Its OFFICIAL! Michael O'Leary is a pr***!

enterprise

Had to get this off my chest! Anybody see the comments O'Leary made yesterday about the metro to the airport. Said something along the lines of its a waste of money and it would be better spent in building more lanes on the M50! What planet is this man on?

From now on I will be taking my business elsewhere and certainly won't be using "Riotair" again!

murphaph

Yeah right. You're telling me that you'll pay extra for any given flight you may wish to take?

Anyway, O'Leary is a 5 Star PR man!

weehamster

Well I always refuse to fly with Ryanair. :mad: It maybe cheap but its crap and Im willing to pay the bit extra to get a better service like Aer Lingus.

Imposter

weehamster wrote:

Well I always refuse to fly with Ryanair. :mad: It maybe cheap but its crap and Im willing to pay the bit extra to get a better service like Aer Lingus.

You've obviously not being flying lately!

Maskhadov

technically he is right. most of the people going to the airport go via car with a small minority by bus.

But he forgot about Swords !! The metro line is more than the airport.

Back to school Mick

dam099

Maskhadov wrote:

technically he is right. most of the people going to the airport go via car with a small minority by bus.

But he forgot about Swords !! The metro line is more than the airport.

Back to school Mick

But what about all the tourists coming in, many possibly won't hire a car and are getting taxis into and out of town, now they will have an alternative.

Its easy for O'Leary to be going on about roads, he can just zoom by in the bus lane with his taxi plate.

ballooba

Maskhadov wrote:

technically he is right. most of the people going to the airport go via car with a small minority by bus.

But he forgot about Swords !! The metro line is more than the airport.

Back to school Mick

Maybe people don't use the train because there is no train???

It's a little bit crazy but think about it.

Maskhadov

dont get me wrong.. im in favour of the metro..

he is just pointing out that its not like people can get to Dublin airport.... but people cant get a flight and developments at the airport would be more beneficial.

At the end of the day, once the metro is up and running the line will be at full capacity at peak times and we would wonder how we managed without it.

HelterSkelter

weehamster wrote:

Well I always refuse to fly with Ryanair. :mad: It maybe cheap but its crap and Im willing to pay the bit extra to get a better service like Aer Lingus.

What better service do Aer Lingus offer? I fly on both Ryanair and AL regularly and there is very little difference.

Bluetonic

Can anyone get their hands on the % of passengers on an annual basis who travel through Manchester and Birmingham airports in the UK and who use their respective rail line.

I think you'll find it's less than extremely low.

I don't think you'd find a higher % in Dublin.

The only way a metro to Dublin airport would get major usage by travellers is if there were park and ride facilities further back along the metro line.

HelterSkelter

Bluetonic wrote:

The only way a metro to Dublin airport would get major usage by travellers is if there were park and ride facilities further back along the metro line.

They would probably charge an arm and a leg to park in the park and ride also. Why would anyone bother when you can drive to the airport in the comfort of your own car and park in quickpark for a fiver a day?

ballooba

Why would anyone who lives in Dublin pay to park their car rather than get a Train?

In fairness Dublin is a much more popular tourist destination than Manchester or Birmingham.

ATM I use the Aircoach to get to and from the airport. If I had a choice I would definitely use a train which has far fewer stops and does not have to wait in traffic and takes a circuitous route.

HelterSkelter

Maskhadov wrote:

technically he is right. most of the people going to the airport go via car with a small minority by bus.

But he forgot about Swords !! The metro line is more than the airport.

Back to school Mick

Swords is an after thought, I doubt we'll ever see it.

Bluetonic

HelterSkelter wrote:

They would probably charge an arm and a leg to park in the park and ride also. Why would anyone bother when you can drive to the airport in the comfort of your own car and park in quickpark for a fiver a day?

We're talking around 10 to 15 years for the metro to be developed. So we are looking at the next 20 to 50 years for my comment above.

Do you think the quickpark facility will be still there in that time? I don't. All 'door step' car parks, and I include the red car park beside the ALSAA in this, will be developed upon.

20 years ago you could park in a gravel car park on the arrivals road in Dublin airport.

8 - 10 years ago there were carparks beside the then TEAM hanger and where the Great Southern and Airport Credit Union is now.

HelterSkelter

ballooba wrote:

Why would anyone who lives in Dublin pay to park their car rather than get a Train?

Cos by using my car I don't have to depend on some bus/train that could be late or not show up. I don't have to haul my luggage around train stations, up and down esclators, I just stick it in the boot of the car. I don't have to stand all the way in a cramped train fighting to not get pushed over, holding onto my luggage while trying to stay upright. I can listen to the music I want in my car, have the heating at a temperature I like, no smelly people sitting beside me!! I have been on the London Underground many times to Heathrow and let me tell you it is a complete nightmare.

