They won’t be luxurious. They won’t serve you steak and lobster. They won’t provide white tablecloths and silverware. And they probably won’t offer individual media centers.
But Michael O’Leary, who created a new paradigm in European air travel with the no frills Ryanair, just announced his intention to launch nonstop service between the US and Europe on a new airline that will be affiated with his.
The kicker? This Irish entrepreneur predicts fares as low as 10 Euros each way between New York and London (about $13.50 US) with flights launching within the next four years.
I don’t know how he can afford to offer such low fares, but you’d paid that much for three movie headsets or a few call drinks on most airlines.
Haven’t heard of Ryanair? It was Europe’s original low fare airline and is still Europe’s largest low fare carrier. During 2007, Ryanair will carry over 42m passengers on 460 low fare routes across 25 European countries.
Read the story at SFGate.com.
As a Brit, the wrong side of the ocean it certainly sounds promising. However..
Firstly Ryanair are the devil. If it did happen expect your flight canceled at a moment’s notice, helpline calls charged at an exorbitant rate, complaints ignored etc etc.
Secondly, what with the new eco-centric world…ten years? Surely within that time global warming is going to become scarely more evident and airlines are in the firing line to combat this.
If it does happen expect a huge amount of tax on the top.
I’m like everyone – I want my cake and eat it. As a volunteer worker I’d certainly love the chance of a cheap flight to go home and see my family. But is it right to have flights so cheap and plentiful when we’re just coming to terms with the environmental impact?
Why not include environmental “off setting” as standard? It’d be still cheap, passengers would feel good about themselves and the airlines would enjoy some decent PR.