Ryanair News

[Tetchytyke]

The Low Cost model doesn't like those big airport hubs because of fees, its one of the reasons why Ryanair (among others) doesn't use Heathrow.

Airport fees aren't a deal breaker for LCCs as, ultimately, any fees are paid for by the passenger.

All airlines would like airports to cut fees and cut taxes but that's simply because it would increase the airline's margin. Take the UK as an example: abolish APD and Ryanair's fares won't decrease by £13, Ryanair's margin will simply increase by £13.

If airlines are reducing routes to and from Vienna, or pulling out entirely, then it is because the underlying demand isn't there.

LCCs don't tend to use the biggest hubs because the cost of access is too high for them, but that's separate to the general fees. Ryanair and EasyJet aren't at Heathrow because they don't see the point of investing the hundreds of millions required to purchase the slot pairs from another airline.

 

[gabrielhj07]

Ryanair and EasyJet aren't at Heathrow because they don't see the point of investing the hundreds of millions required to purchase the slot pairs from another airline.

easyJet have been applying for Heathrow slots for some time now.

 

[Cloud Strife]

All airlines would like airports to cut fees and cut taxes but that's simply because it would increase the airline's margin. Take the UK as an example: abolish APD and Ryanair's fares won't decrease by £13, Ryanair's margin will simply increase by £13.

It wouldn't be so linear. Ryanair would likely cut their fares by at least a fiver, if not more, because they know a low headline fare is critical. They often suck up the APD on UK origin flights as well, because they expect to make the money elsewhere.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Ryanair would likely cut their fares by at least a fiver, if not more, because they know a low headline fare is critical. They often suck up the APD on UK origin flights as well, because they expect to make the money elsewhere.

Ryanair's fares aren't linear which always makes comparison difficult (and deliberately so). The headline fare may drop, yes, but any drop in the headline fare will be offset by increases in the cost of ancillaries. As you say the headline fare on Ryanair is sometimes less than the APD alone, but overall the revenue per passenger isn't.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 Sep 2025 ==

easyJet have been applying for Heathrow slots for some time now.

Have they? I'm not sure enough slots will be available on the market for them to establish any sort of significant presence at Heathrow. A handful of slot pairs would be useless to them.

They have indicated that they would be in the market for slots should the third runway be built.

 

[Snow1964]

Ryanair also still have significant aircraft shortages because of Boeing's ongoing issues.

Reuters had recent article suggesting Boeing are bringing forward 25 deliveries of 737 max 8 planes for Ryanair

• Boeing brings forward delivery of 25 planes
• Ryanair to boost capacity for lucrative Christmas period
• CEO O'Leary optimistic rather than confident about MAX 10 timetable
• If larger MAX 10 is delayed, Ryanair growth would 'flatline', CEO says

https://www.reuters.com/business/ryanair-impressed-by-boeing-turnaround-optimistic-it-can-boost-output-2025-08-27/

I think some of these are now delivered, and Ryanair has 191 of the 210 max 8 it has ordered

The Max-10 can't come soon enough for them!

But Ryanair's order for the larger 737 max 10 (which is 150 planes plus as yet unexercised options) delivery dates are big unknown as the plane is not yet certified (and Rumours are that Boeing is concentrating on prioritising 777-9 certification and 737 max 7 certification because multiple US airlines have orders for the max 7. I have seen it suggested (but obviously not official) that the bringing forward of 737 max 8 deliveries is to appease Ryanair knowing it's max 10 planes will likely be later than Ryanair hoped.

There is now good chance Ryanair will not see any new planes in 2026, and could be well into 2027 (or even 2028) before any of the max 10 are ready.

Some of Ryanair's 737-800 are now 21 years old with dozens in the 18-20 year old age profile. Some of these will need major overhauls if they are to continue (and remember Ryanair uses its planes fairly intensely so maintenance cycles are more frequent than some other airlines, and fatigue lifetime earlier than many others.)

 

[YorkRailFan]

any fees are paid for by the passenger.

Increasing their fares, making LCCs less competitive compared to a legacy carrier.

If airlines are reducing routes to and from Vienna, or pulling out entirely, then it is because the underlying demand isn't there.