Bluetonic

ballooba wrote:

Why would anyone who lives in Dublin pay to park their car rather than get a Train?

In fairness Dublin is a much more popular tourist destination than Manchester or Birmingham.

ATM I use the Aircoach to get to and from the airport. If I had a choice I would definitely use a train which has far fewer stops and does not have to wait in traffic and takes a circuitous route.

The metro will be great for those who can get it direct to the airport. Lets see, if you live along the route of St Stephens Green to Swords then your on to a winner. Just wait for your metro and you'll be in the airport in a jiffy.

If you don't live along that metro line then you've to rely on a multitude of LUAS, DART, Suburban Train or Buses to get to the metro line and hope it all ties in. All this while juggling your children and lugage.

If the airport was going to provide such huge metro passenger numbers why don't the goverment sanction 5 km of DART track to link to the new Grange Road Station in Baldoyle to the airport. They'd have it up and running in a year and the land is available, down the side of the M50 and then R32. You see thats something they could easily deliver on in a short time, somthing they would have to deliver on before the next election!

As for the metro... I wouldn't just put the car in the Buy and Sell yet.

Sarsfield

He's just an argumentative SOB. He'll say anything to get some airtime.

Apparently, he's actually offered to pay for a Shannon rail link himself!

http://www.utvlive.com/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=66712&pt=n

Please ignore the mans rantings.

And on the general topic, this is not a metro to the airport. It's a transport network with the airport as one stop on that network. It would be insane to not include the airport on a transport network, would it not?

dowlingm

O'Leary sells Stansted Express tickets...

netwhizkid

This man is quite frankly the biggest w*n*er on earth. He only wants a race to the bottom and i would love to see Ryanair going bankrupt, I know they have done a lot for reducing fares and i even raised the case for them flying to the USA but never again. He embodies everything that greed and capitalism stands for.

bk

Bluetonic wrote:

The metro will be great for those who can get it direct to the airport. Lets see, if you live along the route of St Stephens Green to Swords then your on to a winner. Just wait for your metro and you'll be in the airport in a jiffy.

Don't forget anybody living on the Metro West line (Blanchardstown, Lucan, Liffey Valley, Tallaght, etc.) will also be able to go to the airport (probably with one change).

That is a very large part of the population of Dublin.

Calina

enterprise wrote:

Had to get this off my chest! Anybody see the comments O'Leary made yesterday about the metro to the airport. Said something along the lines of its a waste of money and it would be better spent in building more lanes on the M50! What planet is this man on?

From now on I will be taking my business elsewhere and certainly won't be using "Riotair" again!

The man is on that planet most valued by many people with power and influence at the moment - the one where short term profit is of paramount importance and the future is someone else's problem. He's not alone. Collectively we value massive short term profit more than long term viability.

It's not wrong to say that the M50 needs an extra lane in both directions and that the exits at J6 and J7 really need to be redesigned. But it is ludicrous to suggest that the city does not need a viable and well thought out light rail system which includes the airport. The world does not revolve around getting passengers onto Ryanair planes but this is something that Michael O'Leary does not appear to be able to comprehend.

murphaph

HelterSkelter wrote:

Swords is an after thought, I doubt we'll ever see it.

Hmm, I dunno. The Swords bit is above ground, so it'll be one of the cheaper parts to construct.

FinoBlad

enterprise wrote:

What planet is this man on?

Hes just very clever, by attacking the metro he's obvioulsy not going to be expected to follow the 3 developers footing the bill for a new Luas spur to West Dublin [ €36m ]

I mean getting in and out of the airport cheaply will increase his business, how can he criticise it , sounds fishy :rolleyes:

Should be a change in that law so all Ryanair cancellations have to hand over the tax/charges to the T21 fund....he'd love that

cyclopath2001

FinoBlad wrote:

I mean getting in and out of the airport cheaply will increase his business, how can he criticise it , sounds fishy :rolleyes:

Does'nt RyanAir make more money when people miss their flights than when they catch them? They get to keep the ticket price and the tax and they can sell the vacant seats at premium-rate to people who missed earlier flights.

Why would RyanAir have any interest in improving the reliability of transport links?

robinph

cyclopath2001 wrote:

Does'nt RyanAir make more money when people miss their flights than when they catch them? They get to keep the ticket price and the tax and they can sell the vacant seats at premium-rate to people who missed earlier flights.

Why would RyanAir have any interest in improving the reliability of transport links?

