Next year should be Air Berlin’s 40th birthday. From a small charter operation founded in 1978, the airline grew to become Germany’s second largest, and Europe’s seventh biggest. 8,600 staff work for the carrier which up to recently, was flying to 42 destinations with a fleet of 114 planes. I have a small soft spot for the airline, its staff, history and most of all its home base, my second favourite city in the world. But nothing seems to be going to save Air Berlin. The airline has been in trouble for some time. I…
Aer Lingus
Tag Archives for Aer Lingus.
Ryanair backtracks on US again
The idea that Ryanair, the Irish budget carrier (and one of my most disliked airlines) would fly to the USA seems to have been raised noisily every other year since 2007. The proposal is always that there will be ultra low cost economy (coach) fares starting at $US15 and a business class service. The transatlantic services would operate under different branding to the main carrier. This same transatlantic idea is then quietly retired each and very time. It almost seems like a free publicity strategy by the carrier to increase its current passneger load (currently 90million per year). On…
Ryanair US site – tips for flying
I have flown 90 airlines to all continents of the world (except for Antarctica) and one airline continues to dismay me: Ryanair. People keep flying Ryanair for one reason: cheap fares. I avoid them because of their seats, customer disdain, staff attitude, ethical concerns and their flying to random secondary airports nowhere near the city I am flying to. My experience of Ryanair is that they are like a bus. If you like bus travel, its fine. If something goes wrong, then you are on your own. The airline has made a concerted effort to improve…
Another Stunt: Ryanair v Aer Lingus -Episode 586!
The soap opera that is the Irish airline war continues… On one side is the lean mean low cost carrier Ryanair that has grown since 1991 to be Europe’s biggest low cost airline. Last year it carried more passenger’s than Air France-KLM on its 300 planes flying to 178 destinations in 30 countries. Their plane pictured above right has an Irish harp on the tail. On the other is the 25 per cent Irish government owned Aer Lingus, the country’s flag carrier which has shrunk services, changed its European model to “low cost”, dropped Business…
Ryanair to USA
Michael O’Leary the CEO of Ryanair likes to startle people with announcements. Who can forget his infamous promise to charge to use the lavatory in-flight? Or the news in March that the airline was buying 175 Boeing 737-800s for almost $US16 billion. On one of the takeover attempts of rival Irish airline Aer Lingus, last October, he promised $US150 fares on US to Ireland flights if the deal succeeded. He promised that the Aer Lingus brand would be kept: “We need a two-airline brand strategy,”. The takeover bid was thwarted but Ryanair owns 30 percent…
Aer Lingus: Budapest to Dublin (updated)
Background Aer Lingus is the flag carrier and second biggest airline in Ireland. Operating since 1936, its name an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Aer Loingeas means “air fleet” . A lot has changed for Aer Lingus in the last six years not the least being the Irish economic situation. The government reduced its 85 per cent stake to 25 percent through a listing on the Stock Exchange in 2006. Ryanair, arch rival and biggest Irish airline has now picked up close to 30 percent and attempted three takeover bids in five years.Abu Dhabi-based and owned Etihad…
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