Ryanair Expression of Interest.

roundymac

ww.irishexaminer.com/business/oleary-ryanair-likely-to-express-interest-in-troubled-cyprus-airways-276338.html
Wonder if it's the Heathrow slots he's after.
Just seen over on pprune that the last of the Heathrow slots have been sold to AA.

smurfjed

Why on earth would FR take over another airline WITH UNIONS?

L1011

The Heathrow slots were sold before placing the airline on the block; presumably to allow the capital to be taken out. But one pair is only of interest to an existing airline at LHR or an established longhaul airline based elsewhere anyway.

OSULLU

Cyprus only have 6 aircraft. What does he see in them?

jamo2oo9

Could be after the slots in Cyprus and be able to offer LC flights from Cyprus to Europe, particularly in Germany, France, UK and Ireland

L1011

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

Could be after the slots in Cyprus and be able to offer LC flights from Cyprus to Europe, particularly in Germany, France, UK and Ireland

I don't think LCA is that seriously overcrowded; and they already serve PFO

jamo2oo9

MYOB wrote: »

I don't think LCA is that seriously overcrowded; and they already serve PFO

What I mean is, offer low cost flights from Cyprus to Europe directly. With the low fares, you can guarantee they will get the pax needed for the business.

At the moment, Ryanair flies to PFO from 11 cities plus 2 during season. If they set up a base in PFO or LCA, they could potentially drive up the PAX numbers when they offer more destinations to like UK, Ireland, Germany etc.


If you think about it, I think it's a good idea for Ryanair to set up a base over there, launch new routes although they are probably constrained with the lack of aircraft needed.

Personally, I know people who would love direct flights from Ireland to Cyprus and I'm sure there would be more around the country.

Jack1985

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

What I mean is, offer low cost flights from Cyprus to Europe directly. With the low fares, you can guarantee they will get the pax needed for the business.

At the moment, Ryanair flies to PFO from 11 cities plus 2 during season. If they set up a base in PFO or LCA, they could potentially drive up the PAX numbers when they offer more destinations to like UK, Ireland, Germany etc.


If you think about it, I think it's a good idea for Ryanair to set up a base over there, launch new routes although they are probably constrained with the lack of aircraft needed.

Personally, I know people who would love direct flights from Ireland to Cyprus and I'm sure there would be more around the country.

Ryanair are currently based in Paphos, there are no restrictions on the number of flights it operates into Europe, as Cyprus is an EU member. I don't see the logic in this pursuit at all if I'm honest, maybe MOL want's his hands on slots into Beirut, Moscow-Sheremetyevo and Tel Aviv. Slots they hold also include Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Sofia and Zürich. A purchase of Cyprus Airways I suppose would give them extra slots also at Athens and Thessaloniki plus plenty of room for growth and potential seizure of the Cypriot market operating from both Larnaca and Paphos.

All that weighed in, I still don't see why you'd want to buy an airline riddled with so much debt.

billie1b

Jack1985 wrote: »

All that weighed in, I still don't see why you'd want to buy an airline riddled with so much debt.

Probably to turn it around and make a profit, like he did with Ryanair, if there is any man to slash costs and make profits its him

Jack1985

billie1b wrote: »

Probably to turn it around and make a profit, like he did with Ryanair, if there is any man to slash costs and make profits its him

True I suppose, but under the ''Cyprus Airways'' umbrella I couldn't see it going that far especially from its home country which isn't that large. Maybe its part of some plan for a loco in the Middle East up against the likes of AirArabia, flydubai?

L1011

jamo2oo9 wrote: »

What I mean is, offer low cost flights from Cyprus to Europe directly. With the low fares, you can guarantee they will get the pax needed for the business.

But they don't need to buy a LCA based airline to enter LCA.

Jack1985

Interesting comments from MOL, as I expected the interest is very much with destinations including Beirut, Tel Aviv and Moscow - They don't plan on turning around Cyprus Airways either, looks like a fresh airline.

“We have submitted an expression of interest, principally because the Cypriot government asked us to. We are not particularly interested in Cyprus Airways, which has huge legacy issues, [including their] pension scheme, historic losses, and it looks like it may have to repay about €100 million [$134.3 million] of state aid, which has kept it alive for the last two years,” O’Leary said, ruling out a potential investment in the national carrier.

“We would be very keen to base an additional aircraft in Cyprus. If we were going to do that, we would need a Cypriot AOC so we could go from Cyprus to some of the Middle Eastern destinations—like Israel, Tel Aviv and Beirut. Historically, Cyprus has been a holiday destination for a lot of Middle Eastern countries. We can’t do that with an Irish AOC because it’s outside the EU,” he said.

http://atwonline.com/finance-data/ryanair-interested-cypriot-aoc-not-cyprus-airways?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AtwDailyNews+%28ATW+Daily+News%29

basill

There is a certain amount of history with FR and takeovers eg: Buzz. It will be a new company, new T&Cs and if the "current" staff don't like it then good luck to them, which is really what he wants in anycase. But he will be seen to go through the motions in order that he satisfies local laws and keep the politicians happy etc. No different to what would have been on offer to AL if he had succeeded.

1huge1

Seems like this is progressing


Ryanair boss in in Cyprus Airways takeover talks
http://breakingnews.ie/business/ryanair-boss-in-in-cyprus-airways-takeover-talks-639883.html

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is in Cyprus for talks about buying the country's struggling national airline.
The no-frills carrier has formally expressed an interest in Cyprus Airways, even though he called the lossmaking firm a "barrel of rubbish".
Ryanair wants to fly to more routes outside the EU, and having a Cypriot air operator's licence would enable it to do so.

If they really are interested in non-EU routes, this does offer an opportunity.

Cyprus Airlines currently fly to Russia, Israel , Lebanon and Switzerland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_Airways_destinations

Tenger

smurfjed wrote: »

Why on earth would FR take over another airline WITH UNIONS?

The unions will be told "this is the new deal, you can take it or we will hire new staff who will"

OSULLU wrote: »

Cyprus only have 6 aircraft. What does he see in them?

But as above.....they have a non-EU AOC which is far more beneficial than a handful of routes and aircraft.

basill

The news report online that I read indicated there were up to 20 airlines/parties showing interest. Might just be the Irish media hyping this up.