Ryanair

[nwoody2001]

Well, to quote Paul Kehoe, "airlines take note of growing airports" ...and I think the developments we've seen of late are testament to that. The route that RYR have recently launched may have been marginal before, but with others willing to take the risk, RYR have now realised that they can't be complacent ...new competition is on their territory ...I personally think it's a great thing!!!

 

[nwoody2001]

Great to see Ryanair further expand there BHX operation.

Do we now have the biggest ever operation at BHX for Ryanair ???

I think we have to wait until summer 2017 for that. There are currently 26 destinations listed on the Ryanair website but only 22 will be operating over winter. Be good is summer 2017 would hit 30 routes!!!

 

[Ray Finkle]

Do we now have the biggest ever operation at BHX for Ryanair ???

When they opened the base in 2008 they started with 32 routes.

Alicante, Biarritz, Billund, Bologna, Bratislava, Bydgoszcz, Dinard,
Dublin, Frankfurt (Hahn), Fuerteventura, Gdansk, Gerona, Katowice,
Kaunas, Krakow, Londonderry, Marseille, Malaga, Murcia, Olbia, Oslo,
Palma, Perpignan, Pisa, Poitiers, Porto, Shannon, Stockholm, Trieste,
Reus, Rzeszow & Trapani

In the following months we saw the additions of Szczecin, Dusseldorf/Weeze and ski route to Grenoble and Cuneo.

So 36 routes at their peak.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I also welcome their expansion and one thing that Ryanair do is put bums on seats. As thunderchild points out, we do have to be cautious though, as they are well known for seeing off the competition before cutting back themselves.

Monarch don't stand a chance on Madrid. Iberia should be able to hold their own though. Wizz are a different prospect who are well known, and loved, across Eastern Europe. I think that they'll be more than up for the fight.

As for the future, I reckon that we'll see quite a bit more for S17. I think Rhodes and Chania are real possibilities along with some German routes such as Berlin and hopefully Hamburg. Italy has also been mentioned so the likes of Treviso and Bergamo are real possibilities along with Ciampino. From the list above I'd love to see the return of Porto and Pisa. Riga and Valencia would also be most welcome.

 

[nwoody2001]

When they opened the base in 2008 they started with 32 routes.

Alicante, Biarritz, Billund, Bologna, Bratislava, Bydgoszcz, Dinard,
Dublin, Frankfurt (Hahn), Fuerteventura, Gdansk, Gerona, Katowice,
Kaunas, Krakow, Londonderry, Marseille, Malaga, Murcia, Olbia, Oslo,
Palma, Perpignan, Pisa, Poitiers, Porto, Shannon, Stockholm, Trieste,
Reus, Rzeszow & Trapani

In the following months we saw the additions of Szczecin, Dusseldorf/Weeze and ski route to Grenoble and Cuneo.

So 36 routes at their peak.

Be interesting to know from the 36 routes, how many flights per week we had...

 

[Brum X]

This may have been discussed on the EU referendum thread but if we do have BREXIT after june which i passionately do not want.( I want the UK to remain part of the EU.) Will this effect EU airlines which Ryanair will be (EI Republic of Ireland) who have bases in the United Kingdom ????? Im under the impression this scenario has been discussed with the airlines that this could effect ??????

 

[jfy1999]

Here's the schedule for the #Warsaw flights if anyone wants to try them out.

WMI 1750 BHX 1920
BHX 1945 WMI 2315

 

[IanFarquharson]

They promised 10 aircraft based by 2013 !!

Birmingham Becomes Ryanair's 25th Base

$700M INVESTMENT TO DELIVER 5M PAX P.A. AND 5,000 JOBS


Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline today (Tuesday, 15th January 2008) announced its 25th European base in Birmingham with an initial two Boeing 737-800 aircraft ($140m investment) which will deliver 20 new routes from Birmingham to Denmark (1), France (5), Italy (5), Norway (1), Poland (3), Portugal (1), Slovakia (1), Spain (2) and Sweden (1). This will be followed by a further 8 Boeing 737-800 aircraft ($560m investment) which will deliver 5 million passengers annually, a visitor spend of £400m p.a. and sustain 5,000 jobs in the West Midlands.

DESTINATION STARTS FARE
Barcelona 1 April £24
Biarritz 1 July £24
Billund 17June £24
Bologna 20 June £24
Bratislava 1 July £24
Bydgoszcz 4 July £24
Dinard 17 June £24
Dublin Operating £10
Gdansk 1 July £24
Marseille 1 May £24
Olbia 4 July £24
Oslo 17 June £24
Perpignan 2 July £24
Pisa 4 April £24
Poitiers 17 June £24
Porto 20 June £24
Shannon Operating £ 5
Stockholm 2 July £24
Trieste 18 June £24
Reus 18 June £24
Rzeszow 18 June £24
Trapani 2 July £24





Announcing Ryanair’s 25th base in Birmingham, Michael O’Leary said:

“The people of Birmingham have been woefully underserved and overcharged by British Airways and Flybe’s high fares for years. Ryanair’s new base will smash this high fare stranglehold by delivering savings of £130m next year for Birmingham’s passengers / visitors.


