One-in-four suits 'slumming it' as Ryanair chases business

By Nick Webb
Sunday February 03 2013
 
Up to a quarter of Michael O'Leary's customers on low-cost carrier Ryanair are now "business" passengers as the suits start 'slumming it' for cheaper fares.

Europe's largest airline now estimates that between 20 and 25 percent of all of its passengers are corporate or business fliers.

A recent internal survey showed that 22 percent of Ryanair's Spanish passengers were business travelers. Ryanair has been targeting business fliers since it introduced pre-booked seating on all its routes last January.

The frequency of Ryanair's flights has also been a major draw. "We currently operate approximately 22 flights a day between Dublin and London, the busiest international route in Europe, with an estimated similar proportion of business passengers traveling," Ryanair told the Sunday Independent.

"It's a combination of low fares in a recession where businesses are increasingly saying everyone must travel at low fares," and the "breakdown of business class as a product," O'Leary said in Lithuania last week.

Ryanair and fellow low-cost carriers such as Easyjet have gone after the business market with a variety of new measures ranging from introducing a €10 reserved seating charge to flexible tickets and corporate booking agents. Full service carriers have also upped their game with better menus and more spacious seating.

"There won't be an opportunity for people, when the economy recovers, to go back to flying these kind of short-haul airlines with their high fares and fuel surcharges, because I don't think the services will be there," O'Leary said.

Business and first-class traveler numbers have fallen sharply since the economic crisis began in 2007, pushing many European airlines into losses. Premium travel in Europe fell 3.2 percent last year, according to figures from the International Air Transport Association.

- Nick Webb

Story:  http://www.independent.ie