[justloveflying]

It is amazing that Ryanair doesn’t fly from all over the UK to Amsterdam – £10 fares would fill the 737-800s all day long and bring in lucrative revenue for this very busy route ( UK to Amsterdam ).

I am sure that cost wouldn’t be the biggest issue if Ryanair was to have a base at London Heathrow – surely there must be many more factors that have not allowed the Golden Harp to fly from Eefraw ? Do BA/ LHR Management even want Ryanair at London Airways’ base ?

[GreenScot]

Regarding Heathrow, slot restrictions due to capacity, and the cost of purchasing said slots, would I have thought not to make LHR a viable base to scale from and drive profitable growth? Also, in the market, Ryanair is in, I don’t believe so LHR is the right fit; the cost of operations from Heathrow as a premium traffic airport would force a pricing strategy change for Ryanair, diverting away from its business model of an ultra-low cost budget carrier.

And as for AMS, I am not sure the maths works here either. Filling 189 seats at £10 each (if the assertion is how to divert passengers away from other airlines) is less than £2000 revenue per flight. It doesn’t strike me as economically viable, particularly flying into another slot-constrained airport, no matter where the flight originated in the UK.

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[LaWhore]

It’s amazing that you think there are slots left at AMS.

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[Rferguson2]

I don’t think they’d be able to turn a cessna around in 25min at LHR let alone a 737.

Also, LHR is all about an airport of connectivity – Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, Swiss, BA etc etc a good half of the pax on their flights are connecting to or from long haul flights from the hub airports of those carriers.

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[justloveflying]

@GreenSScot – very well made point and excellently delivred 🙂

@LaWhore – unusual username but hey – and yes you are right maybe Heathrow’s third runway has no slots

@RFerguson2 – I was smiling sheepishly at your turnaround analysis ! Are you sure you don’t work for routresonline.com ?! I am sure if FR had a Premium cabin, lounge access and a loyalty programme they could be connecting the regions to Heathrow as a feeder airline – further ahead Ryanair seriously need to start longhaul with 787s.

Great feedback all !

[FDOS]

Ryanair’s business is strong because the company sticks to what it knows/does best.

Anyone who thinks they will add LHR as a base, start a loyalty scheme, add premium cabins and start long haul routes just does not understand commercial air transportation, in my opinion.

It is the value engineering approach to disrupting short haul flying that made Ryanair the largest fleet operator in Europe.

IMO, there is not the same opportunity in long haul flying, it is a different model and the legacy carriers have good economies of scale and efficiency – no room for long haul locos to make moeny in Europe, with the exception of some niche carriers, e.g. Frenchbee.

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[justloveflying]

FDOS – silly me with 30 years Airline experience. Next time I will seek approval from you before I post anything. After all, you are the Knowledgeable one ! I hope the right people at Ryanair read this and make LHR happen !

[GivingupBA]

FDOS is writing with sense and knowledge from a large depth of experience. I have learned to listen to FDOS’s posts. The post from him just above was very good.

Thank you FDOS.

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[Nick Pike]

I think Ryanair are more likely to start flights to the moon than set up a base at Heathrow,for all the reasons FDOS and others have stated. They are an ultra low cost point to point airline who generally expect airports to pay them to operate than the other way round. And, as almost every operator trying it has discovered, ultra low cost long haul simply does not work.

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[SimonS1]

I thought the last time a slot pair changed hands at Heathrow it was for $75m (it was mentioned on here recently).

The likes of Ryanair are not in that market, more likely they want limited cost or even to receive incentives. Easyjet seem to be increasing frequencies at Southend for example.

[Rferguson2]

@ SimonS1 correct. In 2016 Oman Air paid Kenya Airways US$75m for one morning arrival slot at LHR. In 2015 SAS sold AA a pair of LHR slots for US$60m.

[MartynSinclair]

“FDOS – silly me with 30 years Airline experience. Next time I will seek approval from you before I post anything. After all, you are the Knowledgeable one ! I hope the right people at Ryanair read this and make LHR happen !”

Justloveflying – we are a very friendly bunch on here. I will endorse what GivingupBA stated about FDOS. Several of us have broken bread with FDOS over the years and he not only has a wealth of aviation & travel knowledge, a qualified pilot, but also goes out his way to help any poster, where he can, with a particular expertise in EU261 claims.

Please JLF, chill out a little – we may not agree with each other 100% of the time, but the Forum is a great encyclopedia and travel knowledge and experience.

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[CathayLoyalist2]

…….and with MartynSinclair´s well articulated post, here endeth this topic

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[anyonebutBAirways]

30 years travel experience and yet you post this lol, I think someone has Christmas Sherry left over! what a load of utter twoddle , Ryanair belongs in Low cost airports, just like most of its passengers.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ekond222

[esselle]

I have to agree with all the arguments that have been posted here dismantling the rather absurd suggestion that Ryanair should set up a base at Heathrow.

I think that if MOL was to list his 100 top priorities, operating out of LHR would not feature.

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[Author]

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