Ryanair board approves plan to crack open the US market

[brooklynite]

Source: Fortune

It’s wanted to for years, but Irish-based low-cost airline Ryanair has now finally taken the plunge and approved plans to start up low-cost service on transatlantic routes.

The move is sure to send shivers through the boardrooms of Europe’s flag carriers, who have seen their cozy short-haul businesses decimated by the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet in recent years, and which rely to a huge extent on the profits from their long-haul transatlantic routes.

However, it’s not something that’s going to happen much before 2020. With the airline industry enjoying rapid growth worldwide thanks to burgeoning demand from a rising Asian middle-class, the order books of Boeing Corp. and Airbus are fuller than ever. Ryanair, said it may have to wait four to five years for planes.

...snip...

The Financial Times said that the European base would be at London’s third airport Stansted, and said other destination/origin airports would include Dublin, Berlin and Cologne in Germany, plus other airports in Spain, Italy and Scandinavia. In the U.S., flights would go to and from Boston, Chicago, Florida, Miami, New York and Washington, D.C., among others.

Read more: http://fortune.com/2015/03/16/ryanair-board-approves-plan-to-crack-open-the-us-market/

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seats may be extra...

[cantbeserious]

1. Standing Room Only

eom

[SoapBox]

3. Oxygen also not included.

[COLGATE4]

4. These are the guys who wanted to bring back

the pay toilet in their planes. Public outcry forced them to back off - for a while - but the comment about paying for Oxygen may not be too far off the mark.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

12. Jeez, I thought you were joking.

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/Green/paying-pee-airlines-critics-call-ryanairs-fee-inhumane/story?id=10355139

Paying to Pee: Have the Airlines Gone Too Far?

April 13, 2010
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ

Irish discount airline Ryanair's plans to charge to use the toilet might be a great cost-savings move, but it has been met by skepticism and outrage from critics who call it inhumane.

"It's one of the most absurd ideas I've ever heard," said Steven D. Soifer, an associate professor at the University of Maryland's School of Social Work.

The extra fee for the bathroom, plus the Ryanair's desire to remove two of the three restrooms to add more seats, causes problems -- especially for people with medical conditions, Soifer said. His studies include Paruresis, also known as shy bladder syndrome, where people are not able to urinate when in the presence of others. Soifer said, for instance, that a passenger might really struggle inside the sole airplane bathroom if they knew there was a long line of people waiting in the aisle.

The airline plans to charge either 1 euro or 1 British pound (about $1.30 to $1.55) to use the toilet for flights scheduled for one hour or less. By eliminating two of the three bathrooms on the plane, Ryanair plans to add six extra seats.

[COLGATE4]

13. Nope. The Onion is real news these days. Go figure. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

16. That was my first thought when I saw the headline

Would be a wonderful 'feature' on a transatlantic flight, no?

[wilt the stilt]

5. I believe this was the airlaine

that was going to charge for using the bathroom. let's ee straps to hold onto and paying to pee. what could go wrong?

[SoapBox]

6. They are also the one that wanted to consider the "stand up" seat.

Along with no seat back pockets because they don't want to clean up after passengers as well as the safety information sewn to the seat back in front of you.

Opps forgot...the ordered planes with no window shades.

[MrBig]

7. Good News!

I remember using RyanAir when I was studying in Europe to travel around; obviously you get what you pay for, but it will make flying MUCH more affordable for people who otherwise would not be able to fly.

[Blue_Tires]

15. You never heard of JetBlue, I'm guessing...

[project_bluebook]

8. Apple is an Irish company and it does very well in the US

Does so well that people think its a US company.


How Apple Used An Irish Ghost Company To Avoid Paying Taxes On $78 Billion:
Apple funneled 64% of its earnings into Ireland… and paid very little tax on it.”
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/228117/how-apple-used-an-irish-ghost-company-to-avoid-paying-taxes-on-78-billion/#lw0me7b1bdiHLPrJ.99

[SoapBox]

9. But, but, but...there are SOOOO many more important things for Americans to know!

BENGHAZI!

Clinton's Email!

O-bama is a Mooselam!

And the poor, poor Corporate Persons need tax breaks...more breaks.


Yup, America is a mess.

[project_bluebook]

10. Yes, I'm afraid America, under its capitalist spell, is

FUBAR

[brooklynite]

11. UPDATE: seats as low as GBP 10

The British press have feverishly reported this as the beginning of the “£10 fare to the US”, and there is some truth in this. Ryanair officially confirmed that there will be promotional fares of £10 available, but standard fares are likely to start at £99.

http://euflyer.boardingarea.com/2015/03/17/ryanair-usa/

[KamaAina]

14. Oh joy. Now we get to pay to pee, too.

Okay, they shelved that one -- for now.