Ma Ryanair si sta frillizzando?

[Oli]

Ryanair leaves no-frills in the departure lounge
Tom McEnaney

RYANAIR, the low-fares airline, which has been styled as cheap and cheerless by its critics, is going upmarket. The distinctive blue cloth seats are to be replaced with leather upholstery. The dog-eared in-flight magazine will be jettisoned in favour of a new content-driven glossy. Top-end electronic goods are to be added to the catalogue of in-flight merchandise and the rather dismal sandwiches are to be replaced by . . . well, sandwiches, only posher ones.

As of next week, Ryanair’s customers will also be able to buy travel insurance from the cabin crew while cruising at 30,000ft, the demand for which may rise and fall with the turbulence levels experienced by passengers.

The new image marks a departure for Ryanair, which previously made a virtue of its spartan in-flight service.

Asked about the shift in strategy, the company said the time had come for it to start concentrating on the quality of its service.

“Ryanair wants to be best in everything it does,” said the company. “We’ll carry 24m passengers this year and we want to give them another reason to enjoy the experience. We’ve got the lowest fares and the best punctuality and now it’s time to raise the stakes when it comes to the quality of our product.

“Other low-fare carriers, like Buzz and Go, have tried to improve the in-flight experience but have failed miserably, while the high-fare airlines tried to charge exorbitant fares, which leave you with nothing more than a bad taste in your mouth. Once again we’re going to show everyone how it should be done — and we’ll still have the lowest fares around.”

Buzz was acquired earlier this year by Ryanair while Go was merged into Easyjet in 2002.

The move will be interpreted as a reaction to competition from traditional airlines, which are increasingly adopting the low-fares model developed by Southwest Airlines in America and originally applied in Europe by Ryanair.

Passengers on Ryanair’s 125 routes will see the difference from next month, when the first of 100 new Boeing 737-800s are added to the fleet.

Cloth seating in the existing fleet is expected to be retained, although all new planes will come with leather upholstery. The existing fleet will, however, get a facelift. Look out for a slightly larger harp on the planes’ tail fins.

The company is still trying to decide which items should be added to the in-flight offering. High-tech gadgets such as MP3 players are one likely addition. Ryanair’s Dublin airport headquarters has been besieged by catering companies offering samples of their products for inclusion.

Ryanair has been in negotiations for some months with publishers, including a number of Irish firms, capable of producing a glossy magazine for the airline’s European market.

The new magazine will be content-led, with articles of general interest alongside features on destinations served by Ryanair. A good in-flight magazine is potentially quite lucrative for the low-fares airline. As well as driving in-flight sales it could be an attractive proposition for advertisers wanting to target Ryanair’s cost-conscious customer base.

The print run is expected to start at between 70,000 and 120,000, with the magazine coming out quarterly at first, eventually moving to monthly publication.


Che succede? Ho letto anche ke FR sta leggermente cambiando la livrea, ma io nel database di a.net non ho visto la ristilizzata. Ne sapete qualcosa?

[Mati777]

Hahahaha, l'unico che manca e un letto in First Class e basta.