Ryanair launched its biggest ever Manchester summer schedule (2019), with 6 new routes to Bordeaux, Gothenburg, Marrakech, Marseille, Nantes & Thessaloniki (63 in total).
Ryanair announced significant expansion in France, launching 2 new bases at Bordeaux and Marseille as part of its Summer 2019 schedule, with 2 new based aircraft for each airport (a total investment of $400m) and 27 new routes (connecting 12 countries), which will deliver a total of 3.5m customers p.a. across both airports.
Ryanair’s new Bordeaux base will deliver:
- 2 based aircraft ($200m investment)
- 16 new routes: Bari (2 wk), Cologne Bonn (3), Copenhagen (3), Dublin (2), ez (2), Krakow (2), Manchester (2), Marrakesh (2), Marseille (daily), Mykonos (1), Nantes (4), Naples (2), Ouarzazate (2), Tangier (2), Valencia (2) & Venice Treviso (3)
- 24 routes for summer 2019
- 70 weekly flights
- 1.1 million customers p.a. (+124%)
- 60 new Ryanair jobs
- 825* “on-site” jobs p.a.
Ryanair’s new Marseille base will deliver:
- 2 based aircraft ($200m investment)
- 11 new routes: Agadir (2 wk), Alicante (2), Bologna (3), Bordeaux (daily), Bucharest (2), Budapest (2), Manchester (2), Naples (2), Ouarzazate (2) Prague (2) & Warsaw (2)
- 40 routes for summer 2019
- 150 weekly flights
- 2.4 million customers p.a. (+26%)
- 60 new Ryanair jobs
- 1,800* “on-site” jobs p.a.
French consumers and visitors can now book flights as far out as October 2019 on the lowest fares. To celebrate the launch of its new Bordeaux and Marseille bases, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares on its new Bordeaux and Marseille routes available from just €24.99, for travel in April, which must be booked by midnight Monday (1 Oct) only on the Ryanair.com website.
In Bordeaux, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, David O’Brien said: “We are pleased to open two new French bases in Bordeaux and Marseille, as we base 4 aircraft and invest $400m at the airports. Our growth will deliver 1.1m customers p.a. at Bordeaux Airport and 2.4m customers at Marseille Aiport, while creating 120 Ryanair jobs across both bases and supporting over 2,500* ancillary jobs in the regions. To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale on these new routes from €24.99 for travel in April 2019. This offer is available for booking until midnight on Monday (1 Oct). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Chairman of the Executive Board of SA Bordeaux-Merignac Airport, Pascal Personne said: “Ryanair’s decision to base two aircraft at Bordeaux Airport is excellent news for the airport and for our region. This new base will undeniably increase the attractivity of New Aquitaine and represents the opportunity to develop a large number of new destinations. We have been actively working with Ryanair since 2009 and we believe that Ryanair’s potential for growth with the commercial power we know they have, is very important for Bordeaux and is a sign of a long-term commitment.”
Philippe Bernand, Chairman of the Executive Board of Marseille Provence Airport, says: "We are very pleased with Ryanair's decision to accelerate its development in Marseille by opening a new base and offering 11 new destinations. It is an essential and historical partner of our Airport, and more generally of our territory, from a tourist and economic point of view."
Ryanair launches record Manchester S19 schedule
Also, Ryanair launched its biggest ever Manchester summer schedule (2019), with 6 new routes to Bordeaux, Gothenburg, Marrakech, Marseille, Nantes & Thessaloniki (63 in total), which will deliver more than 5.4m customers p.a. through Manchester Airport, as Ryanair grows its Manchester traffic by 6%
Ryanair’s Manchester S19 schedule will deliver:
- 6 new routes to: Bordeaux, Gothenburg, Marrakech, Marseille, Nantes & Thessaloniki
- More flights to Belfast
- 63 routes in total
- 350 weekly flights
- 5.4m customers p.a. (up 6%)
- 4,000* “on-site” jobs p.a.
Manchester consumers and visitors can now book their holidays on 63 routes for summer 2019 on the lowest fares.
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “Ryanair is pleased to launch our biggest ever Manchester summer schedule with 63 routes, including 6 new routes to Bordeaux, Gothenburg, Marrakech, Marseille, Nantes and Thessaloniki, and more flights to Belfast. Our summer 2019 schedule will see our traffic grow by over 6% and deliver 5.4m customers p.a. through Manchester Airport, all on the lowest fares. To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale from just £14.99, for travel between October and December. This offer is available for booking until midnight on Monday (1 Oct). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”
Julian Carr, Aviation Director for Manchester Airport, said: “It’s fantastic to see Ryanair adding yet more routes and continuing to grow from Manchester. Gothenburg and Marseilles are currently unserved from the airport and along with their other new routes will offer our 27.9 million passengers an even greater choice of destinations, whether it’s for business or leisure.”
Ryanair cuts FY19 guidance by 12% due to higher oil prices, higher EU261 costs and weaker fares due to recent strikes
Ryanair today lowered its full year profit guidance (excluding Laudamotion) from a current range of 1.25bn – 1.35bn euros, to a new range of 1.10bn – 1.20bn euros due to:
- Lower traffic and weaker close in fares in September, caused by 2 days of coordinated
- pilot/cabin crew strikes in Germany, Holland, Belgium, Spain and Portugal;
- Lower Q3 fares as forward bookings (particularly for the Oct school mid-terms and
- Christmas) and customer confidence are affected by fear of further strikes;
- Higher EU261 care and re-accommodation costs arising from these recent strikes; and
- Higher prices ($82pbl) for our unhedged oil (10%).
Ryanair noted that Q2 & Q3 traffic and fares will be somewhat lower than expected largely as a result of these 2 recent –5 country– strikes, which are being incited by competitor employees, despite the fact that Ryanair has agreed to meet union demands for local contracts, local law, and a 5 week arbitration with pilots in Germany when the VC Union sought a prolonged 5 month arbitration.
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “While we successfully managed 5 strikes by 25% of our Irish pilots this summer, 2 recent coordinated strikes by cabin crew and pilots across 5 EU countries has affected passenger numbers (through flight cancellations), close in bookings and yields (as we re-accommodate disrupted passengers), and forward air fares into Q3. While we regret these disruptions, we have on both strike days operated over 90% of our schedule. However, customer confidence, forward bookings and Q3 fares has been affected, most notably over the Oct school mid-terms and Christmas, in those 5 countries where unnecessary strikes have been repeated.
These strikes have also added to our EU261 costs while, at the same time, our unhedged fuel costs have jumped as oil prices rise to $82pbl which affects 10% of volumes, and all of Laudamotion’s fuel bill.
Like a number of other EU airlines, we have decided to trim our winter 2018 capacity (by 1%) in response to this lower fare, higher oil and higher EU261 cost environment. We are today implementing the following modest winter cuts (all from Mon. 5 Nov.)
- Our 4 aircraft Eindhoven base will close, but most routes to/from Eindhoven will continue on overseas based aircraft.
- Our 2 aircraft Bremen base will close with most routes continuing on non-German aircraft.
- Our 5 aircraft Niederrhein base will be cut to 3 aircraft with most routes continuing on the remaining 3 aircraft.
All affected customers have been contacted by email/SMS this morning and will be
re-accommodated on other flights or refunded as they so wish. We will also now consult with our pilots and cabin crew at these 3 bases to minimise job losses. We expect to offer our pilots vacancies at other Ryanair bases but, as we have a large surplus of winter cabin crew, we will explore unpaid leave and other options to minimise cabin crew job losses."
*ACI research confirms up to 750 ‘on-site’ jobs are sustained at international airports for every 1m passengers
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