It's no wonder, if you look at flights this December between London and Vienna, you'll see why! Ryanair fares are almost on par with those of Austrian Airlines!

LCCs don't tend to use the biggest hubs because the cost of access is too high for them, but that's separate to the general fees. Ryanair and EasyJet aren't at Heathrow because they don't see the point of investing the hundreds of millions required to purchase the slot pairs from another airline.

Vienna is relatively small compared to Frankfurt and Munich. Lufthansa funnels passengers through their two German hubs, with some cross-Europe passengers routed through Vienna. There are plenty of remote stands which reduces airport handling costs and also time on ground. Stansted & Gatwick are both bigger airports than Vienna and both see Low Cost airlines.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Increasing their fares, making LCCs less competitive compared to a legacy carrier.

It's no wonder, if you look at flights this December between London and Vienna, you'll see why! Ryanair fares are almost on par with those of Austrian Airlines!

Fees are the same for all airlines. It shouldn't affect Ryanair's comparative competitiveness on price.

If fares are high then that suggests that demand is high. Vienna in December is a desirable place to visit.

 

[YorkRailFan]

If fares are high then that suggests that demand is high. Vienna in December is a desirable place to visit.

You missed my point, Ryanair fares being on par with those of Austrian Airlines makes Ryanair less competitive as for the same price you'll get a better experience on Austrian Airlines.

Fees are the same for all airlines. It shouldn't affect Ryanair's comparative competitiveness on price.

The fees will make up a higher % of a Ryanair fare than of a legacy carrier's fare.

 

[Tetchytyke]

You missed my point, Ryanair fares being on par with those of Austrian Airlines makes Ryanair less competitive as for the same price you'll get a better experience on Austrian Airlines.

You miss mine: if Ryanair are supposedly more efficient then there will still be a noticeable difference in the price charged by the airlines. If we assume the legacy carriers have higher overheads they would remain more expensive.

As for the differences in experience between Ryanair and Austrian: both airlines charge extra for allocated seating, for hold luggage, for food and drink on board. Both have slimline seats and a 29” seat pitch.

The truth is that, in Europe, all airlines are roughly the same. You’d therefore expect fares to be roughly the same too. In this case, it seems that they are.

The LCCs stopped being low cost to the consumer a long time ago.

If Ryanair are charging high fares it is simply because those are the fares that the market will bear. Ryanair don’t do empty planes: if they’re charging high fares it’s because people are willing to pay those fares and it’s because people are paying those fares. And the markets will still bear those high fares even if airport fees and taxes were to be cut. Vienna in December is a popular destination and fares will reflect that.

 

[Cloud Strife]

There is now good chance Ryanair will not see any new planes in 2026, and could be well into 2027 (or even 2028) before any of the max 10 are ready.

Some of Ryanair's 737-800 are now 21 years old with dozens in the 18-20 year old age profile. Some of these will need major overhauls if they are to continue (and remember Ryanair uses its planes fairly intensely so maintenance cycles are more frequent than some other airlines, and fatigue lifetime earlier than many others.)

The plan right now is for 2027 for the Max-10 deliveries, and it should hold, unless something else appears.

It's a major issue for Ryanair, because the massive Boeing order after 9/11 (when O'Leary took Boeing to the cleaners and then some) is now very much showing its age, although the 737-800s should be fine for shorter routes for quite a while yet. Having said that, they have a big enough fleet that they can rotate planes in and out during quiet months, so it's not such a big problem yet. The problem is more in the 2035-2040 period, when the 737-800s will need to be retired. The question is with Boeing: will the engine technology be available for a new plane in 2035-2040, or is it possible that the Max 7-10 range will simply be upgraded with some more ancillary improvements until a new engine emerges?

We know that the 737 Max-10 is as far as it goes, it simply can't be built any bigger, and I strongly suspect that both Boeing and Airbus might not actually bother with new planes unless the engine manufacturers can offer something much more reliable. But getting deliveries is going to be the big issue for the next 10-20 years I think, and I wouldn't be terribly shocked if Ryanair are pushing Boeing heavily into creating a new plane so that they can get a massive amount of deliveries from 2035 onwards.

 

[YorkRailFan]

As for the differences in experience between Ryanair and Austrian: both airlines charge extra for allocated seating, for hold luggage, for food and drink on board. Both have slimline seats and a 29” seat pitch

Austrian offers free water and a chocolate on their short haul flights, and usually have better hand luggage allowances. Austrian also typically flies from those bigger airports that are closer to the city, compared to Ryanair's infamous airports like Frankfurt Hahn.

If Ryanair are charging high fares it is simply because those are the fares that the market will bear. Ryanair don’t do empty planes: if they’re charging high fares it’s because people are willing to pay those fares and it’s because people are paying those fares. And the markets will still bear those high fares even if airport fees and taxes were to be cut. Vienna in December is a popular destination and fares will reflect that.

They also charge high fares because of lack of competition. From 2026, only Ryanair, BA and Austrian will have daily flights between the UK & Vienna. Jet2 offers once weekly flights to Vienna from Manchester, Stansted and Leeds Bradford, totally 3 weekly flights to Vienna from the UK. Easyjet has pulled out, Wizz is pulling as well. Ryanair has an almost complete monopoly on Low Cost flights to Vienna from the UK.

 

[1D54]

Okay, so I'm looking at a trip to Italy with Ryanair but leaving the UK from one airport and returning to another one so two different bookings are required.. Prices on return are only showing in €s which is quite understandable but i can't see anything on the page which converts it to sterling which they have on the easyjet site. Am i missing something or are this airline doing it so as to get some sort of cut on the currency exchange? Sounds mad i know but this is not an airline that are exactly customer friendly.

 

[KT550]

Okay, so I'm looking at a trip to Italy with Ryanair but leaving the UK from one airport and returning to another one so two different bookings are required.. Prices on return are only showing in €s which is quite understandable but i can't see anything on the page which converts it to sterling which they have on the easyjet site. Am i missing something or are this airline doing it so as to get some sort of cut on the currency exchange? Sounds mad i know but this is not an airline that are exactly customer friendly.

Most/all airlines will price in the currency of departure country when booking one way tickets.

If you enter a UK payment card on the Ryanair website, it'll give you a GBP price which will be a rip off. You can change it to Euro if you prefer.
Even if your payment card charges a foreign currency fee, it'll probably be cheaper to pay in Euro and let your card provider do the currency conversion.

 

[1D54]

Thank you KT550. Very helpful information.

 

[KT550]

Thank you KT550. Very helpful information.

Additional info.

On the payment page, click on the arrow in the "Want to learn more about our guaranteed exchange rate?", then uncheck the "We recommend you do not untick the checkbox so that you receive our guaranteed exchange rate."

The payment amount will then revert to Euro.

 

[1D54]

So you receive the 'guaranteed exchange rate' which of course you have no idea what it is until you check your bank/cc statement!! I'll pay in €s i think.. Thanks again.

 

[KT550]

So you receive the 'guaranteed exchange rate' which of course you have no idea what it is until you check your bank/cc statement!! I'll pay in €s i think.. Thanks again.

They display the GBP price but it's likely to be 10% more than paying in EUR and letting your card issuer convert.

The example I looked at was a flight costing EUR 17.50.
Their guaranteed GBP price was £16.74, though would only cost about £15.20 if you paid the Euro price and allowed your bank to convert.

 

[TravelDream]

If you enter a UK payment card on the Ryanair website, it'll give you a GBP price which will be a rip off. You can change it to Euro if you prefer.
Even if your payment card charges a foreign currency fee, it'll probably be cheaper to pay in Euro and let your card provider do the currency conversion.

Very good advice here.

Never ever agree to a website/ card reader machine/ ATM converting another currency into pounds sterling as it is almost always a massive rip off.

There are banks which charge no fee whatsoever on foreign currency transactions. I keep a Starling account purely for that purpose.

 

[Butts]

Anyone bought any Duty Free Cigarettes onboard recently and if so can you remember roughly how much 200 was ?

 

[cool110]

Anyone bought any Duty Free Cigarettes onboard recently and if so can you remember roughly how much 200 was ?

The prices are in the app:

• €55 Marlboro Gold or Red
• €60 Benson + Hedges
• €62.50 Lambert & Butler Silver

 

[AlastairFraser]

Thank you KT550. Very helpful information.

If you have a Monzo or Revolut account (other similar banks are available), they are even better for this kind of purpose, because the exchange rate will be near identical or very close to the live EUR:GBP exchange rate, with zero fees up to a certain amount.

 

[nimt108]

Ryanair have cancelled all flights from Tel Aviv, according to them because of high charges. TLV released a statement claiming that what Ryanair said was not true, sounding very similar to the spat between Ryanair and AENA in Spain a few weeks back.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ryanair-wont-resume-israel-flights-this-winter-fed-up-with-treatment-by-airport/amp/

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Sep 2025 ==

Interesting to see more airports these days publically firing back at Ryanair's negotiation style. I wonder whether Ryanair may have overdone their hand recently.

 

[signed]

Interesting to see more airports these days publically firing back at Ryanair's negotiation style. I wonder whether Ryanair may have overdone their hand recently.

The main issue with Ryanair IMHO is that it basically always uses the same spiel every time, when the real reason having little to absolutely nothing to do with it. It's a tactic you don't really see anywhere else, you won't see EasyJet do that for example (likely also because EZ is a publically traded company).

So of course airports are pissed off and don't play as nice as it may have done previously

 

[pug1]

The main issue with Ryanair IMHO is that it basically always uses the same spiel every time, when the real reason having little to absolutely nothing to do with it. It's a tactic you don't really see anywhere else, you won't see EasyJet do that for example (likely also because EZ is a publically traded company).

So of course airports are pissed off and don't play as nice as it may have done previously

There will be a collective voice now I reckon, the Spanish airports have decided they’ve had enough, now Tel Aviv.. it’s ok pushing your luck but they’ll only be able to leverage good deals from airports that are desperate, and those airports are usually desperate because they’re thin markets.

Note how Wizzair have jumped on the news and reaffirmed their commitment to TLV.

 

[Butts]

The prices are in the app:

• €55 Marlboro Gold or Red
• €60 Benson + Hedges
• €62.50 Lambert & Butler Silver

Thanks.

When Ryanair do away with paper boarding passes what are people like me without a smartphone going to do ?

 

[Bald Rick]

Thanks.

When Ryanair do away with paper boarding passes what are people like me without a smartphone going to do ?

Travel with a more acceptable airline.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Interesting to see more airports these days publically firing back at Ryanair's negotiation style. I wonder whether Ryanair may have overdone their hand recently.

I can’t imagine that Tel Aviv is a particularly profitable route for them at the moment. Especially not as an Irish airline.

I’d agree they are overplaying their hand. It’s obvious that they’re cutting routes where they’re not making the margin they want.

When Ryanair do away with paper boarding passes what are people like me without a smartphone going to do ?

Get a smartphone!

It looks as though they will reprint a boarding pass for you for free at the airport, providing you have checked in online.

What Ryanair’s new smartphone boarding pass system means for passengers

Your essential questions on the controversial new policy, answered

www.independent.co.uk

No problem. Mr O’Leary told me: “The big concern that people have is ‘What happens if I lose my battery or I lose my phone?’

If you lose your phone, no issue. As long as you’ve checked in before you got to the airport, we’ll reissue a paper boarding pass at the airport free of charge. But you have to have checked in before you got to the airport.

“Also, if your battery dies or something else happens, once you’ve checked in, we’ll have your sequence number anyway at the boarding gate, and we’ll make sure you get on. So nobody should worry about it. Just make sure you check in online before you get to the airport, and then all will be fine.”

 

[1D54]

Thanks.

When Ryanair do away with paper boarding passes what are people like me without a smartphone going to do ?

Have they said you will be no longer be able to purchase tax free goods by simply using a card like you can now?

 

[Butts]

Checked in for Cigarette Replenishment Daytrip from Edinburgh to Dublin tomorrow.

Ended up "Piggy in the Middle" both ways 19B.

To be fair all through the process they made it pretty clear this would happen if I didn't cough for a seat.

Has anyone ever avoided this fate without paying and if so what are the tricks pertaining to avoiding that outcome ?

 

[cool110]

Has anyone ever avoided this fate without paying and if so what are the tricks pertaining to avoiding that outcome ?

I did it in early March 2020, got a row to myself after a load of people didn't turn up for some reason...