General Industry

Three New Ryanair Services Announced For Shannon Airport

By Dave Simpson
Three New Ryanair Services Announced For Shannon Airport

Three new Ryanair services have been announced for Shannon Airport.

In a statement published on its website, Shannon Airport said, "Holiday options from Shannon Airport are set for a welcome boost in the coming weeks as the airport launches three new Ryanair services to Fuerteventura, Birmingham and Budapest.

"Welcoming the commencement of the new air services Mary Considine, CEO, Shannon Group, which owns and manages Shannon Airport, said, 'This is another milestone moment in our efforts to rebuild our air services. We are delighted to be able to offer our airport customers these three new diverse destinations from Shannon.

"Whether it's a sun holiday to recharge, a cultural break or a shopping trip, the choice is there.

"'During the pandemic we have taken time to invest in new technology to make our passengers' journey through the airport even easier. For example, we’ve just begun operating our new €2.5 million state-of-the-art security screening system which Is halving the time our customers spend in the airport security screening area by making the removal of laptops and liquids from cabin bags a thing of the past. Combined with the latest technologically advanced security scanning equipment, it reduces touch points, and is making our passengers journey through security quicker and easier.

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"'We know that restoring connectivity and rebuilding our air services is hugely important for our customers and these three new popular destinations are welcome additions. We have a long way to go, but with 18 Ryanair services now available from Shannon, we are on the right path,' said Ms Considine.

"The Fuerteventura service will commence on the 31st October and operate weekly on Sundays. It will depart Shannon at 6.20am. A new twice weekly service to Birmingham will operate from the 1st November on Mondays and Fridays departing Shannon at 7.40am both days. The new Budapest service operating twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays from the 3rd November will depart Shannon at 5.25pm and 7.45pm respectively. A new Turin service will commence weekly from December.

"These flights are part of a series of new services announced by Ryanair for their winter season which included services to Gran Canaria, London Luton and Edinburgh which are already operating."

Ryanair Launches Electric Handling In 11 European Airports

In other Ryanair news, Ryanair stated on corporate.ryanair.com, "Ryanair, Europe's no. 1 airline, has today (27 Oct) launched electric handling at eleven major European airports - Alicante, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Seville, Santiago, Valencia, Amsterdam Schipol, Gothenburg-Landvetter and Oslo - enabling zero emission turnarounds. These latest industry-leading developments represent a significant investment in sustainable operations, boost Ryanair's commitment to reducing its environmental footprint and further pave the way to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

"Azul Handling, Ryanair's handling partner in Spain and Portugal, will now be the first carbon neutral handling company in Spain - thanks to a €7.3m investment into e-Quipment, enabling the airline to offer zero emission turnarounds at these eight major Spanish locations. This leads to emission savings of 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

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"As well as its work in Spain, Ryanair's turnarounds will turn fully electric at Amsterdam Schipol, Gothenburg-Landvetter and Oslo Airport, through a partnership with Menzies Aviation. These turnarounds have been made possible through the airport’s provision of changing infrastructure necessary for electric equipment.

"Ryanair understands that aviation has a leading role to play in tackling climate change and is placing an increased emphasis on mitigating how its business impacts the environment. The airline's recent $22bn investment in new aircraft will help lower its fuel consumption by approx. 16% on a per-seat basis, reduce noise by 40% and these aircraft will carry 4% more passengers. Ryanair is focused on partnering with industry leaders, such as Azul and Menzies Aviation who share its sustainability goals and are supporting Ryanair to align with the Paris Agreement.

"Ryanair's Director of Sustainability, Thomas Fowler, said, 'We are delighted to announce this industry-leading green initiative which represents Ryanair's commitment to reducing its emissions. The launch of electric handling at 11 of our European airports is a major step in Ryanair's pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.

"'The turnaround process incorporates a number of steps and pieces of electric equipment - including electric baggage tractor, electric baggage belt loader, passenger steps, electric ground power, and electric push back tractor which assists the aircraft with exiting the aircraft parking position - and this process is now carried out emission-free at these 11 locations.

"'At Ryanair, we have committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and reducing CO2 emissions per passenger/km by 10% by 2030. That is why we have invested $22bn in new aircraft that will help us reduce our fuel consumption by approx. 16% on a per-seat basis.

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"'We can now offer zero emissions turnarounds at each of those 11 locations when previously, a standard turnaround could emit up to 52kg of CO2. Our partnerships with industry leaders such as Azul and Menzies Aviation are vital to us in achieving our goal of being net carbon neutral by 2050.'"

Ryanair Launches Suite Of Digital Customer Improvements

Additionally, in a separate statement published on corporate.ryanair.com, Ryanair said, "Ryanair, Europe's No.1 airline, today (28th Oct) launched a suite of digital customer improvements to further improve customer service and provide easy access to all flight info when customers most need it.

"Ryanair, which already delivers the lowest fares, best on-time performance, and lowest carbon emissions, is now making radical improvements to its customer service. These initiatives are a direct result of feedback from Ryanair's first Customer Panel meeting in Sep. By working with customers, Ryanair can continually improve customer service as it grows to 225m guests p.a. by 2026.

"New Customer Improvements:

"'Day of Travel' App: ·       "Live videos & webcasts from Ryanair’s ops centre during major disruptions.

·       "Live updates on new departure times/re-routings during disruptions.

·       "Live updates on airport, terminal, flight and gate information via the app.

·       "Easy app access to boarding passes, certs and other travel docs.

 

"Digital Self-Service Hub: ·       "Self-serve online without contacting Customer Service team.

·       "Improved Chat, FAQs, and new self-help videos.

·       "Track updates on guest claims and interactions with Customer Service.

 

"myRyanair Wallet:

 

·       "Quick access to book flights using wallet balance.

·       "Real time status updates on refunds with one click access.

·       "Updated myRyanair account allowing storage of all travel docs in one place.

 

"Refund Commitment:

 

·       "Refund requests paid to original form of payment within 5 working days.

·       "Confirmation and access to refunds in myRyanair within 24 hours of request.

 

"Customer Panel: ·       "Dedicated 6-person customer advisory panel, meets twice p.a.

·       "In-depth feedback to continually drive customer improvements.

·       "Recommendations for future customer-led initiatives.

 

"Ryanair's Director of Marketing, Dara Brady, said, 'We are pleased to launch these innovative customer improvements which will enhance the travel experience of our guests. Driven by customer panel input, these improvements allow our guests to self-serve online when changing flight dates or passengers' names, updating contact info or adding bags/seats. For customers who need extra assistance they can now track their interactions with Ryanair across calls/email/chat/social and receive live status updates online.

"'Ryanair delivers the best customer service with the lowest fares and best on time performance and now our new Day of Travel Assistant (within the Ryanair app) will make travel easier and hassle free with live updates on departure times, terminals and specific gate info for boarding. In the small number of cases where we suffer disruption, customers will receive regular updates including live video and webcasts from our Ops Centre, ensuring they are kept as up to date as possible with what’s happening and how their disruption will be resolved. In rare cases of cancellations, customers who request a refund will now get confirmation and access to it within 24hrs in myRyanair and will be refunded to the original form of payment within 5 working days.

"Our first ever Customer Panel meeting in Sep was instrumental in driving these service improvements and we look forward to receiving further panel feedback at our 2nd meeting in early 2022, to help us develop more ways to improve our customers experience while we lower airfares post-COVID and grow to carry 225m passengers p.a.'"

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