Category Archives: Ryanair

Ryanair boss blames Brexit for airport chaos and says era of €10 airfares over

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Michael O’Leary warns of rising cost of fuel and says policymakers need to get inflation back to about 2%

The boss of Ryanair has warned the era of ultra-low airfares is over and said Brexit is partly to blame for a shortage of airport workers that has created chaos during the peak holiday period.

The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said surging oil prices would make it impossible to keep offering promotional tickets for less than €10 (£8.50). He added that Ryanair’s average fare would rise from about €40 towards €50 over the next five years as the company adjusted to rising inflation.

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Ryanair strike threat set to add to summer airport chaos in Europe

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Planned action by the airline’s Spain-based cabin crew over working conditions will increase disruption for holidaymakers

British holidaymakers are braced for fresh travel chaos across Europe this summer with staff at Ryanair on Saturday becoming the latest to threaten strike action.

As striking airport workers in Paris forced the cancellation of dozens of flights on Saturday and promised more industrial action later in July, Spain-based cabin crew at Ryanair revealed they now plan to strike for 12 days in July.

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Ryanair cabin crew in Spain vote to hold two three-day strikes

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Move could add to Europe’s travel problems, although airline does not expect widespread disruption

Cabin crew working for Ryanair in Spain have voted to hold six days of strikes at the end of June and early July, potentially adding to the disruption affecting air travel across Europe.

The Spanish-based staff in the USO and SITCPLA unions will walk out for two three-day strikes from 24 June to 26 June and 30 June to 2 July.

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Ryanair forces South Africans to do Afrikaans test to prove nationality

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Airline accused of discrimination after it introduces test due to ‘high prevalence of fraudulent passports’

Ryanair is facing accusations of racial discrimination after forcing South Africans to take a test in Afrikaans before boarding flights home from the UK and Europe.

The budget airline, which claimed the “simple questionnaire” was part of efforts to tackle fraudulent South African passport holders, is facing criticism for conducting the general knowledge test in a language that is the third most used in the country and had a controversial role in the oppression of black citizens during apartheid.

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Holidaymakers face queues, cancellations and delays

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Rebounding demand and a string of last-minute flight cancellations have compounded half-term travel woes

Holidaymakers are facing flight cancellations and the prospect of delays on the road as half-term starts and the UK gears up for an extended bank holiday weekend.

The June half-term traditionally heralds the start of the summer tourist season, and this year comes amid rebounding consumer demand for leisure breaks following the relaxation of UK Covid travel restrictions.

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Belarus: US charges four government officials with piracy over Ryanair plane diversion

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When the plane landed authorities arrested journalist and activist Raman Pratasevich

US prosecutors have charged four Belarusian government officials with aircraft piracy for diverting a Ryanair flight last year, allegedly claiming that there was a bomb threat in order to arrest an opposition journalist.

The charges, announced by federal prosecutors in New York, recounted how a regularly-scheduled passenger plane traveling between Athens, Greece, and Vilnius, Lithuania, on 23 May was diverted to Minsk in Belarus by air traffic control authorities in Belarus.

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Air travel in and out of UK slumps by 71% in 2021 amid pandemic

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Report from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows domestic flights were down by almost 60%

Air travel in and out of the UK slumped by 71% in 2021 as the second year of the Covid-19 crisis took its toll on international flying, according to a report.

Just over 406,000 international flights operated from the UK up to 22 December this year compared with almost 1.4m in 2019 before the pandemic struck and travel restrictions were imposed, the aviation analytics firm Cirium said. UK domestic flights were found to have declined by almost 60%.

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Ryanair to shake up refunds policy after pandemic criticism

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Airline, which even barred some people who sought redress, commits to refunds within five working days

Ryanair has promised to start refunding customers for cancelled flights within five working days, after criticism of its reimbursements policy during the pandemic.

The Dublin-based carrier, which has previously described itself as a “no-refunds airline”, has also announced significant improvements to the way it treats customers whose flights are delayed or cancelled.

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Ryanair bans Covid refund passengers from boarding new flights

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Holidaymakers say they were given just hours to pay back cash claimed through credit cards

Ryanair has been accused of barring passengers who pursued chargebacks against the airline during the pandemic from taking new flights this year – unless they return their refunds.

An investigation by MoneySavingExpert (MSE) has found that holidaymakers who sought refunds from their credit card provider have faced last-minute demands of up to £600 if they want to board a Ryanair plane.

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Ryanair plans to carry 225m passengers by 2026 in Covid rebound

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Airline has also said it will create 5,000 new jobs across Europe over five-year period

Ryanair has said itplans to fly an extra 25 million passengers a year by 2026, as the no-frills airline tries to take advantage of the industry’s slow recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Irish airline said it hopes to carry 225 million passengers annually by March 2026, 25 million higher than its previous target of 200 million, as it prepared for its annual meeting in Dublin on Thursday.

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Lockdown refunds: why are Ryanair and BA being investigated?

