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RYANAIR HAS CAPITALISED on the collapse of Hungarian flag-carrier airline Malev by announcing the creation of a new base in Budapest – less than seven hours after its Hungarian rival ceased trading.
The airline has this lunchtime announced what it calls “a rescue plan for Budapest and Hungarian tourism” by opening 31 new routes to and from Budapest – some of them beginning within two weeks.
Ryanair says it can deliver up to two million passengers to the Hungarian capital each year, and replace most of the traffic and routes lost by Malev’s grounding.
Its deputy chief executive, Michael Cawley, has travelled to Budapest to finalise negotiations with airport and governmental authorities, and the airline says it will hold an open recruitment day in Budapest next week to invite job applications from Malev’s cabin crew, pilots and engineers.
The airline will base four planes in the city full-time, and claims that its passenger numbers will help to support 2,000 jobs.
17 of its 31 new routes to Budapest – including a direct route to Dublin – will begin operation on February 17, each of them with fares beginning from €9.99. The airline will begin selling tickets for those routes later this afternoon.
Ryanair said it had the capacity to respond to Malev’s grounding after grounding up to a third of its fleet over winter in order to minimise its fuel consumption costs.
The new base will put Ryanair in direct competition with Aer Lingus, which was the only airline other than Malev to offer a direct route to Budapest.
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Y not…good business call….
Fair play to You Michael O’Leary
Couldn’t agree more..the guy’s a shark and is bang on to grab the chance to progress. If our lame excuses for politicians were on their game as much we’d be the envy of the world. Well done Ryanair..!
That’s what’s called ‘having yer ear to the ground’ in the capitalist world
You have to hand it to Ryanair – that’s one impressively dynamic business model. It’d be hard not to be proud of them!
Shows what you can do when you put the head down and don’t have unions to deal with.
Now that’s keeping your finger on the pulse! Genius!
What a shrewd businessman
Fair play to them great call and nice gesture that they give first preference on the jobs to Malev staff.
Freshly unemployed, all qualified with whatever licenses and certs in-date, familiar with the airport and language, etc. Who else would you interview first?
I don’t care what anyone else says, Michael O’Leary is possibly the greatest business man in the world, ever!
taking nothing away from his business acumen, he’s still in the ha’penny league compared to Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and many more of their like.
I rarely reply to fake handles, but Weazel (assuming that’s not your real name) I almost agree with you.
O’Leary is definitely a visionary but probably very difficult to have a “greatest businessman in the world, ever” category. Others in Ireland such as Naughton, Magnier, Slattery, although allin different fields all did something similar. They all said “Why can’t we be No1 in our field?”
O’Leary is more media focused, but I see your point.
But Michael O’ Leary is Irish and lives here and works from Ireland and he pays Irish tax. Typical Irish we praise everyone else once their not from Ireland Michael is Irish and employs many who pay Irish taxes so what’s the problem
Strike while the iron is hot,good news for ryanair
Meanwhile other airlines had the same idea but were bogged down with drawing up plans and proposals which needed to be actioned and then forwarded to another department for approval, i’m guessing.
exactly sluazcanal; that’s why Ryanair is so successful; the right people doing the right jobs and confident in their decision-making, therefore able to move & react quickly (though it wouldn’t surprise me if they had an inkling that this would happen and had a contingency plan in place for if & when it did)
I wonder should we adopt his business model more widely; sometimes I think if his model were applied to state bodies and x% of the profits of those bodies were paid into Revenue (at least whilst we in the crisis that we’re in) it might be no bad thing – q the red arrows!!!!!
Micheal O Leary, minister for finance …,
Yes please
You must be joking. He’d tax you for taking a piss, never mind flushing your loo into your septic tank. God come back and save us AAAALLLLLL!
Its money obsessed swine that got us into this mess in the first place. This man, like the rest of them, wouldn’t lift a finger to help anyone but himself. You would think most people would be sick and tired of greed and selfishness that is celebrated in this country by now.
O’ Leary has a growing fan club in the US.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/irish-‘john-galt’-blasts-politicians-bureaucrats-crony-capitalists-at-eu-summit/
Paul O’Keeffe. I agree. Not saying that there’s no room for entrepreneurs in a socialist society, but fgs a bit of respect for those that work for you.
Could only manage to watch him for 5 mins on Late Late last week. The distain he has for his staff and passengers is stomach wrenching.
We must remember the jobs while forgetting that most of them won’t be created in Ireland. Oh did he forget to mention that…..
Oh he really is odious and the whole self-made narrative! Please, he is from a wealthy family. Judging by the love he is getting on this thread I guess a lot of people buy it. Just another greed obsessed megalomaniac who contributes little good to world.
Sean O’Keeffe. Saw it other day somewhere else and it’s nice alright to see his distain for them too. :)
It is refreshing to see someone speak their mind – it’s some parts of what that particular mind speaks doesn’t wash with me
Ya he’s really greedy, one of the most successful companies in the world and he pays himself less than some of our semi state CEO s, contributes to charities regularly and never once has been found acting wrecklessly like the people you mention. Jesus, just cause someone is a good business man who enjoys business doesn’t make them a bad human being. What a shallow pathetic way of viewing the world.
