RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary has extended his
airline “bloodbath” threat to include full-service
carriers.
The controversial chief executive has previously restricted his
fare battle warning to the low-cost sector but is now predicting
all-out war throughout the European aviation sector.
“The outlook is crap,” he said bluntly. “We are going to have an
awful winter. Fares will get lower and airlines will struggle to
fill seats.
“The high-fare airlines will be forced to match prices and, with
their cost bases, they are going to struggle.” He warned of
casualties across the industry for “both low-cost and full-service
airlines”.
O’Leary used his speech to renew his attack on British
Airways, particularly over the flag carrier’s recent
operational problems. “Future Size and Shape has gone out of the
window. Rod Eddington will have to go back to the drawing board to
do an even smaller Future Size and Shape.”
He added: “BA will take care of you when its staff bugger off at
the weekend, BA won’t leave you stranded. Yes it will. And
then Rod will give those staff two free flights which its customers
will end up paying for.”
Meanwhile, Ryanair is launching a paid-for in-flight
entertainment system. Passengers will be able to pay £5 to use
a hand-held video system which will offer films, television
programmes, cartoons, games and music videos.
The system will be trialled on Stansted flights from November 1
and, if successful, will be rolled out across the fleet from March
next year.
O’Leary said the project needs a 3% take-up to cover its
$12 million investment, but predicted usage will be 10 times that
figure. “This will be a boost to ancillary sales, which will allow
us to bring costs down further.”