They'd be hard pushed to sell off the flights that get missed though seeing as they will only find out that they have an empty seat 40 minutes before the planes due to take off. It would be nice if I could get back the tax for all the flights that I've booked with them and never used, I think its only four flights I've missed this year, but the flights I have used still work out cheaper than anyone else even including the lost tax so I'm not too bothered.

enterprise

FinoBlad wrote:

Should be a change in that law so all Ryanair cancellations have to hand over the tax/charges to the T21 fund....he'd love that

Great Idea!

Just to get back to an earlier point. Im heading away in a few weeks to a destination served both by Aer Lingus and Riotair (different airports however). Once taxes and all the other stuff was included the price difference between the more more expensive Aer Lingus and the cheaper Riotair was miminal, €5.00 at best if I recall correctly. €5.00 for a better service with Aer Lingus, I'll take that anyday of the week please.

Metrobest

I can't understand O'Leary's point. I'm one of his most devoted admirers but let me tell you I think this is one PR stunt too much. A few years ago he was quoted as saying that Dublin airport didn't need a rail link, but if a rail line happened to serve Swords and other new towns, God Speeds.

Micheal, I've got news. The line WILL serve Swords and all the new development taking place in that town. The airport - your base - is the biggest employer in North Dublin; most of your staff will use the metro to get to work every day. The passengers you are trying to lure from CIE on your new Cork route will adore the comforable 17 minute journey into the south city centre by metro. You should be cracking open the (Aldi) champagne as this metro is going to boost traffic through Dublin Airport massively. And there'll be less cars in the taxi lanes you use to get from your Kildare home to the Delayport!

FinoBlad

O'Leary just likes the sound of his own voice.

Dont care how much Aer Lingus is, I'd never fly with WhineAir, never, not even for free.

Superman

he' is a pain alright but he can get me close enought to where I want to go on hol's so he gets kudos for that!

Personalli i think they should scrap the dublin airport and buid a new shiny internatinal one in louth and link it up with the train going NI, It would bring job's and stuff to the area and i'm sure it would turn out better (after budget overruns!) as it would be a clean slate to start off with!

BrianD

enterprise wrote:

Had to get this off my chest! Anybody see the comments O'Leary made yesterday about the metro to the airport. Said something along the lines of its a waste of money and it would be better spent in building more lanes on the M50! What planet is this man on?

From now on I will be taking my business elsewhere and certainly won't be using "Riotair" again!

`

For once I agree with the guy. Airport metro is a prestige and not a practical project. He is right in saying that 80% of people who travel to the airport will not use it. The reasons are pretty obvious. Even less will use it if it is not linked to a mainline rail line (given that Dublin is also a national airport). Therefore it will fail under the current plan if the interconnector is not built first. FF have been selling the airport metro as it is a cure all to all Dublin's transport issues. Wrong as usual. Unfortunately the planning mess in north County Dublin has made a metro link even less viable than before. In any case, Swords neeeds to be the target and if the airport is served on route that's a bonus.

gjim

Try living in a city not served by Ryanair (or served by only a single Ryanair route) and you'll soon develop an appreciation for Ryanair. Really, go and try to live for six months or a year in a regional UK or European city which is only served by a traditional national airline for a while. Flying for a weekend to another city will still cost you 200-500 quid. It's great - :rolleyes: - you get a free cup of nasty coffee with a smile the one time a year you can take a trip abroad.

Maybe if you only fly once or twice a year, the cup of coffee might seem really important to you especially if you still fondly imagine that traveling by air should entitle you to an exclusive jet-set concorde-type experience and being treated like James Bond by lowly service staff. The reality it that it's like getting a bus and if you expect to be treated like a billionaire, pay 800 for a business class trip to Paris but don't begrudge the rest of us who are happy to pay Ryanair 29 euro for a trip to Toulouse. And no, I don't expect deferential treatment from the staff and no I don't get indignant when O'Leary rants on about something or other; I don't care what he thinks or says - I'm just happy that I've been able to travel to pretty much every country in Europe for practically nothing over the last 10 years.

Ryanair is one of the biggest airlines in Europe and is probably the most successful indigenous Irish company ever. I have no sympathy for the snobs who are unhappy that air travel has become available to everyone. The people who rant about Ryanair are still completely free to pay 500 quid for expensive tickets like they could in the old days. I dunno why they feel impelled to lecture to the rest of us who are happy to take our chances with a 10 euro ticket that we are being abused or exploited.

Finally, if you think that Ryanair represents the lowest common denominator of air travel, you simply haven't flown that much. Haven flown hundreds of times around Europe for work, my experience has been that Ryanair are very slightly more reliable than the respectable names like Aer Lingus, BA, BM, Lufthansa or Swiss Air for example.

And yes there is an element of vanity project to the billions to be spent on an Airport metro when they could have sanctioned a heavy rail link for 400m which would bring everyone from the Airport to pretty much any rail station in the country with a single change of train.