Explain to me how Ryanair does it

[Farang]

0.01 euro to fly from Frankfurt to Fez, Morocco. Tax is 9.99 euro. 10 euro total for the flight.

I've flown with them before and although the interior was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen, the experience was no different than with Southwest. My luggage fit without any extra fees.

How do they do it?

 

[Manuwell]

They're thinking about the same deals between Belgium and New-York.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: Manuwell
They're thinking about the same deals between Belgium and New-York.

I must look into this. That would be awesome, not just for the cheap flights they would provide but they would probably force other carriers to follow suit.

 

[mzkhadir]

they could be highly subsidized.

 

[Ulfhednar]

They use 100% Iraqi oil to fuel their planes.

 

[Manuwell]

It's only a project right now (heard of it on the National Belgian radio - I'm Belgian) and the first possible flights would happen as of 2009.

It obviously will follow the low-cost airlines rules; seats sold first cheaper than the last ones, pretty much nothing onboard in terms of food / drink/comfort / entertainment , older planes and so on..

Hell, for such a price (basically, it would be the airport taxes + minimum 10Euros) I can stay away from fancy frozen pasta/chicken trays or sprite / diet coke / cheap red wine for +/- 7 hours.

 

[b0mbrman]

Hmmm...advertising on seatbacks/side of the plane?

Hidden taxes/fees?

Subsidies from airports? Though I'm not sure how the airlines would recoup that money...

Charging a la carte fees for extra bags, meals, and so forth?

These are all guesses...

 

[freegeeks]

Originally posted by: Manuwell
It's only a project right now (heard of it on the National Belgian radio - I'm Belgian) and the first possible flights would happen as of 2009.

It obviously will follow the low-cost airlines rules; seats sold first cheaper than the last ones, pretty much nothing onboard in terms of food / drink/comfort / entertainment , older planes and so on..

Hell, for such a price (basically, it would be the airport taxes + minimum 10Euros) I can stay away from fancy frozen pasta/chicken trays or sprite / diet coke / cheap red wine for +/- 7 hours.

de 1ste Belg die ik hier tegen kom

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
[1] Hmmm...advertising on seatbacks/side of the plane?

[2] Hidden taxes/fees?

[3] Subsidies from airports? Though I'm not sure how the airlines would recoup that money...

[4] Charging a la carte fees for extra bags, meals, and so forth?

These are all guesses...

[1] Don't remember this when I flew with them..
[2] Luggage is pretty restrictive and they charge for going over 13kgs I believe, but other than that I never had any hidden fees.
[3] I don't believe they are subsidized but they use the crappiest airports around.. for example Frankfurt Hahn (one of their main hubs) is an hour and a half outside of Frankfurt by bus, and the bus costs 11 euro (which doesn't go to them).
[4] They do charge for drinks and so forth.

I still don't understand how that allows them to fly me that far for 0.01 Euro.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
[1] Hmmm...advertising on seatbacks/side of the plane?

[2] Hidden taxes/fees?

[3] Subsidies from airports? Though I'm not sure how the airlines would recoup that money...

[4] Charging a la carte fees for extra bags, meals, and so forth?

These are all guesses...

[1] Don't remember this when I flew with them..
[2] Luggage is pretty restrictive and they charge for going over 13kgs I believe, but other than that I never had any hidden fees.
[3] I don't believe they are subsidized but they use the crappiest airports around.. for example Frankfurt Hahn (one of their main hubs) is an hour and a half outside of Frankfurt by bus, and the bus costs 11 euro (which doesn't go to them).
[4] They do charge for drinks and so forth.

I still don't understand how that allows them to fly me that far for 0.01 Euro.

Uh...do they carry freight?

I'm drawing a blank here...Maybe I should actually research them instead of guessing

 

[Manuwell]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Hmmm...advertising on seatbacks/side of the plane?

Hidden taxes/fees?

Subsidies from airports? Though I'm not sure how the airlines would recoup that money...

Charging a la carte fees for extra bags, meals, and so forth?

These are all guesses...

Hidden taxes/fees? Don't think so, just a first-come / best fare pricing

Subsidies from airports? Right ! They use secondary and regional airports, cheaper to land/take off, I guess.

Charging a la carte fees for extra bags, meals, and so forth - It goes without saying.

 

[andylawcc]

hey Farang, you visited Thailand recently?????


anyways, back to Europe, how much would euro rail would cost in comparison? (from say, Frankfurt to Madrid, since I don't think the rail reaches all the way to Morocco.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: andylawcc
hey Farang, you visited Thailand recently?????


anyways, back to Europe, how much would euro rail would cost in comparison? (from say, Frankfurt to Madrid, since I don't think the rail reaches all the way to Morocco.

