Customer service: How brands like Ryanair have taken it from ugly sister to Cinderella October 23, 2015 During our annual convention on customer service in Glasgow next month, one of the key speakers will be Carol Anne O’Neill of Ryanair. This might strike you as ironic given the budget airline’s historically poor reputation for pared down, no frills customer service. But it’s a clear sign of how the times are a changin’ [...]
There is something of a renaissance underway around the British coast. And London needs to watch out. October 22, 2015 “Coming from London,” a local journalist asked me as I stepped off the train at Scarborough last week, “do you just see us as a back wash of the Yorkshire backwater?” I was too taken aback to even consider an answer, let alone snap back that I was actually brought up in Derby, went to [...]
Ryanair’s passenger numbers soared in September October 5, 2015 The number of passengers flying Ryanair has soared 12 per cent, with 9.55m traveling on the Irish airline in September, compared with 8.49m last year. Load factors – how many seats were filled – increased four percentage points to 94 per cent. "These record monthly numbers and load factors are due to our lower fares, [...]
Tube, train, bus and taxi strikes: London is worse than Paris for industrial action in 2015 September 29, 2015 If it seems like there's been a summer of strikes across London's transport this year, you're not half wrong – there's been more disruption to Londoners' travel from action this year than even the commonly strike-plagued Paris. The capital has (so far) experienced an entire week's worth of chaos, while over in Paris, just five [...]
Ryanair investors will reap €400m in spoils from sale of Aer Lingus September 25, 2015 Ryanair announced at its AGM yesterday it would be sharing the €398m (£293m) spoils from the sale of its Aer Lingus stake with shareholders. Ryanair agreed to sell its 29.8 per cent stake in the Irish airline to International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways and Iberia, this summer. The budget airliner also said it [...]
Miners come up gold for FTSE 100 as London rallies – London Report September 10, 2015 Asian market gains helped the FTSE to rally yesterday for a third straight session – also boosted by encouraging corporate news from mining companies and financial firms. The FTSE 100 index was up 1.4 per cent at 6,229.01 points at its close, still around 12.6 per cent off April’s record high, after uncertainty over China’s [...]
Ryanair’s share price jumps 10 per cent as it raises profit forecast 25 per cent after discovering being nice to customers can really pay off September 9, 2015 Ryanair's share price leaped 10 per cent on the open this morning after raising its full year profit guidance by 25 per cent, as its bid to win over customers with an improved service takes off. The budget airline said full year net profit would now come in between €1.175bn and €1.225bn, up from previous [...]
Lufthansa firm as 1,000 flights stay on tarmac September 9, 2015 LUFTHANSA, the German airliner has cancelled around 1,000 flights today after a pilot strike was extended from long-haul flights to medium- and short-haul flights. Europe’s largest airline operator said that around 140,000 passengers will be affected as some of the medium- and short-haul aircraft fly up to eight times a day. Yesterday’s strike, the 13th [...]
Lufthansa to cancel 1,000 flights tomorrow as pilots extend strikes September 8, 2015 German airline Lufthansa will cancel 1,000 flights tomorrow, after the pilot strike was extended into a second day and ramped up a notch. Lufthansa said its pilots' union broadened strike action from long-haul flights to medium- and short-haul services, meaning around 140,000 passengers will have to endure cancellations tomorrow. But it said 500 flights will still run, [...]
Leading equity analysts back Wizz Air with a ‘buy’ rating September 3, 2015 LOW-COST carrier Wizz Air received a boost yesterday when both Investec and UBS started coverage of the company with “buy” ratings. “The leading low-cost carrier in Central and Eastern Europe [CEE] is set to outperform peers in terms of passenger and profit growth due to its highly attractive network anchored in a high growth region,” [...]