What are ghost flights and what is the debacle around them? January 27, 2022 EasyJet’s chief executive Johan Lundgren this morning told investors the airline was in favour of airport slot rules going back to “a normalised delineation,” saying the carrier will not be forced to operate ghost flights to retain its slots. “We should remember that the reason why [governments] made these exceptions was because restrictions were in [...]
Ryanair to return to profit with hopes of flying 165m passengers this year, says boss January 24, 2022 Ryanair’s boss expects to return to profit this year, as the Irish airline looks to fly 165m passengers. Chief executive Michael O’Leary has forecast carrier occupancy to climb to between 90 per cent and 95 per cent this summer. The budget airline will once again be profitable once occupancy reaches 80 per cent, O’Leary told [...]
Airline shares end higher following Ryanair’s ‘sea change’ comments January 20, 2022 Shares of European airlines ended higher today as a result of Ryanair’s ‘sea change’ comments. The Dublin-based carrier ended 4.2 per cent higher, while British Airways’ owner IAG and Easyjet went up 1.60 and 3.29 per cent respectively. Earlier today, low-cost carrier Ryanair said it had registered a ‘sea change’ in customer confidence over the [...]
Airport slots should be given to those who can use it, Wizz Air boss says January 13, 2022 Wizz Air’s chief executive Jozsef Varadi said that legacy airlines should not retain their airport slots if they are not able to utilise them. “Why are they protected for the benefit of legacy carriers,” he told Reuters today. “This is a way of distorting the market further by allowing access to certain airlines at the detriment to [...]
Ryanair calls on EU to ignore ghost flights claims January 12, 2022 Ryanair has called on the European Commission (EC) to ignore Lufthansa’s ‘ghost flights’ claim, accusing the German carrier of “blocking their slots” to protect themselves from competition with low-cost airlines. “The solution to Lufthansa’s ‘ghost flights’ problem is a simple one – just sell these seats to consumers,” said Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary in [...]
Empty planes: Omicron onslaught and travel restrictions hit Ryanair’s passenger number January 5, 2022 The number of passengers flown around Europe by budget airline Ryanair was down 7 per cent between November and December as travel restrictions were imposed amid the spread of the Omicron variant. The carrier said the number of passengers dropped to 9.5 million last month – the lowest since July and down from 10.2 million [...]
Mayday: Year from hell in aviation as empty flights crash-land by staggering 71 per cent from pre-pandemic levels December 29, 2021 Covid-related travel restrictions led to a 71 per cent reduction in the number of international flights to and from UK airports this year compared with pre-pandemic levels, new analysis shows. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said around 406,060 international flights served UK airports during 2021 up to December 22, compared with 1,399,170 in the pre-pandemic period [...]
Ryanair expects losses to double as Omicron eats into bookings December 22, 2021 Low-cost carrier Ryanair is expecting its losses for the year ending March to double following concerns over the latest Covid variant, Omicron. The company’s shares on the ISE went down today 1.06 per cent to €15.43. The airline said its net losses will range between €250m to €450m, compared with €100-€200m that was previously estimated, [...]
Ryanair stops trading on LSE over post-Brexit regulations December 20, 2021 Ryanair announced that it has stopped trading on the LSE’s main market from 8am this morning, while maintaining a primary listing on Dublin’s Euronext. With an £18.4bn value, Ryanair was one of the biggest airlines listed in London. The decision pushed down the low-cost carrier’s shares on the Irish market to €13.85, 4.25 per cent [...]
Ryanair mocks absent Chancellor with ‘come back to help out’ tweet December 16, 2021 The Chancellor of the Exchequer faced criticism from Ryanair this afternoon, as the budget airline urged him to return to the UK and help out ailing businesses. Hospitality and tourism firms have been calling on Sunak to bring back pandemic support measures, as they face waves of cancellations amid a surge of Omicron cases before [...]