European rail costs more than flying. I suspect that trip would be hundreds of dollars.

I was in Bangkok for a few days last year but I'm moving there next month. Air Asia will be my lifeline over there, even though they double charged me last time. Flights to Borneo for around $50 can't be beat!

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: Farang
European rail costs more than flying. I suspect that trip would be hundreds of dollars.

I was in Bangkok for a few days last year but I'm moving there next month. Air Asia will be my lifeline over there, even though they double charged me last time. Flights to Borneo for around $50 can't be beat!

thanks, I was planning a backpacking trip to euro so hence my question. I will do more in depth research later.


anyway, the reason why I asked if you been to thailand is.... your nickname.
well, enjoy living thailand (hope the heat and humidity won't kill ya spirit)

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
[1] Hmmm...advertising on seatbacks/side of the plane?

[2] Hidden taxes/fees?

[3] Subsidies from airports? Though I'm not sure how the airlines would recoup that money...

[4] Charging a la carte fees for extra bags, meals, and so forth?

These are all guesses...

[1] Don't remember this when I flew with them..
[2] Luggage is pretty restrictive and they charge for going over 13kgs I believe, but other than that I never had any hidden fees.
[3] I don't believe they are subsidized but they use the crappiest airports around.. for example Frankfurt Hahn (one of their main hubs) is an hour and a half outside of Frankfurt by bus, and the bus costs 11 euro (which doesn't go to them).
[4] They do charge for drinks and so forth.

I still don't understand how that allows them to fly me that far for 0.01 Euro.

Flew Dublin to Edinburgh and back in September.

There weren't ads on the seatbacks, but there were ads on the sick bags. I thought it was hilarious because the sickbags doubled as film dropoff bags.

I only went for a day, so I didn't have to take more than a change of clothes, carried on my laptop. Dunno about that one, either.

They used the old wing in the Dublin airport... It felt like it was literally a mile walk from the security gate to the boarding gate. You walk out to the plane. No fancy way in. Clearly the planes were older and had probably been sold off by the bigger companies. All the modern flights have TV screens to show you the emergency procedures. On Ryanair the flight attendants still do their little play before takeoff. Wasn't the smoothest flight, wasn't the most comfortable... but it was only 35 minutes long, so whatever.

Drinks were pay only. They also sold copies of local newspapers, a few magazines and some various other snacks and such. Probably didn't sell enough to make up the difference in the 10 Euro price to match the 50 Euro price of the big airlines, but I'm not complaining.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: andylawcc

Originally posted by: Farang
European rail costs more than flying. I suspect that trip would be hundreds of dollars.

I was in Bangkok for a few days last year but I'm moving there next month. Air Asia will be my lifeline over there, even though they double charged me last time. Flights to Borneo for around $50 can't be beat!

thanks, I was planning a backpacking trip to euro so hence my question. I will do more in depth research later.


anyway, the reason why I asked if you been to thailand is.... your nickname.
well, enjoy living thailand (hope the heat and humidity won't kill ya spirit)

Don't let me scare you off from rail.. I backpacked around Europe with the rail pass and although theoretically I could've done it cheaper using RyanAir, the hassle of booking flights and taking buses wouldn't have been worth it. Also with RyanAir you have to book in advance to get such deals, meaning you don't have the freedom that makes the trip worthwhile to begin with.

If it is your first time in Europe and you have a long time, the pass is definately a great way to go. RyanAir might be a good supplement if you want to make it all the way down to Greece or some other far-off place and then fly yourself up to Germany instead of wasting a few days on the train.

 

[andylawcc]

Originally posted by: Farang
Don't let me scare you off from rail.. I backpacked around Europe with the rail pass and although theoretically I could've done it cheaper using RyanAir, the hassle of booking flights and taking buses wouldn't have been worth it. Also with RyanAir you have to book in advance to get such deals, meaning you don't have the freedom that makes the trip worthwhile to begin with.

well, there's only a few place I really want to visit. Dublin, London, Paris (just for a quickie), and Amsterdam. I cannot take advantage of the euro rail "all you can ride" thing if am only visiting a limited amount of cities.

 

[batchusa]

They are able to do it for a variety of reasons:

1) They only have one type of plane. (I think old 737s)

2) Advertising

3) They sell merchandise while on-air

4) Use cheaper, older airports. Sometimes, these airports pay Ryanair!

5) Outsource baggage handling - they have the fewest # of lost bags by FAR

6) Sell food/drinks

- There are a few others as well..I think another one is related to pay - they don't pay based on seniority (as most other airlines do).