Spare a thought for Michael O'Leary, Chief Executive of 'Ryanair'

Justin, are you hoping to get them to advertise on the EOS site?

Oh better go, Michael's calling me....

Nice one!

I've read all the comments, However, I would still use Ryanair whilst ever possible as they are the cheapest AND if you follow the rules you'll not incur any extra costs. Treat it like jumping on a bus instead of the luxury and cost of using a taxi.

Having said all that, I now understand that he's made a statement that he is no longer going to use Alicante during the summer period of 2012 as well. Is this true?

If I want to  fly to Alicante during the winter with him, I now already have an Hour & halfs travel to get to one of the larger airports instead of a 20 minute ride to Humberside or 45 minute ride to Doncaster/Sheffield etc.

As Ryanair holds 80% + of Alicante Airports customer base what are the airport thinking? Not only are they going to go to the wall if they don't get new airlines but all the UK airports are going to be hard hit as well, not just the small ones. Alicante airport guaranteed O'Leary that he could carry on using the tarmac. It is them that has broken the contract not him. People offload onto the tarmac all over the world without the health & Safety card being used. The extra euros they want him to pay for the bridge walkways can easily be lost by Ryanair by just adding a few cents to EVERYONES airfares, but why should he. They could corden off any area whilst loading and unloading etc. Are they saying that their ground crews are in danger whilst working around the plane? Everyone knows that it takes over twice as long to get out of one door at the front than it does when using 2 doors.

O'Leary has certainly been threatening to pull out of Alicante over the airbridge issue, but I thought they'd reached a compromise. Let's hope so, for the sake of you, WatchManager, and many others.

The point is, though, why should the airport be held to ransom by Ryanair? It's happened before elsewhere, of course, but unfortunately the airport loses out. Look at Granada, Jerez, Sevilla (partly), Ciudad Real and several airports in Belgium and France.

Is there no end to the man's power?

I flew in to Alicante RyanAir on Saturday. We all got off using the Air Bridge. Returned to UK on Tuesday via Alicante and we walked on. Not sure what is happening..

My first time in and out of the new terminal. Normally fly into Murcia..... "What a place"!!!!

Well impressed !!!!.

If RyanAir pull the plug on flights into Alicante.

I see it taking a long time filling the gap left by them with other airlines.

Can't see a compramise. What is good for one should be good for all
After my Jan already had dates changed by Ryanair & Feb flights not changed as yet with Ryanair into Alicante. I have booked Bmi Baby into Alicante and Jet 2 into Murcia. As flights were removed from their website.

I have been flying with Ryanair for 10 years now. Never had a problem with them. Very few delays. (Followed the rules).

I booked with Monarch, return for 2 passengers, Gatwick/Alicante a month return for £145 and I am pleased with that price, in fact delighted.  And an economy 4 door car for £103!  Bargains.

I'd love to have a choice of airlines to choose from but the small, close-by airports tend to only have flights into Spain twice a week. This means only one airline etc. Humberside normally flys out Tue & Saturday and only offers Alicante anyway. Thanks to Alicante they no longer fly from Humberside. Therefore, my cheap flights have disappeared. I also have the added cost of fuel to travel a 3 hour plus round trip, the cost of airport parking and the time involved. This now seems as though the summer flights of 2012 will not be reinstated.

With regards the power of Mr O'Leary. Yes he has, but on this occasion it is not him wielding the big stick, it is the airport. They should have costed the bridges into the equasion prior to building and not want to charge Ryanair anymore (I believe 12 euro per passanger) than he had contracted to. Using the bridges is costing Ryanair more already as he cannot get his half hour turnaround.

The compromise you talk about is that the airport authority now agree that he can off-load half his passengers on the tarmac and half using the bridges during the winter period. If the airport is listening, can they give any details of ANY accident from ANY airport in the world that has occured. If not then stop trying to make money out of Health & Safety. Don't you know that O'Leary is the king of money makers, NOT you!

 If Mr O'Leary is listening, get your finger out, as when you've finished sabre ratteling you will have lost your customer base to others as they cannot wait. Why don't you take over the spare terminal away from the others?

I enjoyed your perceptive comment just now, MetGB

hmmm weird, i posted a comment and basically said to wm how awful not to have a choice of airlines.

Gremlins probably ...

Yes, it's good to have a choice. Where we live we used to have a choice of Málaga, Sevilla, Jerez and Granada. The former three all less than 1.5 hours drive and Granada 2 hours. But the choice is shrinking all the while. We lost the Granada option when Ryanair pulled out in 2009. It looks like we've lost Jerez too (Ryanair again!) and there have been no winter flights with Ryanair to and from Sevilla. With O'Leary announcing hikes in charges for next year - see this article in last Saturday's Telegraph: http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanairs-new-fees-1-for-your-ticket-5-for-your-sandwich--100-for-your-bag-6275045.html?fb_action_ids=10150464732724549%2C10150520996016405&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline#access_token=AAADWQ6323IoBAFErpSokRsmDPOOzLQcrzbNJa7kbR2kZCZBC0I6Ej0DJ4moZCwYf0W7uBH9eg45eW7gat5ltssDZBx3uHxN0yujpAwcrYAZDZD&expires_in=4662 - I think the days of low-cost flights might be numbered.

