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Irish budget carrier Ryanair would only be interested in buying Boeing’s 737 MAX jetliner if the upgraded narrowbody jet provided “‘material'” fuel savings, Finance Director Howard Millar said.

Boeing has announced plans to upgrade its best-selling passenger jet to match a project by rival Airbus to put new engines on its competing A320.

Ryanair, Boeing’s biggest customer outside the United States, would have preferred Boeing to offer a completely new aircraft rather than an upgrade to the existing model, he said.

source: Reuters

Consumer groups have reacted angrily to moves by budget airline Ryanair to make it more difficult for passengers to avoid credit card fees when buying tickets.

It had been possible to avoid the fee by using any prepaid MasterCard, but the airline has said that from November only customers using its own prepaid MasterCard – called the ‘Ryanair Cash Passport‘ – will avoid the fee.

source: This is Money

From November, anyone hoping to book a Ryanair flight at the advertised price will have to pay using a ‘Ryanair Cash Passport’.

Only by using this card will customers avoid the £12 per person extra the airline charges to issue a return flight ticket. At present, they have to use a pre-paid Electron Mastercard to avoid the surcharge.

Airlines were warned recently by the Office of Fair Trading that they will be taken to the High Court if they persist in making payment surcharges.

source: metro.co.uk

In a clear attempt to make its flights more appealing to business travellers, Ryanair has announced it is to allow customers to amend their bookings even after they have checked in online.

The service, which is available from Ryanair’s telephone reservation centres at a cost of £15 per passenger, per flight, allows passengers to access to their booking to amend names or change their flight dates.

source: Travelmole

Ryanair has moved swiftly to capitalise on the drama surrounding actor Gerard Depardieu’s antics on a CityJet flight on Tuesday.

Not one to miss an opportunity, the homepage of Ryanair’s web booking site says, “‘Pissed off with high fare airlines …’” alongside newspaper cutouts announcing the actor’s controversy.

It is in keeping with Ryanair’s tradition of using the latest controversy to sell flights.

source: siliconrepublic.com

Ryanair announced that traffic to Spain grew by 800,000 in July, which is up 25 per cent on last month. This means Ryanair alone delivered over half of the extra 1.4 million passengers who flew through Spanish airports.

Ryanair saw growth in traffic in all of its major Spanish airports including Barcelona El Prat (+100 per cent), Palma (+45 pc), Alicante (+14 pc), Gran Canaria +74 pc, Ibiza (+63 pc), Tenerife (+92 pc) and Lanzarote (+89 pc). This meant that Ryanair delivered more traffic growth at Spanish airports than all the other airlines combined.

source: joe.ie

Ryanair is disputing claims that its crewmembers recently tried to help a passenger suffering a heart attack by feeding him a sandwich and a soda. The man’s horrified family has also alleged that the airline then charged him for the food.

Per-Erik Jonsson was flying from England to Sweden when he felt ill, then fell into cardiac arrest and began to lose consciousness.

Although EU regulations require that all cabin crew be trained in basic first aid, a Jonsson’s family member told that the crew were slightly dismissive of the situation.

Jonsson family has expressed their desire to see Ryanair apologize, and say they are considering legal action.

source: irishemigrant.com

Ryanair celebrated IATA confirmation that it is the world’s favourite airline after IATA stats for 2010 showed Ryanair carried more international passengers than any other airline.

Ryanair carried 71.2m international passengers last year, 62 million more than Aer Lingus,  almost 30m more than second placed Lufthansa (44.6m) and almost 10m more than easyjet (37m) and British Airways (26m) combined.

source: The FINANCIAL

Ryanair has rejected a ruling by the UK’s consumer and competition authority that it should stop imposing a £6 charge on flight bookings that appears only after customers log their credit and debit card details, even though the regulator has warned that it could take legal action.

Such fees should be included in the price from the beginning of the transaction, the authority said, although it urged the British government to pass legislation quickly to block the imposition of any charges on debit card payments.

source: irishtimes.com

Ryanair is to announce a jet design agreement with a Chinese manufacturer on Tuesday, firing a warning shot to Boeing that it cannot expect another multibillion-pound aircraft order from the low-cost carrier.

Europe’s biggest short-haul airline has agreed terms with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) to help design an aircraft that could rival Ryanair’s fleet aircraft, the Boeing 737.

The Dublin-based carrier broke off talks with Boeing over a new order last year and has been openly planning to consider another manufacturer if it expands further after 2013.

source: Guardian.co.uk