Ryanair Boeing 737-800
Picture 2, 3 and 4 taken by Logan Carville @ni_aviation on Instagram
Ryanair came into the month of April operating ghost flights to ensure that their aircraft remain flying. Their aircraft are flown once every four days to maintain operation availability. These flights could even consist of the aircraft taking off doing a few loops and landing again! I will explain to you why.
If an aircraft is grounded for a long period of time, it is necessary that they be checked before returning to service. If it is unavailable for a larger amount of time, the airline are responsible for the payments to get the aircraft checked over. Ryanair has 451 Boeing 737-800 aircraft in his fleet and the airline is attempting to keep all of these aircraft operating during these difficult times.
In February 2020, before this virus took a big toll to European aviation operations, it was the greenest airline in Europe. the airline had only 69g of Carbon Dioxide per passenger per kilometre. However, these ghost flights are continuing even with no passengers onboard. There is still Co2 being released into the atmosphere, therefore adding to the airlines' average emissions.
The low-cost Irish airline stated at the start of the month that they don't expect to get operations up and running again until June 2020. Now, Ryanair is refusing to give refund to those who's flights are cancelled until this pandemic has eased. The emails that passengers are receiving suggest that the airline is unable to refund these flights as they have no staff to carry out these payments. There has been a major backlash against the airline across social media because of these refusals. It is also against EU rules and regulations to not give their passengers any compensations after cancelling their flights. In these emails, the airline has stated that: “…as our payment agents are required to stay at home in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, payment security restrictions prevent us from processing cash refunds until the Covid-19 crisis has abated. We would like to invite you to use your voucher to book your next trip and we look forward to seeing you again on a Ryanair flight in the very near future. Should you prefer a cash refund please contact us… and we will place your request in the cash refund queue until the Covid-19 emergency has passed.”
This email shows the regulations set in place by the European Union. If passengers booked on flights that are cancelled, they should either be refunded, rebooked or given credit for future rerouting. The Irish Minister for Transport, Shane Ross is considering to suspend these rules and allow airlines to issue vouchers instead of cash refunds. A Spokesperson for the Irish Times has stated that: “The Minister fully appreciates the particular financial difficulties being experienced by travel agents and tour operators from the unprecedented level of cancellations and the challenge for those companies in securing cash refunds from suppliers to pass on to their customers. Options under consideration include, as a temporary measure, the use of vouchers or some form of credit note for customer refunds in a way that does not materially erode consumer rights. The challenge is in finding a fair and commensurate response to what is a unique set of circumstances.”
At the moment, there has been no update on this rule being suspended. The European Customer Centre, who's policies spread right across the European Union, has said that it is crucial to respect all passengers rights and that a cash refund must be a valid request.
Unfortunately, with the airline struggling there is a possibility that there will be job losses and pay cuts in the future. Until the end of May, Irish pilots will continue to be paid based on their net earnings from January and February. This money will be given by both Ryanair and the Irish Government. There will be guaranteed paid through April and May. The pilots will only get 50% of their gross monthly basic salary. They will receive standard block hour rates for any flying completed. However, things are looking shaky for June. The airlines' best intentions are to protect as many jobs as possible.
With all this chaos emerging this month for the airline, they have decided to not pull out of the busy German airport of Frankfurt (FRA/EDDF). They have continued regular flights to the airport even though numerous other low-cost airlines have decided to cease operations to there.
The airport has never been a hot spot for low-cost airlines in the past. With high airport fees, it was simply unprofitable to fly there when they could fly to smaller, more profitable airport outside the city. However, over the past three years airlines such as Ryanair, Wizz Air and EasyJet have began to fly there due to the airport's fees being reduced. Frankfurt charged 40-50% of the fees for new low-cost airlines for their first year flying to the airport. However, these fees gradually reduce if they become established and begin to make money. During this pandemic, it is very likely that Wizzair and EasyJet's loss of discounts are the main reason the airlines have withdrawn from Frankfurt. It is still unknown why Ryanair haven't followed in the same footsteps.
Michael O'Leary stated to Simple Flying that: “We have no plans to pull-out of Frankfurt. We are in negotiations with the airport about you know, when are they going to deliver the low-cost terminal that has been promised. To be fair they have started building it now, but still haven’t got it delivered yet.”
They have no plans for the expansions to Frankfurt. This is down to the delay in their Boeing 737 MAX's and not the delay to Frankfurt's new Terminal 3. O' Leary stated that until they have the issues fixed with their MAX aircraft, there will be no plans to increase their growth in the airport.
Ryanair have also carried out multiple medical flights to Warsaw Modlin Airport (WMI/EPMO) from Chisinau, Moldova (KIV/LUKK). The airline revealed on Instagram the information regarding these flights and gratitude to their hard working staff in their caption: "We were proud to transport essential PPE medical equipment into Warsaw Modlin Airport today - to help in the fight against Covid-19 👊 . This personal protective equipment will reach hospitals and frontline staff in the Mazonia region of Poland, and the Ryanair Group is working with EU governments to help where we can🛫 .Thanks to our pilots and crew of Buzz for their stellar work 👏 "
According to FlightRadar24, these flights took place on the 10th, 11th and 14th April. On the 10th of April, Boeing 737-800 registered SP-RSP carried out this operation. Boeing 737-800 registered SP-RSE took over this mission on the 11th of April. However, on the 14th of April, SP-RKW underwent its first flight under this new registration. This Boeing 737-8AS had been delivered in November 2017 and was initially registered EI-GDN. This aircraft under its new registration will be remembered for its first, memorable and honourable flight.
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