That dreaded word monopoly springs to mind!  Once he has cornered his share then up go the prices, its not a new practice but meanwhile bak at the ranch it b****ers a lot of people.   Bring back good ole honest Freddie Laker I say.  And what happened to Bransons initial promises years back one wonders.  Perhaps he was priced out of the European market with airport taxes etc.  I do remember a hoo haa at Shannon and he pulled out.  Seems Virgin are now only interested in transatlantic business.  I think the future for cheap air travel is looking somewhat bleak to be honest, but thats just a guess based on a hunch.

I stand corrected, Marlowjen. Thanks. The route I used to use, but which was withdrawn, was to Bristol.

On 16th Dec Watchmanager sid...

As Ryanair holds 80% + of Alicante Airports customer base what are the airport thinking? Not only are they going to go to the wall if they don't get new airlines but all the UK airports are going to be hard hit as well, not just the small ones.

Im just curious as to where this 80% statistic comes from.

I first saw this post at 5 pm yesterday and ran a live check of Air Traffic movement through Alicante fot the period 1700hrs 17th Dec to 1700hrs 18th. During this period Alicante was due to have 70 flights in and out, of these 14 were Ryanair, 14 were Easyjet and the rest divided between Iberia, Spanair, Air Europa, Air Berlin and a handful of smaller European airlines. 14 out of 70 equals just 20% of the traffic not 80% as suggested.

Alicante could and perhaps should tell Ryan they are no longer welcome. By witholding the demanded subsidies, Granada, Murcia, Reus, Girona, Ciudad Real and other regional authorities have effectively booted him out. They have decided it's just not worth the aggro of dealing with Ryanair. Alicante Airport can follow suit if they so desire.There are plenty of other airlines who would be only to haapy to step in. A 20% loss in passenger revenue is no great loss to the airport authorities if the local taxpayers, including some of Ryan's current punters are making up the deficit through the subsidies. Far from going to the wall, in the long term Alicante would probably be better off without Ryan's custom.

Places like Humberside and Bournemouth and to a lesser extent, D&TV and Robin Hood have rather more to lose than Alicante and Malaga and the passenger traffic is mainly holidaymakers going to or returning from the Costas. These punters get hit very hard by the antics of the now-you-see-us-now- you-dont airlines.

Monarch used to operate a 5 times a week flight Gatwick-Granada and the flights were always at 85% to 100% capacity. With spectacularly good timing, Ryanair moved in to Granada, were granted massive subsidies in return for promised increased revenue, and they opened up services to E Mids, Liverpool, Stansted and a couple of routes into Italy. Monarch asked for subsidies but none were forthcoming; Ryan had emptied the bucket;

Ryan were now dictating terms at Granada to the point that Monarch found it necessary to retime their service such that check-in became 5am, a time when public transport is not available at Gatwick. This move led to some loss of revenue as their punters moved over to Malaga flights with other airlines

Monarch then  reduced their schedule to twice a week on the basis that they no longer had the passenger numbers to warrant a 5 days a week schedule... as a result of these measures passenger numbers decreased even further and this gave Monarch the chance they had wanted to pull out and go to Malaga instead. Monarch already had some crazy ideas about pricing on the Gatwick -Granada service like £270 one way to Granada but only £3 for the returning flight  to Gatwick. No logic to it at all from the punters point of view literally pricing themselves out of business.

After a couple of years Ryan decided to up the ante by demanding higher subsidies from Granada but Granada refused. Ryan threatened to withdraw all UK bound services but Granada just shrugged... Ryan pulled out and a year or so later pulled the Italian fights as well.

The story is so familiar... big outfit moves in, bullies everyone until the opposition folds or simply underprices its product as a loss leader, then having got a captive market, ups the ante. They will continue to do this until someone, somewhere tells him to go away we are not playing your game anymore. The punters in the meantime are held as hostages.

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Thanks, Foxbat, for that detailed explanation of what went on at Granada, and what has been repeated in a similar manner at other airports.

Is it true that there are now no flights from the UK to Granada?

No UK flights whatsoever unfortunately.

Granada is served by:

Iberia with flights to / from Madrid and Melilla,

Air Europa to / from Palma de Mallorca,

Vueling and Spanair to / from Barcelona,

Transavia to / from Paris (Orly),

and Air Nostrum to / from Valencia.

