35 years of Ryanair flights
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at 07:01 by cwoodward.
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Mark CaswellKeymaster35 years ago today, on July 8th 1985, we took our first ever flight from Waterford to @Gatwick_Airport 🛫🎂
We dug way back into the archives to find this shot of our HS 748 in the air from that era 📸 pic.twitter.com/YlTYr1aTAH
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) July 8, 2020
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9 Jul 2020
at 09:04
canuckladParticipantHappy Birthday Ryanair
You’ve certainly made a difference …..
You’re brash, rude and often downright arrogant….
You’re also friendly as you welcome me on boardSo, Thank you for making it possible to travel on many many mini-breaks from my home airport to some fantastic destinations that other airlines s wouldn’t have considered.
My one birthday wish for you next year…..be nice to your staff, especially your cabin crew . Who generally carry out their duties as if they were paid a ransoms salary , rather than being held to ransom
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9 Jul 2020
at 09:46
capetonianmParticipantHappy Birthday Ryanair.
You turned the industry on its head, you forced the legacy carriers to drop their fares and standards through the floor.
You made travel available to the masses who would not previously have been able to travel, many of whom are not fit to do so.
You flooded destinations all over Europe with the wrong type of tourists who ruined the places for the more discriminating, and in doing so you made life unbearable for many of the locals who were forced out of being able to enjoy the facilities of their home towns. On the other hand, a lot of people made money from those tourists.
You generated a perceived need for people to travel, adding to carbon emissions by increasing the number of aircraft flying.
Apart from the above, as long as I never have to fly with you, I am your greatest fan as you keep the type of people whom I prefer to avoid off the airlines I choose to fly on.
Michael O’Leary I admire for his plain speaking and shooting at sacred cows. We need more straight talkers like him, people who fight back against convention.
Happy Birthday? Maybe. Maybe not. Bah humbug.
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9 Jul 2020
at 10:50
TominScotlandParticipantYes, Happy Birthday, Ryanair!!
I lived in Dublin at the time of their launch and well-remember their HS 748 service from Dublin to Luton, soon superseded by BAC 1-11s. This was in the days when their business model was still very woolly and they offered service that would make Michael O’Leary shudder today. I remember a late evening cancellation at Luton after which they taxied me to Heathrow, arranged an hotel and flew me back to Dublin on the first Aer Lingus service next morning. Not today, they wouldn’t!!!
9 Jul 2020
at 11:50
DavidGrodentzParticipantI Remember flying with them in the early days from Luton on their leased in Romanian built (Rom)BAC 1-11’s. very early on, the UK / Irish stewardesses would do the announcements, rather than worry the passengers with the heavily accented Romanian pilots
Haven’t flown with them in nearly 20 years, don’t remember them being that bad
Happy Birthday Ryanair
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9 Jul 2020
at 13:10
FaroFlyerParticipant[postquote quote=1003408][/postquote]
Capetonianm
I haven’t reported your post, but I do want to say xxx xxxxxxxxxx you are by posting as you have. To anticipate your reply; no, I do not think it was tongue in cheek
I do agree with you that Michael O’Leary is plain speaking, and it is refreshing to watch him, even if FR do owe me several hundred Euro in refunds
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9 Jul 2020
at 14:52
capetonianmParticipantFaroFlyer
Thank you for expressing your opinion about me/my posting openly and honestly. I wish more people on this forum followed your example.
You are absolutely correct, it was not tongue in cheek.
Cheers
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9 Jul 2020
at 15:18
AMcWhirterParticipantWhat that tweet never mentioned was that the original carrier of 1985 had a business model which was different to the Ryanair of today.
That 1985 business model was not a success.
Today’s Ryanair is a success simply because it reinvented itself.
It adopted the business model of Dallas-based Southwest the original LCC. (Southwest’s business plan has been emulated by LCCs around the world to varying degrees).
Ryanair was further helped a couple of years later by the start of EU deregulation.
Unlike certain other LCCs Ryanair has remained faithful to the Southwest business plan right down to operating a large fleet of only B737s.
Like Southwest it has never entered the transatlantic market (although over the years there have been many rumours that Ryanair would fly long-haul).
I remember going to Dallas and interviewing Southwest in the mid-1980s.
At that time the media wondered why Southwest, which had been flying successfully since 1967, had not entered the transatlantic market.
So naturally that was a question I asked Southwest.
In response I was told Southwest had enough on its plate understanding the US market let alone get involved in forays to foreign lands across the Atlantic … or words to that effect.
9 Jul 2020
at 15:18
PeterCoultasParticipantSomeone else who has learnt from experience not to fly with Ryan Air…. in full agreement with Capetonianm
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9 Jul 2020
at 15:35
MartynSinclairParticipantHappy birthday Ryan Air
To the only airline where the coach journey into the destination city is longer than the flight time to reach the coach boarding point. City to City flights certainly have new context with Ryan Air in that you never know in which city you will actually arrive into….
You remain on my banned flight list and I pray I will never have the need for any contact with your reservations department.
The irony is, I know you love all publicity – so I hope you enjoy this thread..
Happy birthday…
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9 Jul 2020
at 16:06
SimonS1ParticipantPersonally I don’t like them, but on the few occasions I have used them they got me from A to B in a timely manner (complete with silly trumpet).
Undeniably they have brought affordable international travel to those who might not have otherwise had the chance. And also helped to keep other carriers honest through competition.
And made shareholders happy too.
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9 Jul 2020
at 22:04
MontysaurusParticipantI and a group of friends stopped travelling Ryanair on our annual trips because of the behaviour of some of their passengers which was aided and abetted by the staff selling them unlimited amounts of alcohol. On our final flight with them we were so concerned that we agreed that if only Ryanair went to a destination then we would not go there.There was nothing snobbish about our decision.
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10 Jul 2020
at 06:33
tomwjsimpsonParticipant[postquote quote=1003508][/postquote]
Most likely due to high levels of commission being paid on in-flight sales – which probably greatly inflates their basic salaries.
10 Jul 2020
at 18:33
capetonianmParticipantI see no problem with anyone earning commission on sales as long as they don’t get pushy with it. I almost had a standup fight with an SAA steward in F when he more or less insisted I ordered my dutyfree before we’d even left ZA airspace ‘in case I missed out on a bargain’ as he condescendingly put it.
Probably not very smart of me to tell him what to do with his ‘duty free’ catalogue as he probably spat in my food, and the service and meals were so bad that I wrote and made a formal complaint and they refunded the Voyager Miles that I’d used to upgrade from C – F. The only other passenger in F was a very nice Jewish gent who’d ordered a KSML, which they were unable to provide, and the steward all but called him a liar and told him ‘nothing I can do about it now. If you ordered it then your travel agent made a mistake’.
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10 Jul 2020
at 19:14 -
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