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Ryanair of Europe showing more longhaul interest to US after Norwegian 787 growth

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johnsonrod

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Posts
4,218
I know we have heard this rumor a few times, but Norwegian was not operating its 787 service a few years ago when the Ryanair CEO first discussed his longhaul aspirations. Ryanair has 20+ hubs in Europe it can leverage. I can't imagine how uncomfortable a seat would be on a Ryanair widebody.... Here is an article from this week:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/flights-to-us-will-cost-just-10-on-ryanair-oleary-30041838.html

What "efficient" aircraft types could be available in mass numbers in the next 3-5 years if Ryanair wanted to move forward? Discarded 777-200s or A340s from the Middle East as their fleets get renewed? Retired 767-300s or 747-400s?

Why post this article in the Majors section of FI? Even though we are talking different target passenger demographics, I am pretty sure thousands of super-cheap seats sold daily across the Atlantic would not help US majors... And it sounds like it is getting closer to reality.
 
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I know we have heard this rumor a few times, but Norwegian was not operating its 787 service a few years ago when the Ryanair CEO first discussed his longhaul aspirations. Ryanair has 20+ hubs in Europe it can leverage. I can't imagine how uncomfortable a seat would be on a Ryanair widebody.... Here is an article from this week:

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/flights-to-us-will-cost-just-10-on-ryanair-oleary-30041838.html

What "efficient" aircraft types could be available in mass numbers in the next 3-5 years if Ryanair wanted to move forward? Discarded 777-200s or A340s from the Middle East as their fleets get renewed? Retired 767-300s or 747-400s?

Why post this article in the Majors section of FI? Even though we are talking different target passenger demographics, I am pretty sure thousands of super-cheap seats sold daily across the Atlantic would not help US majors... And it sounds like it is getting closer to reality.

I fly in Europe all the time and I see Ryanair everywhere. Ryanair must have 300-400 airplanes based in 20-30 hubs. No doubt they could create some significant feed for long haul flights to the US. They could operate out of Frankfurt Hahn, Bergamo near Milan and even Stansted near London which currently has 747/777 traffic.

The fact that Ryanair is trying to become more "customer friendly" should concern the US majors IMO. That means they are improving their service possibly in advance of a long haul product - I think O'Leary even talks about potentially offering a business class product on a transatlantic service. No doubt the seats in economy will be very uncomfortable and you will get nickel and dimed for everything. But for a $30-50 economy ticket, a lot of people would be willing to take some abuse.

Potential fleet types? I think O'Leary will be opportunistic if he decides to do it. Emirates will be retiring many older 777s in the next few years that would be capable of transatlantic flights. I think O'Leary would need probably 40-50 similar airframes to make this work. My guess is older 777s since he would have to wait years to build a 40-50 airframe fleet of newer 787s or A350s.
 
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For the right price, maybe Boeing would consider selling some dirt-cheap 747-800s that nobody else wants to keep the assembly line moving. But that could take awhile. He probably needs 20-30 airplanes in the first year to get the desired scale. Or Ryanair could start with used 777-200/300s and then replace with new-build versions before the new 777-X arrives.

Sounds like MOL has a plan and Norwegian's growth is motivating him to do something. He has 20 huge hubs (and a very well known brand) in Europe that could provide the feed.
 
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Ryanair flies to mostly outlying airports surrounding big cities, like Beauvis (near Paris), Cherloi (near Brussels), and Stanstead(near London). It sounds like the old model for SWA. They considered charging half for allowing pax to stand during the flights, and wanted to charge for using the bathroom. When was the last "zero frills" transatlantic flights? Peoples Express and Laker? I think they are lost and don't know what to do next.




Bye Bye---General Lee
 
I could see Spirit taking on Norwegian across the Atlantic. Problem is, Spirit is making so much money with the domestic narrowbody growth, that taking on the huge expense and risk of opening up ULCC long haul flying just doesn't seem worthwhile. Maybe in a few years we'll see some A350s.
 
The same guy that gets a LOT of free publicity by making outrageous statements....! Not as crazy as you might think.
 
The same guy that gets a LOT of free publicity by making outrageous statements....! Not as crazy as you might think.

Yeah, General Lee does get quite a bit of free publicity, alright.
 
SWA pilots are being pushed to accept far international codeshare, my bet is they are already talking to Ryan and Norwegian.
 

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