27th Aug 2014 10:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Ryanair Holdings PLC, Europe's largest low-cost carrier by passenger numbers, Wednesday said it will launch new routes from London Stansted and Dublin airports next summer, and will also launch a new business class service offering features like premium seats, priority boarding and flexible tickets.
More business travelers have been using low-cost airlines since the financial crisis, and Ryanair has been slow to pick up on the trend. It is now playing catch-up to rivals like easyJet, which has been flying higher numbers of business passengers after offering unlimited free date changes, fast-track security and upfront seats.
Irish airline Ryanair, which thinks about a quarter of its customers are flying on business trips, Wednesday said its new Business Plus package will offer flexibility on ticket changes, a 20 kilogram check-in baggage allowance, fast track airport security, priority boarding and premium seats, matching the easyJet package.
The move comes after Ryanair in May admitted it had been annoying its customers with poor service, and introduced measures like allocated seating and relaxed cabin baggage and booking restrictions.
Ryanair also announced its summer 2015 flight schedules for London Stansted and Dublin airport, saying it will fly three new routes from each. It will fly to Cologne, Edinburgh and Glasgow International from Stansted - meaning it now has 134 routes from the airport - and more flights and "improved schedules" on 24 other routes. It will fly to Brussels Zaventem, Cologne and Glasgow International from Dublin - meaning it has 81 routes from Dublin in total - as well as putting more flights and improved on 12 other routes.
Ryanair shares were up 3.0% at EUR7.15 Wednesday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
RYA.L