V-Flyer

Link to BBC News story.

Michael O'Leary says 'Economy class will be very cheap, around 10 euros, but our business class will be very expensive,' [?][:?]

Nick

Yeah, I just saw this, wow, well who can say, if the price is right they will fill planes, however seeing as Los Angles is in their plans, I just can't see doing a 10 hour flight in a non reclining seat, with IFE.

Also you have to figure in all the extras you will have to pay, well I will reserve judgment till they release firm plans.

Irrespective of what the Ryanair ends up offering (or not as the case may be[}:)]) both BA and VS will have to look to their own product to ensure they remain competitve.

This could be bad news as we find luggage allowances being reduced or other things that we now take for granted in shorthall travel[V][V]

buns

In Typical Ryanair style, front of house marketing figure.
Add in supplement for wearing shoes/taking a bag/ wanting a seat/ transatlantic surcharge/booking your ticket/ airport use surcharge/ landing fee etc....

Even so, opens up the cost vs product debate... and could only spell downgrading of products with the big players to increase cash movement....

I think that O'Leary is lying about business class, (I think that will be cheap too) so that when he announces his prices they will provoke greater press coverage but will, for the moment lull rivals into a false sense of security.
Of course, with an £8 economy fare, plus tax, plus luggage, plus credit card fee, plus food, plus check-in fee, I'd say you'd expect to pay, er, £299 return.

I'd love to see O'Leary get a bloody nose. It's all very well opening up Europe to the masses, but he could've done that without such crassness and it will be interesting to see what the US makes of him if he uses the same business model.

I look forward to the first TR.

Ryanair-flyer anyone?

Some of the special offers to the US on VS are less than £20 ticket price so no real issue here.
The one thing Ryanair has said is no fuel surcharge ever so I don't know how much they can incorporate that into their taxes and fees because you can only hide so much!!!

I think Ryanair will attempt to start a price war on Business Class (although Eos, MaxJet and Silverjet didn't succeed, Ryanair have deeper pockets).

Do you really think that they can get away from the stigma of being Ryanair?
Just saying Ryanair and Business Class in the same line is filling me with dread. It will be interesting to see how much product they can pull out and still call it business class.
Having said that though, give me a flat bed, ipod and a valium on a flight to the US and that's all I want. I think they could cut a lot of the service if it was a sleeper flight.
If you've seen The 5th Element, when they get on the ship there and the CC press a button that sends people to sleep, I think that there could be a huge market for that.

Ryanair treat their passengers and any organisation that is critical with total contempt. I have absolutely no interest, however good the deal of flying with them.

The CEO of Ryanair was on BBC Breakfast this morning and declared that 5 more airlines will go bust before Christmas. ny thoughts as to which ones?

Also - he hinted that Ryanair would like to go Trans-Atlantic if they can source the right aircraft (which he seemed to think would happen within the next 12 months). Can you imagine the number of 'extras' Ryanair wouild be able to add onto a Transatlantic flight?!?!?![:w]

Hmm, this is the same man who said something like blow jobs would be available in business. I think he's horrible and no I ahve never flown Ryanair and would resist it to the point of not flying.

As has been said, with VS and BA sale fares sometimes being in the order of 10s of pounds I am not sure how he'll make it work - what airports will they fly to in the US, OK using Stanstead and Dublin will result in lower airport fees but there's quite a lot else to content with.

I also think there's a big difference between LC short haul and long haul in perception and branding.

He's been talking this up for a while now, let's see some real news and not just more ... just read through the H2 results and presentation. There's nothing about this expansion in them, highly selective metrics comparing RyanAir with BA, some interesting negative results like yield over the winter down 15-20% and revenue per passenger down 2% ...

Originally posted by slinky09
Hmm, this is the same man who said something like blow jobs would be available in business. I think he's horrible and no I ahve never flown Ryanair and would resist it to the point of not flying.

There wouldn't be enough legroom for those sorts of activities [:w]

I can see what he's trying to achieve but as already said I doubt his fares will be much cheaper than the discount fares on BA/VS. I hope they train the pilots to land properly - every FR flight I've taken has resulted in a landing so hard I thought the tyres would burst [V]

The Budget Airline model breaks down as the flights get longer - budget airlines are all about minimising time on the ground but there's less scope in doing this on long-haul routes.

There are very few, if any examples of long-term budget long-haul airlines - the secret is in realising where your market is and then sticking to it.

FM

Originally posted by flyerdavid
There wouldn't be enough legroom for those sorts of activities [:w]

Ar hmm, there are alledgedly some tight spaces where such act has been performed ... Fiat 500 anyone?

Originally posted by FamilyMan
the secret is in realising where your market is and then sticking to it

Couldn't agree more - which, incidentally, is why I think VS has a good model albeit it needs good relationships to make it happen.

Look, if they are dumb enough to think it can work then great for them. Is it likely to lure any real passengers that care about quality away? No. It will simply attract those that 'think' they are getting a great deal. The main caveat is that I hope VS and BA are not dumb enough to actually worry about this - let them drain their cash on such an exercise and hopefully another LCC will bite the dust.

Personally, I'd rather buy a street in Hull with the money I'd spend on a flight with RyanAir.