Paul O’Keeffe I love you. Diarmaid Twomey you’re in serious trouble. 10 laps around the hurling pitch please followed by 100 press ups. :-)
Lol Reada, your love is noted:-) Its helping me to consolidate my cynicism! Diarmaid I see you are seriously in need of some critical thinking skills but dont strain yourself:-)
Usual ole drivel so ya? Oh you don’t agree with my conspiracy theories and insane notions, oh well you’re stupid aren’t you (an insult always constructed in a way that makes you look intelligent) Please note for future reference it probably adds more weight to your ridiculous argument if you counter argue and not insult someone personally instead, presumably cause you’re after running out of ideas.
I think someone needs a lie down!
I presume you’re getting loads on Dame street?
Lol I am, you should come by some time for some Justice instead of Just Us:-)
Paul. Are you occupying Dame Street?
No Reada, that was just Diarmaid making a sweeping stereotype because I dont believe making money at all costs is a good thing!
Let’s not forget it was preceded by a stereotype of a different kind, one that sees the usual smug arrogant remarks questioning people’s intelligence just because they admire someone in business which somehow is evil in the eyes of the left.
And Paul, at what stage did I say making money at all costs is a good thing? God for a fella who talks about sweeping statements you’d want to slow down a small bit yourself….
Diarmaid. Seeing as you’re finished your push-ups say you’re sorry to Paul and we can all be friends again. Our first enemy to destroy is the government. :P
You say left like its a bad thing Diarmaid! Ok ok lets put the sweeping stereotypes aside and agree that greed is not good!
Agreed Paul, it certainly is not, you only have to look at politician expense stories to realise that. It’s sickening!
I admire Michael O’Leary immensely. For all those in business he is like a God. If only all of us had the Midas touch he has. The likes of Michael would never get into politics. Only teachers who can hold onto there jobs and if it doesn’t work out can fall back on them would bother. I wouldn’t wish a life in politics on anyone, its a fairly thankless job.
@ Family guy.
I agree Ireland would benefit if we had more with O’Leary’s spirit of enterprise here.
Diagree that 50k/year just in expenses for basically a part-time job done badly is thankless.
@Sean O’Keeffe. I didn’t mean thankless in the financial sense but its a 24/7 job where people always want stuff sorted and expect miracles.
Ryanair get done in 7 hours what this Government have been trying to do for nearly a year….create jobs.
Hmmm….Ryanair told the last govt to remove the 10 euro travel tax…which they didn’t do.
This govt did it and wuhoo, tourist numbers up by 8% already.
Govt mightn’t know everything but they know when tolisten to smart people.
@tom the govt did not fully remove the tax. 8% increase its not much conducting volcanic ash clouds and ice weather in 2010
Michael O’Leary for TAOISACH and minister for finance
Absolutely rediculous comment. Possibly the worst I’ve ever seen. How could you have possibly managed to link Ryanairs expansion into Hungary with the government?
Bruce, the 8% increase is on Irish tourism. Ryanair’s passenger numbers increased 30%.
Plus that 8% increase was Sept 11 contrasted to Sept 10…long after the ash problem had been solved.
ryanair will be loving the collapse of spainair and malev, fair play to them, great business
Ryanair is, at present, an example of how a company should be run.
Budapest tourist authorities will breathe a sigh of relief.
Well done to all who made it happen.
O’Leary is totally in tube with reality. People want cheap flights – they get cheap flights… O’Leary for Taoiseach – he would streamline the country in no time
So would the chinese!
Well done Ryanair. It’s good they’re offering jobs to the people from Malev! I bet they’re happy! ;)
Shrewd move!
Why didn’t Aer Lingus see the opportunity………………..oops they really haven’t left the Public sector yet have they?
Aer Lingus don’t have the same business model as Ryanair who are more a pan-European airline than an Irish one. Aer Lingus already have a Budapest route so what more do you expect from them, it would be stupid for Aer Lingus to open a Budapest base.
So what if he coupled the deal together in a few weeks
He spent nearly 9 months trying to buy the famous hanger 5 I think at Dublin but could not get the deal done as minister her officials D A A and Aer lingus believed they had a god given right to do what they liked
Good luck to him how many people are employed by Ryan air in Ireland ?
I know there are issues regarding some of the terms and conditions of employment but he is a job provider
Actually he employs relatively few in Ireland and even a week or two ago announced he was going to create several thousand jobs of which NONE would be based in Ireland out of principle!!!!!!
Forgive me for asking but what are the issues with Ryanairs terms and conditions of employment?
@tony, in fact most if not all ryan air staff are on irish contacts and therefore pay tax etc to the irish state. Fact.
Nothing like a happy sadistic
Fair dues Micko. Quick off the mark.
I think if you give him 2 million a year to be Taoiseach it would be money well sent.
I agree. He would cut the dole to the uk level of €60 and abolish the medical cards and outlandish rent relief that people receive. Bring on Michael.
I agree I think this country needs a dictator
Been to Budapest with Ryanair before gald they are flying there direct again fantastic city and great people.
fantastic city, weird people
@ Frank, what makes a person (or people) weird?
