Ryanair vs. Easyjet auf SXF-STN/LTN-Route

[TobiBER]

Heute auf http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ gefunden. Dementsprechend reduziert jetzt FR auch die Preise nach SXF.

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Rivals force Ryanair to cut fares . . .

 

The no-frills airline Ryanair this week reduced fares on one of its most popular routes - in response to a fresh Daily Telegraph survey showing that it was being undercut by rivals.

 

 

 

There have been complaints about Ryanair's claims in advertisements that it offers the cheapest flights. After our first investigation two weeks ago, the airline promised it would beat any fares offered by competitors on comparable routes. On Wednesday, after we demonstrated that it was being undercut on most summer weekend flights to Berlin, it reduced all its fares to the German capital.

 

We also found that Ryanair was offering higher fares than rivals on some flights to Venice. A check made as we went to press showed that it had cut fares on that route as well.

 

In our latest investigation, of fares to Berlin and Venice only, we found that Ryanair's prices were often higher. On the Berlin route, it was being undercut by EasyJet on 11 out of 12 weekends during the summer (June 1 to September 1). On flights to Venice, competitors' fares were cheaper on five of the 12 weekends.

 

For example, on a flight leaving for Venice on June 19 and returning a week later, Ryanair's cheapest return fare was £54.14 compared to Easyjet's £40.98.

 

On Wednesday, after we presented Ryanair with our findings, the airline cut all its fares on the Stansted-Berlin Schonefeld route - some by as much as £27. Until then, the cheapest fare had been offered by EasyJet: £30.98 on its route from Luton to Schonefeld.

 

"We have always endeavoured to offer the cheapest fares," said Paul Fitzsimmons, head of communications at Ryanair. "If we hear about cheaper fares on another airline, we will lower ours again and again until it's a case of the last man standing.

 

"We have a team who are continually monitoring prices, capacity and competition. Our latest cost-cutting intiatives are just part of a five-year plan to have 50 per cent of our passengers flying for free."

 

On the Venice route, Ryanair's fares were indeed cheaper than those of British Airways (BA) and British Midland (BMI) on every weekend. However, Ryanair flies to Treviso, 20 miles from the city centre; BA, BMI and EasyJet all fly to Venice Marco Polo, only eight miles away.

 

Ryanair's fares to Berlin are also cheaper than BA's. Ryanair (in common with EasyJet) flies to Schonefeld, 13 miles from central Berlin, while BA flies to Tegel, which is only six miles away.

 

The Air Transport Users Council (AUC), the watchdog funded by the Civil Aviation Authority, said its own research has shown that Ryanair can be undercut by other airlines.

 

James Freemantle, a spokesman for the AUC, said: "Each week we receive numerous complaints from customers about Ryanair. Some of them concern what they see as its aggressive advertising and its claims to offer the cheapest flights. With the vast percentage of Ryanair's bookings made online, rather than over the phone, it is very difficult for people to make complaints or even to inform Ryanair of cheaper fares elsewhere."

 

There have also been protests about the airline's online booking fees, which are in addition to the prices quoted in our tables.

 

Until January 30, there was a charge of £4 on each credit-card booking and £1 on debit-card bookings; now there is a fee per passenger. For customers paying by credit card, the levy is £3.50 per passenger per return flight. Those paying by debit card pay 80p per passenger per return.Thus a family of four booking return flights will have to pay £14 in booking fees alone.

 

By comparison, BA charges no fee at all for payments made by credit or debit card when flights are booked online. EasyJet charges £4 per booking when payment is made with a credit card and BMI charges £3; neither charges a fee when payment is made by debit card.

[conrad]

in UK gibt es mehrere Routen, wo sich die beiden konkurrieren.