Bri and Katee

Its been news all day. Ryanair refusing to pay for the new airbridges at the new terminal. Of course its an abuse of the monopoly says O'Leery who wants it returning to walk on walk off. There again if they offered the service for free, I'm sure he'd accept!

Here's the full story in the words of Ryanair.....

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryana...by-2m-euro-p-a

There again, if you want an unbiased view check yahoo or bbc online news.

Mitzyboy

Thats just about typical. Slashed Valencia, now Alicante .... whet the hell are the passengers supposed to do!

steviedeluxe

Use a different airline perhaps?

Air Berlin interested in taking Ryanair slots at Alicante

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news...le_30003.shtml

johnnyone

We get what we pay for and I don't believe we have much cause for complaint when you consider the cost.

You used to be able to get direct flights to both Valencia and Alicante from London with Iberia/Ba. Now the only direct services are through the low cost airlines that are only interested in profit who withdraw from routes on a whim without consideration to the public they provide a service(??) to.

I would quite happily pay more to fly Iberia/Ba if they flew direct to these airports but suspect I am in the minority, otherwise these routes would still exist.

I did email BA a few months ago to ask if they had any plans to fly from London City to Valencia but got a negative reply. If they believed a service from London was viable I am sure that it would look into reinstating it.

Nigeljay

We fly from Manchester to Alicante regularly. Ryanair have recently resumed their Manchester flights after several years of dispute with the airport. I always compare the prices between Monarch, Easyjet, Jet2 and Ryanair and I see little difference between them in price terms. I choose Monarch because I like to choose my seats in advance and avoid a cattle rush to the plane. However for about the same price Monarch nearly always use the airbridges at Alicante so I am less than convinced that the passengers are getting any saving that Mr. O' Leary is making by not using them.

agoreira

But surely that's the purpose of a company, to ensure they make a profit, otherwise they go under. If I had shares in a company, I'd be more concerned that they made a profit than ran unprofitable routes, simply to please a certain bunch of passengers. I can remember reading someone that had holiday rentals complaining vociferously when a Granada service was withdrawn, don't they know that her customers will now have to travel from Málaga! I agree with you, you get what you pay for, and whilst it's great to fly for £5, it's unsustainable, something has to give.

Mitzyboy

I'm not one you will find complaining about Ryanair because although the owner is one supercilious overbearing man who doesnt really care about his customers complaints (ooops ...), I have never had a problem with them personally and use them most of the time.

The point here though is that you may get what you pay for, but if he is going to remove a huge majority of the flights from both Alicante and Valencia then I wont be able to use them any more, and will go elsewhere.

tim1963

We flew out of Alicante a week ago and came back yesterday. Before we'd even heard of the jetway controversy my wife had remarked how much of a pain in the a$$ they were - boarding took forever. Same was true deplaning. One way on and one way off. Not surprised Ryanair prefer to do without them.

johnnyone

I agree it is there to make a profit but having driven out the traditional carriers who had sustained the routes for many years, it as a transport company should have an obligation to commit to those routes for a reasonable period and if it intended to withdraw give a reasonable period of notice. I don't blame Ryanair, it just shouldn't be allowed that degree of power.
There would be uproar if the bus/train Companies acted in the same way. I don't know but suspect they have a legal obligation to commit to their routes for set periods with set timetables.
Companies are not just about shareholders. If they were allowed to do what they liked to make a profit most Countries would be without water, gas, electricity or a decent post service as the Companies would only serve profitable areas ie towns and cities

johnnyone

But will you have anywhere to go?

Nigeljay

I was referring to Mr. O'Leary's statement in which he says "...forced to pay £2million for inefficient airbridges which neither we nor our customers want." My point is that his implication is that Ryanair's customers don't want to pay extra for the airbridges when in fact other budget airlines' customers are paying no extra and getting the use of them. I am by the way neither a shareholder or customer of Ryanair.

Bri and Katee

The point is.... they have withdrawn from Murcia and now withdrawing from Alcante. Ryanair won't be serving this huge region at all from the offseason period. He has given the requisite warning, almost 6 months in fact. It still won't make a difference, still no planes to the region.

And all those supporters who for many a topic on here have said they will use no other carrier, what are you going to do now?

It is as I said a case of pot calling kettle black. O'Leery uses every bit of his (Ryanairs) muscle against both the small carriers and the airports. When they bite back he's the first to start bleating about unfair practices.

DaveyD

And on top of that, Ryanair are arguing with AENA about passengers rights to carry duty free aswell as (not inside of) their handluggage allowance. When will Ryanair stop whineging and give everyone a break. For every little thing that happens they moan about either cutting services or having to increase prices ! - http://www.tumbit.com/news/articles/...purchases.html

Mitzyboy

I can get other decent rates, but I have to go to EMA instead of Birmingham, which means a 40 minute drive there and back (for my daughter)

Lokks like we'll have no choice. Valencia, Alicante and Murcia hit, so presumably the remaining flights will be booked up early

johnnyone

Ryanair may be posturing.
The new airport at Corvera is being completed (what is the point of another airport at Murcia?) and perhaps it thinks the threat of that will get the other local airports to reconsider their charges.