In the coming years, Rynair wants to achieve a 30 to 35 percent market share in Vienna with its subsidiaries Buzz, Laudamotion and Malta Air and then be as big as Austrian Airlines (AUA).
Since entering Vienna three years ago, Ryanair has not made any money, but has not lost any huge amounts either, said O’Leary. Vienna is one of the fastest growing airports from Ryanair’s point of view. After cheap competitors such as Level and easyjet withdrew and Wizzair also significantly reduced the offer, the market share could also increase to 25 percent this year. Most recently it was 17 percent. In any case, there will continue to be cheap offers for 19.99 euros per flight – including ticket tax of 12 euros.
In the course of growth, he would be disappointed if 30 aircraft were not stationed in Vienna in two to three years, which would mean 9 to 10 million passengers, according to O’Leary. In three to four years he expects to be on an equal footing with the AUA in Vienna. 40 planes in Vienna would probably be too high, there will be more flights to Vienna from other bases.
Vienna one of the most expensive airports
From Ryanair’s point of view, Vienna is one of the most expensive airports and the past three years have been characterized by a tough price war. For the coming year, however, Ryanair sees an advantage, because the company has hedged 80 percent of its fuel requirements at $65 a barrel until March 2023 and will pass this price advantage on to customers compared to the current market price, O’Leary promised. However, he expects that many airlines, including AUA and its parent company Lufthansa, will soon announce fuel surcharges for their tickets. That will drive up the average price per ticket.
The Irish are looking for staff
Ryanair is also looking for staff – next week 50 new flight attendants are to be recruited for Vienna, the total staff in Vienna is to increase to 600 people who are “partially employed” by the Crewlink temporary worker company, as Laudamotion boss Andreas Gruber said. In principle, Ryanair has no problems finding staff and few departures. O’Leary brushes aside criticism of working conditions from Ryanair pilots in a survey by the European Cockpit Association. A survey by the Association of Pilots of the Old Network Airlines has little meaning for Ryanair. He notes that numerous pilots who have lost their jobs with traditional airlines from Lufthansa to Emirates are now happy to work at Ryanair.
Lauda stays
O’Leary wants to stick to the Lauda brand, not least because 30 aircraft are painted with the logo and he wants to save the cost of repainting. But the new registration in Malta also runs under this name.
Once again O’Leary rode violent attacks against state subsidies for the Lufthansa Group and its Austrian subsidiary AUA. While Ryanair managed without subsidies from Austria – the Ryanair boss does not count almost two months of short-time work support – AUA received a total of 600 million euros, he calculated. Nevertheless, the AUA reduced staff and canceled flight routes.
Harsh criticism of Austria
He also expressed harsh criticism of the Republic of Austria. This has not yet developed a growth plan for tourism, its only approach is to subsidize the AUA, but that only means “flushing even more money down the Lufthansa toilet”. The ticket tax planned in Austria is also very harmful and will hinder the upswing in tourism.
After two years with a total of around 2 billion euros in losses, O’Leary expects the entire Ryanair group to make a profit again this year – if the corona situation calms down and the war in Ukraine has no further-reaching consequences. The aim is to carry 165 million passengers, which would be 15 percent more than before the Covid pandemic.
Source: Nachrichten