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Airlines may have broken law by refusing refunds for flights customers could not legally take

British Airways and Ryanair are being officially investigated over whether they treated customers unfairly during the pandemic by failing to offer them flight refunds.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was looking to see if the two airlines had broken consumer law, and indicated it was on the side of consumers on this issue. It has opened enforcement cases into both companies.

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Belarusian journalist was forced to record confession video, says father – video

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The father of the dissident journalist Roman Protasevich, who was detained in Belarus after his plane was forced to land there, said he believed his son was forced in a video posted online to admit guilt and appeared to have a broken nose. 'I think he was forced. It's not his words, it's not his intonation of speech,’, Dzmitry Protasevich said over Skype from Poland. 

Appearing on several channels of the Telegram messaging app, Roman Protasevich acknowledged playing a role in organising mass disturbances in Minsk last year. His father said the video seemed to be the result of coercion. ‘It's likely his nose is broken, because the shape of it has changed and there's a lot of powder on it’, he said

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EU imposes new economic sanctions on Belarus over ‘hijacked’ flight

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EU’s 27 heads of state call for the immediate release of opposition blogger Roman Protasevich

EU leaders triggered new economic sanctions against Belarus and punitive measures against its national airline as a dissident taken from a “hijacked” Ryanair flight was paraded on the country’s television news apparently confessing to crimes against the state.

In a summit communique swiftly agreed in Brussels on Monday night, the EU’s 27 heads of state and government condemned the forced landing of flight FR4978 in Minsk and called for the immediate release of opposition blogger Roman Protasevich and his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega.

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US joins global outcry at Belarus over seizure of blogger from Ryanair flight

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European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says ‘hijacking must be sanctioned’ ahead of EU leaders’ meeting on Monday

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has joined European leaders in condemning Belarus for forcing a Ryanair flight carrying an opposition activist to land in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

European leaders – some of whom have already denounced the move to arrest blogger Roman Protasevich as an “act of state terror and kidnapping” – will meet on Monday to discuss what action could be taken against Belarus, for forcing the plane’s diversion during its flight from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

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Irish tourism chair resigns after ignoring coronavirus travel advice

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Michael Cawley tenders his resignation after details of Italian holiday are revealed

The chairman of Ireland’s tourism authority has resigned after defying government guidance to avoid all non-essential travel by going on holiday to Italy.

Michael Cawley, Ryanair’s former chief operating officer, handed in his resignation on Saturday after details of his Italian excursion were revealed by the Irish Independent.

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Italy threatens to ban Ryanair over alleged Covid-19 guideline violations

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Dublin-based airline, previously criticised by German health authorities, denies accusations of non-compliance

Italy’s aviation regulator has threatened to ban Ryanair from its skies, alleging that the airline has not complied with rules brought in to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The Italian civil aviation authority Enac accused the Dublin-based airline of “repeated violation of anti-Covid-19 health measures drafted by the Italian government and in force to protect passengers’ health”.

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BA, easyJet and Ryanair begin court action over UK quarantine rules

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Airlines seeking urgent judicial review of policy that they say could cost thousands of jobs

Britain’s three biggest airlines have filed papers in the high court to seek an urgent judicial review of the government’s quarantine laws, which they say are having a devastating effect on tourism and the wider economy.

British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair say the rules, which came into effect on Monday and require passengers arriving from abroad to self-isolate at a single address for 14 days, are flawed and will cost thousands of jobs.

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Ryanair staff in France accuse airline of ‘redundancy blackmail’

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Budget carrier is imposing 20% pay cuts for flight crew and 10% for cabin staff

French flight crew have accused Ryanair of blackmailing them into taking pay cuts or losing their jobs.

The Irish airline, which has warned it may cut up to 3,000 jobs in Europe, told staff in France it was imposing 20% salary cuts for flight crew and 10% for attendants. Those who are already on legal minimum wages will have their hours reduced.

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Ryanair boss says airline won’t fly with ‘idiotic’ social distancing rules

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Michael O’Leary says business model will be in tatters if he is forced to leave middle seats empty

Ryanair planes won’t return to the skies if the airline is forced to leave the middle seat empty to comply with “idiotic” in-flight social distancing rules, its chief executive, Michael O’Leary, has said.

The boss of the no-frills carrier, which has thrived by packing its flights as full as possible with passengers lured by low prices, has previously said that blocking out the space in between aisle seats is “nonsense” that would have no beneficial effect.

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‘Time is running out’: airline industry warns government

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EasyJet and Ryanair to stop flying on Monday and less than 5% of passengers expected at airports amid coronavirus

Airlines and airports have warned that time is running out for the government to enact promised measures to help the aviation industry, with EasyJet and Ryanair set to stop flying after Monday and less than 5% of normal passenger numbers expected at major airports.

Further talks are expected between ministers and the industry on Monday as the government wrestles with how to keep critical infrastructure functioning.

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