Ryanair pulling out of George Best Belfast City Airport

[dublinfella]

No-one has asked the obvious question. Ryanair fly the same fleett.

Why exactly do they need a longer runway for the same planes?

[supersarsfields]

His only recent success is driving Aer Arrann into Examinership which hopefully they will emerge from.

Well not exactly wholly accurate.  Aer Arann committed to so many new aircraft, they were in trouble despite Ryanair.

Aer Arrann took the new aircraft after Ryanair went to war with them on the Cork - Dublin and Dublin - Kerry routes which led to a need for cash last year.

The volcano and the new aircraft may have caused them to run out of cash this month, but Ryanair strangled them before that.

When the PSOs are cut Aer Arann would have been finished anyway, this is their only chance but its going to take something massive to save them at this point.

Ryanair weren't allowed to fill their planes out of Belfast City because of the short runway length versus the heavy takeoff weight of the B738 (the only plane they fly), they generally need 75% full planes to break even, so their margins there were tiny. They were hanging on in the hope that the runway extension would go ahead, without it they would always go. Doubt they'll fancy going head to head with Easyjet at Aldergrove. Talking of further cut backs at Shannon today as well.

[ziggysego]

No-one has asked the obvious question. Ryanair fly the same fleett.

Why exactly do they need a longer runway for the same planes?

They want larger planes for European flights. They need a larger runway for this.

[Rois]

Did Ryanair not attack Aer Arann on the Dublin - Cork route increasing frequency and charging buttons until Aer Arann dropped theirs from 7 a day to 1 a day?
Did they then not bid for the Dublin - Kerry PSO route getting Aer Arann off its most profitable route?
Did Aer Arann not then run into difficulty until a mystery investor put up the cash?
Did Aer Arann not then enter an arrangement with Aer Lingus which led to the new aircraft only in the last 12 months?

Tell me where I am incorrect.

Nowhere are you incorrect.  It's just not the whole picture.  I'm giving up on this now,  I run the risk of being sacked. 

[muppet]

His only recent success is driving Aer Arrann into Examinership which hopefully they will emerge from.

Well not exactly wholly accurate.  Aer Arann committed to so many new aircraft, they were in trouble despite Ryanair.

Aer Arrann took the new aircraft after Ryanair went to war with them on the Cork - Dublin and Dublin - Kerry routes which led to a need for cash last year.

The volcano and the new aircraft may have caused them to run out of cash this month, but Ryanair strangled them before that.

When the PSOs are cut Aer Arann would have been finished anyway, this is their only chance but its going to take something massive to save them at this point.

Ryanair weren't allowed to fill their planes out of Belfast City because of the short runway length versus the heavy takeoff weight of the B738 (the only plane they fly), they generally need 75% full planes to break even, so their margins there were tiny. They were hanging on in the hope that the runway extension would go ahead, without it they would always go. Doubt they'll fancy going head to head with Easyjet at Aldergrove. Talking of further cut backs at Shannon today as well.

Dublin - Cork isn't a PSO.

For the record Ryanair gets €660,000,000 a year in government subsidies. It would most likely shut down if these were withdrawn.

[armaghniac]

The Belfast case is a simple one, Ryanair fly only one type of plane and fully loaded it needs a longer runway. This is why the Derry airport runway extension was needed. Other carriers may have smaller planes so they can make a go of it.

By having one type of plane Ryanair have economies of scale and only one type of training for pilots etc. Other airlines have a different approach Aer Lingus are now looking at smaller (120 seater) planes for less busy routes and Cityjet use this model to LCY. 

[loughshoregirl]

I've just listened to the Stephen Nolan podcast on this issue. It's worth a listen. 

[mannix]

well you must realise michael o leary is not concerned about anything else but the bottom line. belfast nor belgrade nor timbuktoo matter a toss to him, money is the only thing and he is very good at it.
any chance we could have him take a look at the way ireland is run, he could trim some of the fat.

[muppet]

well you must realise michael o leary is not concerned about anything else but the bottom line. belfast nor belgrade nor timbuktoo matter a toss to him, money is the only thing and he is very good at it.
any chance we could have him take a look at the way ireland is run, he could trim some of the fat.

He has gone from 4 aircraft to 1 in Shannon.
He has gone from 30 aircraft to 12 in Dublin.
He is pulling out of Belfast and moving the aircraft to Barcelona.

And people want him in charge here?

[mannix]

all for a good reason, trimming away unnecessary bills. people in ireland can never work a day in their lives and get free money, i know at least 2 dozen of them and at least half them are working for cash on the side,  100 euro a day and 200 on the dole. its crazy and a michael o leary would end it.
dublin and belfast served their purpose and are of no use because of their taxes on ryanair.I have used them between shannon and beavais dozens of times, cheap and efficient but no frills and you are going to pay if you want to play games with them.

[muppet]

all for a good reason, trimming away unnecessary bills. people in ireland can never work a day in their lives and get free money, i know at least 2 dozen of them and at least half them are working for cash on the side,  100 euro a day and 200 on the dole. its crazy and a michael o leary would end it.
dublin and belfast served their purpose and are of no use because of their taxes on ryanair.I have used them between shannon and beavais dozens of times, cheap and efficient but no frills and you are going to pay if you want to play games with them.

He is pulling out because he can't make money here. In Shannon he blames the tax, in Dublin it is Terminal 2 while in Belfast it was the runway length. They pulled out of Angouleme because they wouldn't pay Ryanair more than the contracted amount. They pulled out of Valencia because they wouldn't engage in 'constructive discussions'. They reduced capacity in Manchester costing 600 jobs (their figures) and completely withdrew from Blackpool because of a local tax. It announced it was pulling out of Prague due to 'fees', Granada because the local council stopped subsidising the flights while in the meantime it demanded an end to the subsidies Aer Arann were getting. It pulled out of Newquay, reduced capacity at Doncaster and shafted up to 5,000 passengers by pulling out of Fuerteventura in 2008. In all of the above Ryanair blamed the local airport, council or government, or all three.

Ryanair have threatened many times to pull out of Ireland. That will never happen for the simple reason that Irish airlines are regulated by a Patrick Neary/Irish style of regulation. i.e. let us know what ye're at, if it suits like.

Up to 2006 people thought that a Sean Fitzpatrick or a Michael Fingleton were great fellas and would make good ministers. Be careful what you wish for.

[muppet]

http://www.rte.ie/business/2010/0923/ryanair.html

Pulling an aircraft out of Kerry now that it forced Aer Arran off the subsidised route but leaving a flight a day just in case they think of going back on it.

[ziggysego]

well you must realise michael o leary is not concerned about anything else but the bottom line. belfast nor belgrade nor timbuktoo matter a toss to him, money is the only thing and he is very good at it.
any chance we could have him take a look at the way ireland is run, he could trim some of the fat.

He was interviewed on BBC's Newnight a wean of weeks ago. They asked would he consider taking on consultative role in the British Government on how to safe money. He just laughed and said he's not interest one iota on how Britain runs it's country. Said he's a Paddy and to-be-sure, they wouldn't want a Mick about the place, telling them they are wrong.