Ryanair bets on Munich to take on German rivals
The budget airline Ryanair is in negotiations with Munich Airport to start flying from the southern hub as part of a strategy to aggressively expand its German market-share.
The Irish carrier hopes to start flying from the Bavarian capital by Winter 2016, of "if possible sooner," said head of marketing Kenny Jacobs.
Ryanair is currently in negotiations with the airport over the charges it would pay to use the runways, and the time windows in which it could take off and land, reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).
The news comes as confirmation that Ryanair is seeking to change its strategy in Germany away from flying to provincial airports such as Memmingen – an old military airport around two hours to the east of Munich - and Frankfurt-Hahn.
Ryanair intends to take advantage of problems at the major German budget airlines - Air Berlin and Germanwings – by expanding its market share from 5 percent to between 15 and 20 percent by 2020.
Air Berlin has well-documented financial problems, while Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings has been hit by rolling pilots' strikes since Spring 2014, as the company struggles to reorganize its service concept.
Ryanair, by contrast has recently ordered 283 new Boeing 737 aircraft and intends for the flights from Munich to supplement rather than replace its Memmingen services.
"Our Bavaria strategy is to strengthen both airports," said Jacobs.
Memmingen would continue to serve primarily tourists, while Munich would be for business clients.
The budget airline intends to fly early and late flights at Munich – with the intention being that business people could make meetings in other major cities and arrive back at home by the evening.
Possible routes under consideration are Munich-London and Munich-Hamburg, SZ reports.
But the flight schedule at Munich Airport is already so tight that accessing these time windows could prove tough.
Comments
See Also
The Irish carrier hopes to start flying from the Bavarian capital by Winter 2016, of "if possible sooner," said head of marketing Kenny Jacobs.
Ryanair is currently in negotiations with the airport over the charges it would pay to use the runways, and the time windows in which it could take off and land, reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ).
The news comes as confirmation that Ryanair is seeking to change its strategy in Germany away from flying to provincial airports such as Memmingen – an old military airport around two hours to the east of Munich - and Frankfurt-Hahn.
Ryanair intends to take advantage of problems at the major German budget airlines - Air Berlin and Germanwings – by expanding its market share from 5 percent to between 15 and 20 percent by 2020.
Air Berlin has well-documented financial problems, while Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings has been hit by rolling pilots' strikes since Spring 2014, as the company struggles to reorganize its service concept.
Ryanair, by contrast has recently ordered 283 new Boeing 737 aircraft and intends for the flights from Munich to supplement rather than replace its Memmingen services.
"Our Bavaria strategy is to strengthen both airports," said Jacobs.
Memmingen would continue to serve primarily tourists, while Munich would be for business clients.
The budget airline intends to fly early and late flights at Munich – with the intention being that business people could make meetings in other major cities and arrive back at home by the evening.
Possible routes under consideration are Munich-London and Munich-Hamburg, SZ reports.
But the flight schedule at Munich Airport is already so tight that accessing these time windows could prove tough.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.