MAN buys STN for £1.5b

[stevecree]

Manchester Airport Group tonight announced it has been successful in aquiring London's Stansted airport for 1.5b GBP !

STN was valued at 1b GBP so MAN has paid top price, infact Gatwick was sold just a couple of years ago for the same price !!

It gives MAN more or less total control of cargo ops in the UK, as STN and EMA, also owned by MAN, handle the majority of cargo flights in to Britain, plus STN has every chance of future passenger growth as LHR and LGW as more or less full now. Despite all that 1.5b is still one hell of a lot of money for an airport that currently owes 70% of its traffic to Ryanair !

[Infinity]

Despite all that 1.5b is still one hell of a lot of money for an airport that currently owes 70% of its traffic to Ryanair !

This. I wouldn't pay a dime for an airport whose main customer has this dangerous nutter O'leary on top.

[Aerlingus1916]

Micheal O Leary is a tremendously intelligent. He should be the president of Ireland (No joke).

I dont see why everyone hates ryanair? They bring you from A to B (maybe not in comfort but the longest flight in europe is about 4-5 hours) for a VERY low price, they wont lose your bags and they have the best on time and safety record in europe.

 I have my summer holidays booked in Venice with ryanair, i got the tickets for €40 per passenger. That says it all.

[brique]

He is a clever businessman who has built his network by squeezing his costs down to the minimum : same for the airports he flies to, he negotiates charges and facilitie fees as low as he can and he will pull every flight out to keep them that way, as a couple of French regionals discovered a while back when trying to up their fees. Its rumoured a few even pay him to fly there, hoping it will attract in other airlines as the RyanAir flights confirms the airport as being a desirable 'international' destination.

I'd be unhappy having 70% of my revenue subject to his whims, at the same time, RyanAir generates enormous footfall through the shops, duty-free, carparks, cafes and bars, etc... and that's what really makes money for the airports. His competitors may not love him, but his airline provides a critical mass : that provides the back-bone for all the airport facilities that they then benefit from.

Stansted is not a bad airport, its has good transport links via motorway and rail : better than LGW or LTN : it has a fairly new terminal/ layout and has room for more : If it can get its second runway, it is far better placed than GTW or LTN for future expansion. A half-decent PR campaign to promote it (as Luton did so successfully in the 80's) as a viable 'London Airport' and it would be my choice of airport to buy.

[Infinity]

 I have my summer holidays booked in Venice with ryanair, i got the tickets for €40 per passenger. That says it all.

This low fare is subsidized by tax payers all over Europe who own the small airports Ryanair flies to and which they can hold to ransom because they have been expanded according to Ryanair's needs and depend on them as their only customers.
Ryanair has a clever business model, that's for sure (after all they can only do this because some provincial politicians want to earn a name for themselves), but it definitely is nothing worth admiring or worshipping.
Now EasyJet's business is a whole other animal, and for them I have more respect, but what Ryanair does is plain extortion.

[NovemberCharlie]

Well I flew through STN last year with EZY and don't see the problem. For 15Euros we had a retour on a bus to the city and that bus had wifi, allowing me to check up on my airline , so time flew by.

I also used the tube to get to LHR and I found that way less comfortable...

[Jona L.]

Well I flew through STN last year with EZY and don't see the problem. For 15Euros we had a retour on a bus to the city and that bus had wifi, allowing me to check up on my airline , so time flew by.

I also used the tube to get to LHR and I found that way less comfortable...

Also the LHR-City centre tube costs more than the STN shuttle to Victoria Station on National express (+ they have WiFi, which the tube doesn't).

Its rumoured a few even pay him to fly there

NRN (Weeze-Niederrhein, Illegally called "Düsseldorf Weeze" by RYR) is actually offering all services for free to RYR. Yet the only others they attract are WizzAir and EZY.... and the airport is a cr@phole regarding bars, cafés etc. Though small and easy to get through, you have to WALK over the apron to your plane, sometimes up to 300m...

Sometimes this strategy doesn't work LOL

@A330erlingus:

RYR sucks still... you won't be able to have baggage on your flight to VCE, unless you pay a lot more than 40€

[brique]

@A330erlingus:

RYR sucks still... you won't be able to have baggage on your flight to VCE, unless you pay a lot more than 40€

just had a look at their charges : low season, 15kg bag=€15 : high season 15kg bag = €25 , assuming you booked with RYR online; use an agent to book and its €60 for low season, €100 for high season. That's just the starting prices, some flights they go higher still, not to mention the €20 per kilo for excess weight...

Wonder if Sami could program that into AWS, I need another revenue stream for my airline....

[Aerlingus1916]

Jona L:

I flew the same route with the same departing and arriving date, as long as you don't break their *rules* you won't have to pay any excess baggage. My family and I (My wife and three kids) had plenty of space left for more clothes and belongings. The entire flight came to €430 or thereabouts that includes all the bags, tax e.t.c.

[Jona L.]

€430 or thereabouts that includes all the bags, tax e.t.c.

Deviding by 5 people that brings me to 80€ each....

[Aerlingus1916]

Deviding by 5 people that brings me to 80€ each....

