Michael O’Leary, CEO of European discount leader Ryanair, says the airline industry’s looming recession will be long and painful … and that could be very good news for travelers.
With troubled carriers cutting routes and grounding planes, O’Leary plans to buy up to 60 widebody aircraft on the cheap, eventually creating a discount trans-Atlantic airline. He thinks he can charge as little as 10 euros for a one-way flight, though the total price would rise significantly once taxes and government charges are added on — not to mention fees for checked bags, assigned seats, peanuts, water, and toilet privileges. (Not really on that last one. Not yet, anyway.)
Under O’Leary’s plan the new airline — totally separate from Ryanair — would fly from European cities such as London, Dublin, Milan, Frankfurt, Rome and Barcelona to American cities including New York, Los Angeles and Denver.
In U.S. dollar terms, the base price of a ticket from London to New York would work out to about 1/3 of 1 cent per mile. Needless to say those fares won’t pay any commission, but they would work wonders to get people flying again.
London Telegraph, Ryanair reveals cut-price transatlantic plans
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