“Direct international routes are fundamental to the economic development of a city like Birmingham and the people of the West Midlands can now look forward to Europe’s guaranteed lowest fares and best punctuality on 22 international routes with Ryanair. This route count will more than double as a result of Ryanair’s $700m investment in Birmingham, bringing with it a significant increase in European visitors and jobs for the West Midlands

“To celebrate the launch of our new base, we are offering all passengers who buy a return flight on any route from Birmingham (before midnight on Thursday) a free bonus flight, (no taxes, no fees and no charges*) for travel in February to Dublin or Shannon from Birmingham. This special offer must end midnight Thursday so we advise passengers to book their bargain seats today on www.ryanair.com”.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I remember it well. 'Almost as big as Stansted with over 100 routes' they said

It's why, although I welcome their expansion, I treat Ryanair with a hint of suspicion.

 

[nwoody2001]

April 2008, possibly the worst time to launch an airline base, right at the peak of the boom and tediously close the the economic crash!!!

 

[nwoody2001]

the current Ryanair offering....

Really goes to show that whist Ryanair are able to support the med routes and eastern block, there is a clear void in the regional market with regard to Germany, France and Belgium, eastern meg with Italy and Greece, and of course, Scandinavia....

 

[IanFarquharson]

Love the map as always Neil, looking very good again from Ryanair

How about Riga, a few more in France and Athens

 

[Bhx_fifteen]

Anyone wondering how FR are fairing on their new route to MAD: tomorrow's flight is 95% full. Pretty impressive bearing in mind it's not the school holidays, however bank holiday weekend surely plays a part in this.

Hopefully it's not at the detriment of Norwegian or Iberia who were first on the route. I would be interested to know how Monarch are doing on the route and whether it will return for S17.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Norwegian look a bit of a mixed bag. Over the next couple of weeks there are some very high fares mixed with some very low fares, a couple of days next week have been full for a while.

 

[jfy1999]

Love the map as always Neil, looking very good again from Ryanair

How about Riga, a few more in France and Athens

Kenny Jacobs specifically mentioned Germany, Italy and Greece as areas for BHX expansion. All three look pretty barren right now.

There are signs that they could potentially launch Wroclaw, as they've just announced flights from there to MAN, NCL and BFS and might want to go up against Wizz on this route too.

 

[thunderchild]

Italy - where to start? Alghero, Bari, Bologna, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Genoa, Palermo, Parma, Pisa, Trapani, Treviso, Trieste, Turin....any of those would be welcome!

Greece - obviously Athens would be a prime candidate (at the risk of Aegean though?) and perhaps Thessaloniki as a more 'out there' choice? As Ray has already suggested the bigger islands such as Crete and Rhodes could supplement Corfu quite nicely. Perhaps Kos and Zante too?

Germany - I'm not so sure. Anything outside flybe and the Lufthansa group has traditionally flopped - remember when Monarch tried Munich????

Either way there are plenty of un-served routes out there - Lublin, Marseille, Riga, Valencia....I could be here all day!

 

[richard winterbourn]

Hold on a minute Thunderchild, it's not Christmas. And even if it were, we never get everything we ask for!
However, i am surprised in the wish list for Italy you did not mention Bergamo, or should i say Milan Bergamo. I travel to this city quite often but since Ryanair axed the service from BHX i now have to travel via MAN.

But i will make the point again, while the service was available from BHX the flights on the occasions i used it were virtually if not always full - and not entirely by UK pax. Very often, the flights were heavily subscribed by Italians.

Now, i am not to know what the yields were like ex BHX, but it was a service that was well patronised and i, for one, hope that this is a service that will be provided again by Ryanair before too long.

Just to add a final point, if you do fly to Malpensa, which i have done, the walk from check-in to gate is almost as long a marathon distance. Orio al Serio at Bergamo? thirty yards from the plane and then you are out into arrivals hall. Fantastic.

 

[thunderchild]

I know Ryanair won't launch all those routes I was just pointing out how many unserved/underserved routes are out there. Can't believe I forgot Bergamo!

 

[nwoody2001]

I mirror the above sentiments, and whilst flybe and monarch have been good and loyal to BHX, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be exposed/scared of competition! Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Milan, Rome, Athens are all routes which I would welcome additional and low-cost competition on, or of course in addition to any new routes!!!

Bhx got itself in trouble when BA pulled out depending on 1 airline - 1 route. If for whatever reason that airline pulls out, BHX is left vulnerable!

As stated on another thread, look at Berlin ... Manchester has both Easyjet and Ryanair serving Berlin offering circa 4,200 seats a week! We have flybe serving Berlin offering just 800!!!

 

[Ray Finkle]

My wish list is Porto, Riga, Valencia and Pisa. It's a shame as Porto, Valencia or Pisa could have been great for a 3x weekly Monarch A320 rather than Madrid.

Given Mr Jacobs comments I think we'll see Berlin next year along with Hamburg. I could also see another German route such as Bremen or Nuremberg.

Bergamo is a good shout for Italy along with Bologna and possibly Rome and Treviso.

I think Greece may be limited to the larger Islands such as Crete and Rhodes, especially if they're selling seats for tour operators. Seasonal Athens would be nice though.

The question is, will we see more based aircraft? If they're serious about adding several routes across Germany, Italy and Greece then I definitely see at least one more, possibly two if there are increases elsewhere.