Tickets were €40/€50. Per person.
Entire flight per person was about €80 (tax, drinks, bags e.t.c)

[brique]

Tickets were €40/€50. Per person.
Entire flight per person was about €80 (tax, drinks, bags e.t.c)

That's what bugs me, as a customer, about the RYR fares structure : final cost of the flight seems to double, once all the 'optional' charges are added in : yes, you can avoid some : book via the RYR site, use some obscure payment card and avoid the credit card transaction fees, dont carry more than an overnight bag, dont eat on the plane, dont be late for the flight, dont pre-book a favoured seat, dont be disabled, dont carry a musical instrument or sports equipment; just get on, sit quietly, get off then take the long hike from the airport to the alleged destination city. For some, that's a good deal, but its not actually that good, overall.

[Aerlingus1916]

That's what bugs me, as a customer, about the RYR fares structure : final cost of the flight seems to double, once all the 'optional' charges are added in : yes, you can avoid some : book via the RYR site, use some obscure payment card and avoid the credit card transaction fees, dont carry more than an overnight bag, dont eat on the plane, dont be late for the flight, dont pre-book a favoured seat, dont be disabled, dont carry a musical instrument or sports equipment; just get on, sit quietly, get off then take the long hike from the airport to the alleged destination city. For some, that's a good deal, but its not actually that good, overall.

Yeah, they're drinks cost about 3.50 each, it is a rip off.

[Jona L.]

That's what bugs me, as a customer, about the RYR fares structure : final cost of the flight seems to double, once all the 'optional' charges are added in : yes, you can avoid some : book via the RYR site, use some obscure payment card and avoid the credit card transaction fees, dont carry more than an overnight bag, dont eat on the plane, dont be late for the flight, dont pre-book a favoured seat, dont be disabled, dont carry a musical instrument or sports equipment; just get on, sit quietly, get off then take the long hike from the airport to the alleged destination city. For some, that's a good deal, but its not actually that good, overall.

I always make the maths for the example Frankfurt to London:

Lufthansa FRA-LCY for €99 if you book ~4-5mths ahead (which should be doable, otherwise you'd not opt to choose RYR anyways, coz the company would pay the flight )
RYR HHN-STN for 10€ at best (also assuming a 4-5mths pre-booking)

Say you take the shuttle to HHN and National Express from Frankfurt and to London, adds up to ~60€ return
Take the regional train to/from Frankfurt to FRA and a bus from LCY to London adds up to ~25€ return

Which brings us to 70€ return on RYR and 124€ on DLH.

Now it's about the real cost; we buy everything for our RYR flight that was included in the DLH fare, which is:
23Kgs or Baggage, check in, pre-reservation of seat, newspapers available in the DLH terminals, a free drink and snack on board.

23Kgs of baggage on RYR: 15Kgs included, from than on 20€/Kg makes +160€
Check in: +5€
seat reservation: +5€
newspapers: up to which you buy avrg. +2€ (assuming you'd only take one, I always take 3 when I fly LH)
Drink: +3.50€
Sandwich: +6.50€

totals: +182€

which brings us to a final of: 252€ RYR vs. 124€ DLH per person.

+ you save the hassle, your travel time is ~3hrs shorter, you have the feeling that you get a great deal of stuff for you money, you don't feel ripped off, you get a decent seat, you get good service, and you are treated more humainly than on RYR.

Anyone still disagreeing that RYR sucks?!

cheers,
[SC] Jona L.

[And yes, I do know that I have 6 RYR flights in my flightdiary (see signature) ]

[exchlbg]

"Micheal O Leary is a tremendously intelligent. He should be the president of Ireland (No joke). "

You are not and should be the deputy (joke.) Tremendously intelligent? He´s a p.i.t.a. for the rest of the air transport industry.He rips off every business partner including PAX.His manners are more than doubtful.

If you prefer being treated like cattle, go ahead. Unbelievable you deceive yourself about the real flight costs the way Ryanair deceived you.Please give us a break from statements like the cited one.

[Infinity]

The only times I have flown Ryanair was when they still offered BRE-SXF, before they cancelled all domestic flights in Germany due to the aviation tax.
It was 5€ each way all in (since I didn't bring luggage) and much faster (and as it is cheaper) than by train. And that's what it is: Ryanair is great when you get deals as this one, it's unbeatable this way. Trouble is, even Ryanair can't make money on these tickets, and once you have a standard fare and bring a bag and stuff, it's no longer competitive in my eyes - it lives on the deception of it's passengers. Most people are completely witless and not aware of the additional charges when they book Ryanair.

When Ryanair flies from good airport to good airport at a low price, even I will buy it. But say a flight from Oslo Torp to 'Paris' Beauvais (I don't even know if they offer that route, but just to illustrate) is complete crap. Any other airline will offer this at little (if any) additional cost and way less hassle.

[Jona L.]

When Ryanair flies from good airport to good airport at a low price, even I will buy it. But say a flight from Oslo Torp to 'Paris' Beauvais (I don't even know if they offer that route, but just to illustrate) is complete crap. Any other airline will offer this at little (if any) additional cost and way less hassle.

+ you save ~400km of driving (Torp is ~190Km from Oslo city, and Beauvais is 180km from Paris town)

My dad always says: If it's Frankfurt-Hahn, why don't they call it Munich-Tegel?!