this improved Q3 result, our capacity cuts and limited visibility over Easter bookings and yields, (although we have seen some yield softness in January), we now expect our full year profits to exceed our previous guidance (of €490m to €520m) and rise close to €540m, a 7% increase on last year’s profits despite a 19% increase in our oil costs.

Copyright Photo: Antony J. Best. Boeing 737-8AS EI-CSA (msn 29916) arrivs at the London (Stansted) hub with promotional Scotland stickers.

Ryanair:

Ryanair announces its first new bases out of the European Union

Ryanair (Dublin) today (January 16) announced it will open two new bases in Morocco in 2013, at Fez (Number 56) and Marrakech (Number 57) with a total of three based-aircraft, as Ryanair invests over $210 million in Morocco. Ryanair also announced two new Moroccan airports, at Essaouira and Rabat as it grows its operations in Morocco in 2013 to 60 routes and 8 airports, which will deliver up to 2.5 million passenger per year and support 2,500* “on-site” jobs in Morocco.

Ryanair will grow in Morocco in 2013 as follows:

Fez (new base):

· 1 based aircraft

15 routes
4 new routes: Lille, Nantes, Nimes and St. Etienne
600,000 passengers per year
600* “on site” jobs

Marrakech (new base):

· 2 based aircraft

22 routes
7 new routes: Baden, Bergerac, Cuneo (Italy), Dole (France), Munich, Paris (Vatry) and Tours
1 million passengers per year
1,000* “on site” jobs

Essaouira (new airport):

· 2 routes: Brussels and Marseille

Rabat (new airport):

· 3 routes: Brussels, Paris and Marseille

Ryanair’s new Moroccan routes will begin in April.

* According to Ryanair, ACI research confirms up to 1,000 ‘on-site’ jobs are sustained at international airports for every 1 million passengers.

Ryanair:

The Irish government opposes the latest takeover bid of Aer Lingus by Ryanair

The Republic of Ireland, which owns 25 percent of Aer Lingus (Dublin), has publicly expressed its opposition to the takeover of Aer Lingus by rival Ryanair (Dublin). The European Commission will be the final judge on whether Ryanair can continue to acquire additional shares of Aer Lingus for a possible controlling interest. Ryanair currently controls 30 percent of Aer Lingus stock.

Read the full report from Reuters: CLICK HERE

Ryanair issued the following “no comment statement”:

Ryanair said it has no comment to make on the Minister Varadkar’s statement. Since the Government owns just 25% of Aer Lingus, it has no power to block Ryanair’s offer, which can still be successfully completed if we acquire a shareholding of 50% or more (Ryanair currently owns 30%).

The progress of Ryanair’s offer is subject to the outcome of the current EU competition review and Ryanair is continuing to progress that approval process, having submitted an unprecedented remedies package, which will increase competition, choice, traffic and jobs to and from the island of Ireland.

In other news for Ryanair, the ultra-fare carrier announced it had received the final two aircraft of its current Boeing order, growing its fleet to 305 Boeing 737-800s.

According to the airline, “Ryanair’s fleet is the youngest in Europe, with an average age of less than four years, making Ryanair the greenest and cleanest airline. Ryanair confirmed its intention to place a significant order for further aircraft once a sensible pricing agreement with a suitable manufacturer can be reached.”

Ryanair also announced a new route from Ireland West Airport Knock to Malaga in Spain starting on April 4, 2013. Ryanair also announced a new route from London Stansted to Kefalonia in Greece from April 1, 2013 and a new route from East Midlands to Zadar also from April 1, 2013.

Finally Ryanair announced it would open its 54^th base (first in Croatia) at Zadar in April 2013 with one-based aircraft and unveiled 7 new routes (16 in total), to/from Dublin, East Midlands, Gothenburg, Haugesund, Liverpool, Paris and Wroclaw.

Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner. Aer Lingus is an Airbus operator and Ryanair is a loyal Boeing customer up until now, although it is due to place another order. The battle for Aer Lingus could also determine which manufacturer prevails in the future if a takeover and merger is successful. Airbus A319-111 EI-EPR (msn 3169) of Aer Lingus arrives at London (Heathrow).

