LONDON- Ryanair (FR), Europe’s largest and most rapidly expanding airline, announced its most extensive S24 schedule for London (Gatwick, Luton & Stansted) on January 16. The schedule comprises 200 routes, including seven new ones to Basel, Dubrovnik, Palma, Sarajevo, Tatry, Tirana, and Treviso.
With an investment of $200 million, the airline is set to station two new Boeing 737 aircraft in London, bringing the total to 56 and generating over 150 new well-paid positions for pilots, cabin crew, and engineers.
Ryanair New London Routes and aircraft
Key highlights of Ryanair’s London S24 schedule include:
- 200 routes, including 7 new destinations
- Addition of 2 new 737 aircraft, reaching a total of 56 ($5.6 billion investment)
- Anticipated annual London traffic exceeding 30 million passengers
- Contribution to over 24,000 London jobs, encompassing 1,700 high-paid roles for pilots, cabin crew, and engineers
Despite Ryanair’s ongoing commitment to investment and expansion in London, the UK’s NATS ATC (National Air Traffic Services Air Traffic Control) remains plagued by inefficiency, disrupting passengers’ travel plans and impeding traffic growth in the country.
The airline asserts that NATS failures in June, August, and December 2023 resulted in numerous cancellations and delays for millions of UK passengers. Ryanair deems these repeated NATS failures unacceptable, calling for a change in leadership and urging the departure of CEO Martin Rolfe.
Furthermore, the airline raises concerns about OTA (Online Travel Agency) Pirates, such as eDreams, Kiwi, Opodo, and Onthebeach, engaging in unlawful screenscraping of Ryanair’s website.
These practices lead to overcharged flights, hidden mark-ups, invented “service” fees, and the dissemination of fake customer contact and payment details.
Ryanair calls upon the UK Government and consumer agencies to take action against this internet piracy and blatant consumer abuse by OTA Pirates.
In celebration of the introduction of 2 new aircraft and 7 new routes for London, Ryanair has launched a 2-day seat sale offering fares starting from £19.99, exclusively available at Ryanair.com.
CEO Remarks
Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, expressed the following:
“We are delighted to announce the addition of 2 new aircraft ($200 million investment) and the introduction of 7 new routes for London in S24, encompassing Basel, Dubrovnik, Palma, Sarajevo, Tatry, Tirana, and Treviso. This expansion is accompanied by the creation of 150 high-paying aviation jobs.
While our UK customers and visitors prepare for an exciting summer, the persistent threat of repeated failures by UK NATS continues to disrupt the travel plans of UK passengers. It is our firm belief that the overpaid CEO of UK NATS, Martin Rolfe, should step down immediately, allowing a competent individual to assume the role.
In addition, OTA Pirates persist in deceiving unsuspecting UK consumers by engaging in the illegal practice of screenscraping the Ryanair.com website.
This results in consumers being overcharged for our flights and ancillary services, with the deception further masked by providing fake customer contact and payment details. It is imperative that action be taken to outlaw this form of internet piracy and combat these anti-consumer practices by OTA Pirates.
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