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Reply to Foxbat:-  Many Thanks for your input. I bow to your recent investigation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  I only got the 80% quotes from the forums that have been posted on the subject in the past. I never said I was right. I'm only someone who likes going to Spain and Mr O'Leary has provided me with the opportunity in the past. I suppose that Freddie Laker was his insperation!

Oh! Without wanting to cause conflict between us, there's just one flaw in your following statement, you say  :

" I ran a live check of Air Traffic movement through Alicante for the period 1700hrs 17th Dec to 1700hrs 18th. During this period Alicante was due to have 70 flights in and out, of these 14 were Ryanair, 14 were Easyjet and the rest divided between Iberia, Spanair, Air Europa, Air Berlin and a handful of smaller European airlines. 14 out of 70 equals just 20% of the traffic not 80% as suggested".       

I was refering to NORMAL Ryanair traffic into and out of Alicante! It appears that you missed the fact that Ryanair has ALREADY pulled out of Alicante on a big scale since October due to the dispute and normal winter down trends. So YES your stats may be right for December 17th/18th but I'll stick to the 80%+ that the forums indicate per annum.

I apologise for the following long winded insert but it has come direct off 'Eye on Spains' site and will inform many travellers of what to expect, sooner than getting into arguing between OURSELVES! 

RYANAIR ANNOUNCED on Tuesday a 50% summer 2012 cutback on its Alicante service, following  a 50% cut in Ryanair’s winter 2011/12 services.  El Altet will lose six base aircraft, 18 routes and traffic of an estimated 1.5 million passengers. 

During November, the first month of these cutbacks, Ryanair estimates that Alicante’s seat capacity has fallen 50% from its October figure, with traffic is down 12% on November 2010.

Ryanair blames the cuts directly on airport authority AENA’s air bridge policy that compelled no-frills Ryanair to pay some €2m p.a. in fees at Alicante instead of boarding directly from the ground as they do everywhere else in Europe.

At a press conference in Alicante, Ryanair dismissed AENA’s ‘false claims’ about the air bridge issue as follows:

“AENA have claimed that air bridge use is a ‘safety issue’.  This is untrue.  The majority of flights boarding at most Spanish and other EU airports operate without air bridges and with absolute safety.  Even very large airports such as London Stansted and Gatwick permit walk on/walk off boarding with no use of air bridges.  AENA has claimed that half of Alicante’s flights can board using walk on/walk off procedures, with the other half using air bridges, clearly disproving that the claim that the compulsory air bridge use is a ‘safety issue’. 

“AENA has claimed that Ryanair’s cutbacks were ‘planned anyway’.  Again this claim is untrue.  Ryanair’s route and traffic cuts at Alicante are the direct result of AENA’s decision to force Ryanair to use and pay for unnecessary air bridges. 

REVERSE

Ryanair has confirmed that if this compulsory air bridge use is withdrawn, then these Alicante flight, traffic and jobs cuts will be reversed.

Announcing 50% cuts for 2012 in Alicante, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “When Ryanair announced these cuts earlier this year AENA Alicante claimed that other airlines would step in and take up these flights.  The evidence of Alicante’s 12% traffic decline in November proves these claims were also false.

“Ryanair is the only airline capable of growing traffic rapidly at Alicante, and without us no one else seems willing to grow or use and pay for these unnecessary air bridges either.  AENA Alicante is now proving that inefficient air bridges and higher fees will result in the airport suffering route, traffic and job cuts.  We call yet again on AENA to reverse this abusive decision to force Ryanair and other airlines to use and pay for unnecessary air bridges at Alicante. 

COURT

In the meantime Ryanair and AENA are to face each other in the Spanish courts again in early February.  If Ryanair’s appeal is successful, the cuts at Alicante could be reversed in time for Summer 2012.

For now, Palma de Mallorca will benefit from the partial abandonment of operations at Alicante, as Ryanair opened a base in the Sont San Joan Airport, where the company does use the jet ways, with four of the planes removed from El Altet.


So, I'm sorry for my input but I'm only a traveller and have not put my input to rub anyone up the wrong way, hense this is why I'm laying it to bed and won't reply to any other input on it. I can only put forward the information as I see it and hope that it has been informative for the majority!
 

Regards, Watch Manager

There's been so much froth that perhaps I've misunderstood, but it seems that RyanAirs dispute at Alicante revolves around the charge made for the use of airbridges by the airport operator.  Michael O'Leary said that the cost equates to 50 cents a passenger which he would have to pass on, but he has no problem with passing on the other so called extras... 

I hardly ever use RyanAir, but if I did 50 cents to use an easier way of boarding an aircraft is not a problem.  You've gotta wonder what on earth they're really trying to achieve.  I do know they've lost 300 million Euros or so on their failed attempt to buy Aer Lingus, since their share price has plummetted.  So on one hand they seem hell bent on picking fights on small charges they can easily pass on to their customers and on the other they are wasting large amounts of money on a most ill conceived acquisition.  Seems a strange way to run a business to me.