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Ryanair / LCCs / Airline Industry / Travel News / Ireland Travel / Britain Travel / London Stansted / Michael O'Leary / → All Tags

After Mind-Blowing Safety Lapse, Ryanair Promises Massive Expansion with Help of 'Cheap' Planes

There are two airline industry news stories about Irish LCC Ryanair floating around this week, and we'll leave you to decide the precise degree to which they're related. We're specifying "airline industry" stories, in contrast to just Ryanair stories "in general," to emphasize that these are different from the fake "no frills" PR branding nonsense that Ryanair endlessly pushes into the travel journalism newsstream (e.g. this near self-parody of a CNN story headlined "Ryanair's 5 'cheapest' money-saving schemes"). These are actual news stories, as much as is possible with these guys.

First up, Ryanair's the-customer-is-always-wrong CEO Michael O'Leary just announced a massive expansion of the airline. Ryanair will reportedly purchase over 200 new airplanes from US, Chinese and Russian plane manufacturers, a total that would easily make the airline one of the world's largest. O'Leary is promising that the planes will come at "cheap prices."

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Britain Travel / Airports / Airline Industry / LHR / STN / London Stansted / Airline Strikes / Airport Hell / → All Tags

UK Airport Worker Strike to Shut Down Most British Airports

The last Monday of August is a Bank Holiday in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and roughly a million Brits accordingly use the extended weekend to vacation out of the country. If the BAA employees at London-Heathrow, London-Stansted, Glasgow, Southampton, Edinburgh and Aberdeen make good on their threat to walk out, the loss of firefighters and security staff would force the airports to close, functionally stranding anyone who wants to get in or out of Britain (with the exception of London-Gatwick, London-City airports).

When British Airways employees tried this stunt last year they got slapped down by a judge, because timing your strike to wreck the UK economy violates British fair play or something. Nice to see that the Unite union, which represents both the BA employees and the airport employees who are threatening to strike at the end of the month, is willing to trot out the same routine again. To their friends and family it probably demonstrates admirable spunk. To the rest of the UK, to anyone who needs to fly through the UK, and to anyone at any airport anywhere in the world that will be affected by UK cancellations, it's just obnoxious.

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London Gatwick / London Stansted / Airports / Britain Travel / → All Tags

British Airports For Sale; We Hope We Don't Lose Out Too

BAA Airports--the Spanish-consortium-owned group of seven of the largest airports in Britain--are getting in deeper trouble by the day. Last time we checked in they were being forced to sell off Gatwick Airport but now the Competition Commission has said they've got to get rid of three airports.

Going from the theory that one company owning seven major airports in a relatively small country might be anti-competitive (fair call), BAA has been told they not only have to sell Gatwick, but LCC-haven Stansted Airport plus either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports.

The worst part is that although this saga's been going on for a few years, crunch time for selling the airports means they'll get maybe only half of what the airports would've been worth pre-recession. That's not good for business. And we're figuring that what's not good for the airport business also ain't much good for passengers.

Related Stories:
· BAA Ordered to Sell Off Gatwick and Stansted [Guardian]
· Who Wants To Buy An Airport? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Aleksi Aaltonen]

Awful Trends / Airport Hell / London Stansted / STN / Ryanair / → All Tags

Stansted The Latest Victim Of Airport Protests

Thailand apparently isn't the only place protesters can shut down airports: London Stansted was closed for three hours this morning after 57 protesters cut their way through a fence and attempted to stage a sit in on the airport's only runway. While it's unclear whether they actually reached the tarmac, the group still created quite a scene, with at least 52 flights canceled and further delays likely.

The protest group, Plane Stupid, claims short-haul flights are the fastest growing source of carbon emissions in Britain; Stansted is a hub for Ryanair and EasyJet. And recently approved plans call for more passenger facilities and a second runway to be built; long-haul international service will get a boost in March 2009 when AirAsia X touches down at Stansted. The planned expansion has predictably spawned at least one anti-growth group besides Plane Stupid.

Ryanair, which was forced to deal with more angry passengers than usual after canceling dozens of flights, has been blaming BAA, the agency that runs Stansted, for its lax security oversight. Pointing fingers won't get delayed fliers home any faster, but Ryanair makes a decent point: At least the people who broke into the airport overnight were peacefully trying to raise awareness about climate change--not attempting something much more sinister.

Related Stories:
· Plane Stupid Shuts Stansted Airport [Official Site]
· Runway Protest Strands Passengers [BBC]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Plane Stupid]

Eos / Airlines / All Business Class Carriers / London Stansted / → All Tags

Eos Planning to Expand Service

Eos, one of the many all-business-class airlines that's working the trans-Atlantic market, will expand its service next year. Right now, Eos only flies between JFK and London Stansted, but starting in early 2008, Newark to London flights will begin followed later in the year by JFK to Paris. Where exactly in Paris--and when exactly service will start--we don't yet know.

Eos sets itself apart with seats that convert to fully flat beds and a maximum of 48 passengers per flight. Fliers also have an "Eos Guide" that helps whisk you through security. But you'll pay for the privilege.

While you can't yet book the EWR to Stansted flights, fares for JFK-STN in February are coming up around $2,900 all-in. Maxjet has the same dates--but no flat beds--for $1,250 and Silverjet will get you from Newark to London Luton for $2,350, lay-flat seat included.

And here's something else to keep an eye on: Eos is getting two new planes, bringing its fleet total to eight Boeing 757s. That'll allow the airline to expand even more--though we'll have to hear some details on these two new routes before jumping to any conclusions about further expansion plans.

Related Stories:
· Delta Now Flying to Heathrow and France [Jaunted]
· Eos coverage [Jaunted]
· London Stansted coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Vidiot]

British Airways / LCCs / Baggage / London Heathrow / London Stansted / Ryanair / → All Tags

Heathrow's in Chaos, Stansted's Expensive

Flying in and out of London has never been more fraught with problems. Apart from the usual baggage problems - Heathrow Airport is so flooded with flights and luggage that it sometimes simply ships masses of bags on to Milan for sorting and distribution, which obviously means your suitcase will take longer than you do to get home - a few days ago two British Airways planes managed to collide while taxiing near Terminal 4 at Heathrow.

And yet the future of other London airports is equally confused. Stansted Airport, which used to be the reliably cheap spot for low cost carriers to land, has doubled its charges in the last three months and already Ryanair is cutting 20% of its flights from Stansted as a result. Perhaps the whole push for people to return to train travel is a better idea than it sounded.

Related Stories:
· Heathrow Airport Update [Business Traveller]
· Two Planes Collide at Heathrow [Daily Mail]
· Your Railteam Will Help Across Europe [Jaunted]

[Photo: kurafire]

Good Fare / Maxjet / London Stansted / All Business Class Carriers / → All Tags

We Love You to the Max(Jet)

Good Fare: JFK-London Stansted, $999 RT on Maxjet

We'll admit it, we've been guilty of hating on Maxjet and EOS on more than one occasion, although we take issue with the concept more than anything else. And we're not even getting an attitude about it after a comped trip on the airline, like some. We think that once they work out the kinks and present a real value, they'll succeed.

To that end, Maxjet is offering an impressive sale: $999 RT between JFK and Stansted, including taxes. You get all the privileges of a Maxjet fare; the only restrictions are that you must book by October 1st for travel between November 1st and the end of February. We're big fans of whatever curry British Airways serves in coach on their JFK-London routes, but this represents a real step up to us, for not that much extra cash.  

Related Stories:
·   Previous Good Fares [Jaunted]