@Frank don’t know who you met there but anyone i encountered were lovely.Suppose difference of opinion.
Ryanair. The vultures of the airline world.
It’s called business. Get used to it.
Paddy Aer Lingus have had no choice but to imitate the Ryanair business model . Unfortunately the employees don’t yet understand this and still believe they are State employees. Look at the annual strike threats that cause passengers to …….fly……elsewhere!
With those attitudes flexibility to change and grasp new opportunities disappears.
Its a good advertisement by the Journal for Ryanair.
The Hungarian airline company was losing money for a long time because it had less passengers.
Time will tell if Mr O’Leary is going to make money from passengers or if the story is just advertising by the Journal.
Sorry to hear of your suspicions. I can happily assure you the piece wasn’t paid for.
The airline has this lunchtime announced what it calls “a rescue plan for Budapest and Hungarian tourism” by opening 31 new routes to and from Budapest – some of them beginning within two weeks.
THAT’s news!
There certainly seems to be a bit of a Journal/Michael O’Leary love affair going on though Gavan. Just sayin….
@Gavan Reilly: I did not mean he paid you anything.
Mr O’Leary is a past master at manipulating the press. He is if anything one of the best in the business at generating free publicity from the media of Ireland.
You don’t see him much in the rest of media world wide.
@Alan Larkin: “rescue plan”. He is a saint for a dollar.
Why isn’t it news? A successful Irish company expands again? If they lost jobs/routes it would be news. Conspiracy theories and begrudgery will get us no where.
Malev weren’t losing money because they didn’t have passengers. I flew with them four times in January and each flight was full (my final flight, I couldn’t get on a flight on my chosen day as it was booked out, and managed to get the very final seat on the flight the next day). Malev was losing money because they were a disastrously mismanaged, decrepit old monolith who hadn’t adapted to the way air travel operates today.
Flying Ryanair may not be the most comfortable in the world, but south eastern europe has badly needed a budget airline for some time, but they’ve been kept out by the stranglehold Malev had on Budapest Ferengy airport. I’m delighted to see them go and even more delighted that a reliable low cost airline is going in; this is going to significantly improve the lives of those living in the region previously ‘served’ by Malev.
Ah Jaysus lads, we’ve been through this before…Ryanair court the media for attention and the media lap it up! Its not a love affair between Ryanair and the Journal, all the papers and media outlets in Ireland are particularly interested in Ryanair because of their success as a European-wide brand. I for one am delighted that Ryanair struck while the iron is hot…they show some ‘get up and go’ attitude about them always.
Just to add, I’d paid 350 euro for my return flight Dublin-Budapest-Pristina. When I had to change my return flight, I had to be 500 euro. No matter how much Ryanair sting you on various other extra charges etc., I don’t think you could possibly ever have to pay 850 for four flights.
Ok it’s a love affair between the media and Michael O’Leary then. Sorry Gavan. :P LOL
There have been plenty of examples of Ryanair initiating a sensational headline for commercial gain and then the media lapping it up, but this is obviously not one of them. This story is relevant, interesting and above all else nowadays, good news.
More union wages and jobs with healthcare & pensions lost to the sweatshop airline…
Confused by your post. Are you saying that Malev wouldn’t have gone broke if Ryanair didn’t announce the new routes afterwarss? Seems like a silly suggestion.
He’s good at spotting an opportunity and cashing in. It’s a pity he wouldn’t spend a few quid to train his staff to provide customer service though, awful bunch of people in the main. Very few of the Ryanair staff I have had the misfortune to deal with have shown any real care for their customers.
I dread having to fly with them.
Fly with some other airline then and stop complaining.
How original Jack, if I pay for a service I expect customer service (being a customer and all that). So you must be one of the sheep who just does what they’re told. Good lad, keep accepting sub standard service, it’s all you’ll ever get.
Well done to Michael O’Leary for moving as fast as he did on this business opportunity and for also providing an alternative service to Budapest.
Think what you like about the man, but he his actions speak louder than words!
Just imagine that he said that he would offer his services to the Government for nothing on the ‘George Hook Programme’ some time ago, as a Minister, but do you think the Government would avail of that? Not on your life, because he would have shown them how to run a Country without fleecing it and we couldn’t have that now could we, as the first thing he said he would do away with were Quangos!!!
Clearly this move has been on the cards for a long time. The impression is that Ryanair went in and in 2 days had a deal done. Clearly talks have been ongoing for sometime and the Hungarians had this deal signed and delivered before Malev went.
Of course it had. They announced 5 new routes from Budapest two weeks ago. Everyone knew Malev was on shaky ground. Nothing amazing or groundbreaking about it – just one company capitalising on an opportunity.
I myself would not fly with ryanair because they have hidden charges on everything and there palnes are always dirty. but you have to give it to him he is always ready to jump on other peoples misery
W
In like Flynn… I mean… In like O’Leary
Sell Malev to me for €1 and I’ll turn it profitable with excellent customer service and cheap to fly with. With the help of investors money of course and in return, after 10 years, I give them between 40 to 60 percent of the profit made, depending on the number of investors. I have ideas but just need the funding from private investors
have your say