Thursday 30 April 2009

Eight thousand passengers on Alghero airport last weekend

Last weekend Alghero airport has handled over 8000 passengers, alguer.it reports. April 25th is an Italian bank holiday and thus an interesting city break destination for Italian holiday makers.

Mobile OnAir: Use of cell phones allowed on Rome-Alghero routes

Ryanair is now enabling in-flight cell phone calls on select aircraft. Other European airlines have tested wireless usage on a single aircraft, but Ryanair has already installed the service on 20 planes, with plans to expand to 50 within six months and eventually the entire fleet if it proves successful, the company said. The news service is called Mobile OnAir.
Ryanair confirmed the first flights to Alghero with inflight-telephone services are the national flights from Rome-Ciampino to North Western Sardinia, Alguer.it reports.

No Ryanair 'fat tax' if it delays flights

Ryanair will only impose a "fat tax" on overweight passengers if it does not lead to flight delays, the chief executive of the Irish budget airline said Thursday.
"We are not going to introduce a fat tax unless it is easy to administer. If it is going to slow down either our check-in or our turnaround time then we won't do it," Micheal O'Leary told a news conference.
Last week the airline announced it was considering a "fat tax" after 29 percent of the more than 100,000 people who responded to an online poll on cost-reduction measures voted in favour of the measure.
Twenty-five percent of respondents voted to charge travelers one euro to use toilet paper adorned with a picture of O?Leary?s face and 24 percent voted to charge passengers three euros to smoke in a converted toilet cubicle.
Ryanair, which already charges separately for services like food onboard, launched the online poll after O'Leary caused a storm earlier this year by suggesting passengers could be charged to use toilets on planes.
It is now asking travellers online how any "fax tax" could be levied. The four options include charging male passengers who weigh over 130 kilogrammes (287 pounds) or females over 100kg for every extra kilogramme they carry.
Another alternative is charging for a second seat if a passenger's waist touches both armrests simultaneously.
The proposed measure sparked a fresh controversy with some suggesting it would be discriminatory and illegal if it is adopted, a charge O'Leary rejected.
"It is not against the law, we can make it a safety issue," he said.

AFP

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Ryanair launches three new Italian bases: Alghero, Cagliari and Bologna

Ryanair has launched three new Italian bases (now totaling seven) at Alghero, Bologna and Cagliari Airports offering a total of sixty-seven domestic and international routes, generating over four million passengers per annum and supporting four thousand jobs in Italy.

Ryanair will base two aircraft at each of these three airports bringing Ryanair’s total investment in Italy to twenty-six aircraft worth almost two billion dollars.

Celebrating these Italian Base Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“Ryanair and Italy today join in the celebration of continued low fares growth across Italy. Our three new bases in Alghero, Bologna and Cagliari will see over four million new passengers pass through these three airports over the next year on sixty-seven low cost domestic and international routes.
Easier.com
“Ryanair’s continued expansion in Italy during a time of economic recession shows the benefit of competition and low fares in Italy. Ryanair will carry over seventeen million passengers to/from Italy this year and will sustain seventeen-thousand jobs throughout the regions. Passengers can continue to beat the recession by choosing Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares and no fuel surcharges over Alitalia’s high fare, strike ridden services.

“Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares are available to book online at Ryanair.com”.