Aer Lingus:

Ryanair:

Ryanair to open a new base at Krakow, Poland

Ryanair (Dublin) has announced it would open its 53^rd base and second in Poland at Krakow in April 2013 with two-based aircraft and unveiled 4 new routes (31 in total), to/from Dortmund, Gothenburg, Manchester and Kos, as Ryanair invests over $140 million at Krakow Airport.

Ryanair will grow at Krakow as follows:

2 based aircraft
31 routes
4 new routes to/from Dortmund, Gothenburg, Manchester and Kos
Increased frequencies on 3 other routes
224 weekly flights (up 16%)
1.6 million pax p.a (up 14%)
1,600 “on site” jobs

Ryanair:

Ryanair to grow in Scotland next summer after reaching an agreement with Edinburgh Airport’s new owners

Ryanair (Dublin) today announced a new summer build-up in Scotland:

Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost airline, today (December 4) announced significant summer 2013 growth in Scotland, with 38 routes (6 new) at Edinburgh and 27 routes (2 new) at Glasgow Prestwick, which will deliver a combined total of over 3 million passengers and sustain over 3,000 “on site jobs” at both Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick airports.

Ryanair cut its winter 2012 schedule at Edinburgh following the breakdown of cost negotiations with the previous owners of Edinburgh, the BAA. After reaching agreement with Edinburgh Airport’s new owners, Global Infrastructure Partners, Ryanair will now grow again at Edinburgh as follows:

38 routes (up 11%).
6 new routes to/from Bologna, Beziers, Cagliari, Corfu, Katowice & Santander
Increased frequencies on 5 other routes
From 232 to 246 weekly flights (up 5%).
From 1.6m to 1.8m pax p.a (up 11%).
1,800 jobs at Edinburgh Airport.

Ryanair will also grow at Glasgow Prestwick as follows:

27 routes (up 7%).
2 new routes to/from Rzeszow & Warsaw Modlin
Increased frequencies on 4 other routes
From 86 to 95 weekly flights (up 10%).
From 1.2m to 1.4m pax p.a (up 6%).
1,400 jobs at Edinburgh Airport.

Ryanair:

Ryanair cuts Madrid by 35% and Barcelona by 23%

Ryanair (Dublin) is cutting back on its schedule to both Madrid (35 percent reduction) and Barcelona (23 percent reduction) in response to higher airport charges at both airports. The airline issued the following statement:

Ryanair has confirmed deep cuts to its flights at Madrid and Barcelona and across its Spanish operations in 2013 in response to the Spanish Government doubling of airport taxes at both Madrid and Barcelona El Prat airports on July 1, 2012.

From March 30, 2013, Ryanair will cut its Madrid and Barcelona operations as follows:

Madrid (-35%):

· 4 based aircraft cut (from 14 to 10);

· 13 routes cancelled;

· 22 route frequency cuts;

· 272 weekly flights cut;

· 1.9m pax lost (from 5.3m to 3.4m);

· 1,900 “on site” jobs lost (ACI).

Barcelona El Prat (-23%):

· 1 based aircraft cut (from 13 to 12);

· 4 routes cancelled;

· 20 route frequency cuts;

· 170 weekly flights cut;

· 1.2m pax lost (from 5.4m to 4.2m);

· 1,200 “on site” jobs lost (ACI).

Spain (total) (-12%):

· 648 weekly flights cut;

· 4.5m pax lost (from 30m to 25.5m);

· 4,500 “on site” jobs lost (ACI).

These Ryanair cuts are the unavoidable response to the Spanish Goernment’s unjustified and unnecessary doubling of airport taxes at both Madrid and Barcelona El Prat airports in July 2012. These extortionate tax increases, which are now being investigated by the EU Commission, are particularly damaging for Spanish tourism, jobs and the economy at a time when youth unemployment in Spain stands at an alarming 50%.

Ryanair: