Ryanair News

[signed]

I suppose also if they didn't want to use the gate scanning kit they could just get their own. easyJet used to do that, they may still do.

What would be the benefit to roll their own gate scan?

 

[Bletchleyite]

What would be the benefit to roll their own gate scan?

In easyJet's case it was because they then didn't have to pay for the airport equipment, though this was back when accessing security didn't involve scanning on an automated gate.

 

[signed]

In easyJet's case it was because they then didn't have to pay for the airport equipment, though this was back when accessing security didn't involve scanning on an automated gate.

Surely with the myriad of ground handler contractors, the amount of airports now served and the general volatility of the Ryanair service, that would cost a lot more than just using what's in place

 

[Bletchleyite]

Surely with the myriad of ground handler contractors, the amount of airports now served and the general volatility of the Ryanair service, that would cost a lot more than just using what's in place

In the early days of easyJet they mostly did their own handling, again to save money. Mostly not the case now I believe. Not sure what Ryanair do with regard to handling particularly at Stansted where their own operation might be economically sensible?

 

[bspahh]

Not seen that for a very long time. That said, I do wonder if Ryanair are going to be moving to "eyeball Mk1" verifiable passes on the app, e.g. with an animation, so they can stop paying for the use of the airport's scanning kit? Otherwise I'm really struggling to understand how they benefit from their plans aside from catching people out and charging them (which it could be!)

If everyone uses their app to check in, then they can use the app to sell upgrades, lottery tickets and advertising.

 

[signed]

In the early days of easyJet they mostly did their own handling, again to save money. Mostly not the case now I believe. Not sure what Ryanair do with regard to handling particularly at Stansted where their own operation might be economically sensible?

Stansted is delegated to OmniServ under the Blue Handling brand.

It looks like Dublin (in own name), and Spain (Azul Handling) are their major self-handling operations. Most of the other seem to be ran by Skytanking.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Stansted is delegated to OmniServ under the Blue Handling brand.

That slightly sounds like they may have owned it originally and sold it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Mar 2025 ==

If everyone uses their app to check in, then they can use the app to sell upgrades, lottery tickets and advertising.

Presumably, though, they can do that on the website too? I guess push advertising is the thing they want.

 

[poffle]

That slightly sounds like they may have owned it originally and sold it.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Mar 2025 ==



Presumably, though, they can do that on the website too? I guess push advertising is the thing they want.

I think part of pushing the app is that they can sell food/drinks/duty free using the app on board. It uses Bluetooth and they bring the stuff straight to your (assigned) seat rather than waiting for the trolley to go through the cabin.

They sort of sell it as an ability to order in advance but I don't think the function is enabled until the doors are closed.

I know for boarding as soon as you've checked in on the app there is an option on android to add the boarding pass to your Google wallet. Tends to screw up the wallet as then when you go to pay for something you've got a Ryanair boarding pass.

 

[Bletchleyite]

How's that going to work in payment terms, unless they are offering free wifi? I don't think there's much hope of that.

If it's an extra step in ordering and you still have to pay as normal that's not a time saver, that's a pointless additional step (see also ordering food on your phone in cinemas when you could just ask the person at the till to do it in a fraction of the time).

 

[signed]

that's a pointless additional step

Not really for them.

They probably envision that they can upsell better on the app than with the trolley. Just like the McDonalds machines that are engineered (and very successfully so) to subtly upsell you, which a cashier will never achieve to do.

 

[poffle]

How's that going to work in payment terms, unless they are offering free wifi? I don't think there's much hope of that.

If it's an extra step in ordering and you still have to pay as normal that's not a time saver, that's a pointless additional step (see also ordering food on your phone in cinemas when you could just ask the person at the till to do it in a fraction of the time).

It's done over Bluetooth not WiFi.

You have to pay with card to the person bringing the items. Ryanair haven't taken cash payments on board for years.

I think there are advantages. For hot food they can heat the food and bring it straight to you, rather than a flight attendant having to go to the galley after you order, heat the food and then bring it back.

Moving the trolleys up and down the cabin is quite a rigmarole. With letting people step into seats to get to toilet and then moving trolley forwards and back to let them in and out of empty seats.

 

[Mike395]

I suppose also if they didn't want to use the gate scanning kit they could just get their own. easyJet used to do that, they may still do.

It's also a requirement in some jurisdictions I believe for countries where there aren't formal immigration departure checks (including here in the UK) that a record is made as someone boards a plane as it acts as the electronic immigration record for their departure. Switching to Mk1 eyeballs for boarding pass verification would need additional time to carry out this process manually which wouldn't work, particularly for a LCC.

 

[Snow1964]

It's done over Bluetooth not WiFi.

On most phones, can turn Bluetooth off, and RFD payment off too

Or has Ryanair been really sneaky and fixed their App so it only works if everything is turned on

 

[poffle]

On most phones, can turn Bluetooth off, and RFD payment off too

Or has Ryanair been really sneaky and fixed their App so it only works if everything is turned on

You have to Bluetooth turned on if you want use the app to place orders in flight.

In flight payments aren't done through the app.

 

[route101]

Yes I am no fan of their policy of deliberately splitting people which they used to lie about. I always pay extra for a specific seat and it’s annoying when you‘ve paid extra and find yourself getting asked to swap or made to a feel like you are stopping someone sitting next to their travelling partners. I am not aware of any of the other budget airlines that do this, maybe Wizz although I haven’t flown them since 2018?

Yes, you often get that as a single traveller. I had it on the Eurostar, I picked my forward facing window seat for a reason but a mother and toddler were in the seat next to me and the seat in front of that. You feel obliged to move to give them the two seats together.

 

[signed]

Ryanair has launched yet another subscription service akin to MegaVolotea or Wizz Privilege, Ryanair Prime for €79.99/year

Ryanair

Book direct at the official Ryanair.com website to guarantee that you get the best prices on Ryanair's cheap flights.

www.ryanair.com

Exclusive Sales​

Get exclusive discounts on flights through monthly sales, available only to Ryanair Prime members delivered directly to your email.*

Reserve a seat​

Choose where you sit for no extra cost in selected rows. Whether it’s the window, aisle or even middle you can reserve your seat for free.
*(Up to a maximum of 12 seats.)

Travel Insurance​

Annual coverage on flights, so you can fly with peace of mind on all of your flights with Ryanair.*

It is by far the worst of the LCC membership. The others have 10% to 20% fixed discount, free priority boarding...

The 12 seat per year free reservation, aside from being a sneaky restriction, is probably the only thing worth the money.

From my experience, it would make itself worth after 6 emergency exit seats. Or even fewer front row seating.

Though, the ToS are sneaky AF

https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-ie/sections/33635642865809

• Seat reservation: A Member may reserve up to 12 free seats for the Member and 12 free seats for their Ryanair Prime Companion in designated rows on specific flights at no additional cost, subject to availability. See rules for reserved seating. There is no guarantee that a Member and their Ryanair Prime Companion will be able to select seats together. Where designated seats are available for Members and/or Ryanair Prime Companions, they must select seats from those designated seats and random seat allocation will not be available.

Where no Ryanair Prime designated seats are available, Members and Ryanair Prime Companions will be subject to random allocation.

Last time I booked them, I was offered the annual travel insurance for €23.

 

[Snow1964]

Ryanair has launched yet another subscription service akin to MegaVolotea or Wizz Privilege, Ryanair Prime for €79.99/year


The 12 seat per year free reservation, aside from being a sneaky restriction, is probably the only thing worth the money.

Actually looks like it is restricted to designated rows on selected flights.

So presumably if the rows already booked by other members, or the flight is not on their selected list, then don't even get that.

 

[Southsider]

Ryanair has launched yet another subscription service akin to MegaVolotea or Wizz Privilege, Ryanair Prime for €79.99/year

Ryanair

Book direct at the official Ryanair.com website to guarantee that you get the best prices on Ryanair's cheap flights.

www.ryanair.com

It is by far the worst of the LCC membership. The others have 10% to 20% fixed discount, free priority boarding...

The 12 seat per year free reservation, aside from being a sneaky restriction, is probably the only thing worth the money.

From my experience, it would make itself worth after 6 emergency exit seats. Or even fewer front row seating.

Though, the ToS are sneaky AF

https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-ie/sections/33635642865809

Last time I booked them, I was offered the annual travel insurance for €23.

I received the email about this a couple of days ago. I can’t see any benefits to me apart from the seating and that comes with so many conditions I doubt I’d get to use it much.

 

[cactustwirly]

Yes, to be honest I do think Ryanair are unreasonable in not allowing a bag to be pushed into a sizer providing it fits, because that restricts people to hard-sided bags - all soft sided bags will bulge to some extent, even if not packed full*. Of course hard sided bags are heavier so Ryanair lose on fuel costs with that slightly overzealous policy

But even so, you know Ryanair are strict - get your tape measure out

* I have a soft sided rucksack precisely 56x45x25cm in size, designed to be the maximum size that will fit on airlines that accept IATA sized hand luggage such as easyJet and Wizz. But it is impossible for it not to bulge very slightly, though those two airlines are fine with that provided it goes in easily which it does. Even if Ryanair allowed that big (theirs is 55x40x20 taking into account Boeing's smaller overhead bins) I don't think I'd risk it with them.



That's going to get worse soon - they are now going app-only - it won't even be permitted to print your own out if I read it correctly, so non-smartphone-owners will no longer be able to use Ryanair at all. I don't know what the policy will be with regard to people who can't use a smartphone due to a coordination-related disability (for example) as if they don't let them print at the airport there will be a discrimination case in waiting.

My bag is sometimes 56 or 57cm tall if you cram it full
I have never been asked to check

 

[Snow1964]

Ryanair are opening new base at Tirana, Albania. Initially with 3 aircraft based there for summer 2026.

One of the new destinations will be Birmingham,

Ryanair, Albania’s fastest growing airline today (Thurs, 14 Aug) announced it would open a new – 3 aircraft – base at Tirana Airport from April 2026, basing 3 new B737-800 aircraft – a $300m invest. – supporting over 3,000 jobs, incl. 100 new high-paid jobs for pilots and cabin crew.

Ryanair’s new Tirana base will expand its market share in Albania, with over 450 weekly flights on 33 routes for S26, including 10 exciting new routes to Birmingham, Dublin, Milan, Malta, Naples, Pescara, Poznan, Trieste, Turin, and Verona, as well as increased frequencies on 9 existing routes such as Bari, London, Prague, Stockholm, and Warsaw.

RYANAIR TO OPEN NEW TIRANA BASE FOR SUMMER 2026 3 BASED AIRCRAFT, 10 NEW ROUTES (33 TOT.) AS TRAFFIC GROWS TO 4.0M P.A.

Ryanair, Albania’s fastest growing airline today (Thurs, 14 Aug) announced it would open a new – 3 aircraft – base at Tirana Airport from April 2026, basing 3 new B737-800 aircraft – a $300m invest. – supporting over 3,000 jobs, incl. 100 new high-paid jobs for pilots and cabin crew. Ryanair’s...

corporate.ryanair.com

 

[route101]

Ryanair are opening new base at Tirana, Albania. Initially with 3 aircraft based there for summer 2026.

One of the new destinations will be Birmingham,

RYANAIR TO OPEN NEW TIRANA BASE FOR SUMMER 2026 3 BASED AIRCRAFT, 10 NEW ROUTES (33 TOT.) AS TRAFFIC GROWS TO 4.0M P.A.

Ryanair, Albania’s fastest growing airline today (Thurs, 14 Aug) announced it would open a new – 3 aircraft – base at Tirana Airport from April 2026, basing 3 new B737-800 aircraft – a $300m invest. – supporting over 3,000 jobs, incl. 100 new high-paid jobs for pilots and cabin crew. Ryanair’s...

corporate.ryanair.com

I guess this is been supported by the Albanian Government.

Albania has become more popular of late for tourism.

 

[TravelDream]

I guess this is been supported by the Albanian Government.

Undoubtedly.

Massive increases by Wizz and Ryanair in the last two years means government subsidies are basically certain.

Morocco is similar. Look at the explosive growth of LCCs there since Covid. Especially Ryanair which has multiple bases there now. I know there were some denials before, but I think it's basically certain.

 

[Southsider]

Checked in last night for wife and me to return from Spain today, basic fare, small, under seat bag and random seats. I normally take the seats offered then check for a vacant seat next to either of us and pay for it rather than paying for two. To my alarm, they have seated us together - never had that before (maybe in the dim and distant past). Paranoia has set in, what are they up to? I’m sure it’s not down to them being kind and considerate!

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

Ryanair are big enough to cause serious pain to the Spanish tourism industry, and I suspect that they're quite happy to simply wait out the legal process because they know that it's highly unlikely that the Spanish Supreme Court / Constitutional Court will allow these penalties to stand. ANEA (the Spanish airports operator and de facto state monopoly) will also be lobbying heavily in favour of Ryanair, as they provide a lot of business. It's already a huge problem that they've slashed their winter schedules, and Spain is quite dependent on budget airlines to connect many of their regional centres. For example, Ryanair has quite a strong domestic network from Vigo, and even "short" connections like Vigo-Bilbao are 6-7 hours by road or 12 hours by bus.

While Spain is a lucrative market, they will simply develop new markets if Spain doesn't want to play ball. For instance, their presence at some Croatian tourist airports could be expanded massively, particularly in Split and Rijeka. But in the high season, they'll simply increase prices, because people will go to Spain regardless. No other European country (except perhaps France) has such a well developed tourist infrastructure as Spain, especially for families.

I think, ultimately, Spain is causing needless drama here. It would be better for cabin luggage to be regulated on a European level so that there's a standard size definition for 'under seat' luggage and a standard size for 'full size cabin luggage'.



I do wonder how many others have been caught out in this way. It shouldn't be sold like that, and while the Ryanair sizers are actually 42x30x20cm as opposed to the published
40x20x25cm, it's still not on for them to sell something that is too big while claiming that it's approved for use on Ryanair.

I will say one thing though: the Ryanair boarding process is remarkably smoother than it used to be, especially now that they appear to be really strict on bags. People are getting used to putting their small personal item under the seat, and it's never a problem finding space in the overhead bins now. I also appreciate the fact that they're now making an effort to actually check people's boarding passes and luggage in the queue, so problematic travellers can be identified before they even reach the gate. I saw one chap in Valencia get a very clear "that luggage is not going in the cabin" message, as he had an obnoxiously large backpack, and at least two people were pulled aside for having two pieces of luggage when they'd only paid for one.

Published small bag size is now 40x30x20cm

 

[vjm1975]

I usually find with Ryanair. Leaving it a few hours after checkin opens should give some decent seats, even if not together. Had row 1 and emergency exit row before now, but if you do it straight away or within first couple of hours, pretty much guaranteed random generated middle seats.

EasyJet check is as some as possible and you should get seated together even if a group of 3. Similar with BA where as soon as checkin opened managed to get randomly allocated exit row seats for a flight from Hong Kong to Heathrow recently.

 

[Tetchytyke]

People will only pay for aisle or window seats, generally, and so Ryanair will “randomly” allocate the middle seats first, to keep the aisle and window seats free for people to pay for them. IIRC you can pay to change your seat even after you’ve checked in, another reason why they want to keep aisles and windows free.

EasyJet generally keep groups together, so it’s less common to get allocated the middle seat, and when it happens you’ll usually be sat between two solo flyers. But EasyJet also don’t let you pay to choose your seat once you’ve checked in though, so there’s less incentive to be annoying about it.

 

[TravelDream]

I usually find with Ryanair. Leaving it a few hours after checkin opens should give some decent seats, even if not together. Had row 1 and emergency exit row before now, but if you do it straight away or within first couple of hours, pretty much guaranteed random generated middle seats.

For Ryanair, the later the better when checking in without a seat in my experience.

The random allocation is based on an algorithm which gives people the crappier seats to begin with and tries to split people up. Though not always middle seats as my feeling is the algorithm tries to keep three seats in a row/ pairs together open for people to buy.

Later is better as their load factor is so high (96% in July) there's usually very little left just before check in closes and you can pick up a banger of a seat. Especially if you use the dummy booking trick.

Once I got seat 2B, which is the God-tier seat on the Max, for free.

 

[Mojo]

Can someone explain to me the new Ryanair policy of making electronic boarding passes mandatory?

AIUI, they are scrapping the ability to check in at the airport. The way it is being reported however is that you must present the boarding pass in the App, and that even printed (by the customer on their own printer) boarding passes obtained from the App will also not be allowed, except at airports that don’t accept mobile boarding passes.

It is this that I don’t understand, what exactly are the extra costs or issues for Ryanair between someone turning up at the gate with a scannable code on their mobile or on a piece of paper they printed at home?

Simon Calder reported on the Independent[1] website today a quote from Michael O’Leary “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,” which to me actually reads almost as if they are relaxing their policy, as I’m sure I’ve heard of people who have checked in online but cannot present boarding passes having to pay.

[1] Link to article https://www.independent.co.uk/trave...r-smartphone-only-boarding-pass-b2815648.html

 

[jon0844]

I go to a lot of events where they prefer someone to have printed the code as it reduces the chance of delay if your screen is dirty or damaged.

I suspect there's no reason whatsoever to force people to show the code on the app, other than to hope that a certain percentage will have issues as mentioned above, or even just have their battery run out and suddenly get stung.

Perhaps by having the app loaded Ryanair also wants to log your movements and sell that data on to third parties. Perhaps the app sits on the background throughout.

It does sound dodgy but not something most people will think about, and plenty of people will argue that it's your fault if you don't read the terms and conditions.

I suppose it could be that Ryanair wants to save the rain forests or something... Haha.

 

[Mojo]

I suspect there's no reason whatsoever to force people to show the code on the app, other than to hope that a certain percentage will have issues as mentioned above, or even just have their battery run out and suddenly get stung.

I don’t think this is correct as as per the Ryanair Table of Fees (https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/fees), from 3 November it will be free to reissue a boarding pass at the airport, which currently costs £/EUR 20.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I believe it is indeed about features in the app, e.g. notifications of gate etc. It's all about efficiency of operations.