Ryanair reports record online ticket sales

Airline Industry Information, Sept 25, 2000

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Ryanair, an Irish carrier, has indicated that it is selling more then four in five tickets directly on the Internet and over the telephone.

The two sales channels have apparently driven the airline`s cheap airfares even lower and Ryanair`s CEO Michael O`Leary has indicated that he expected passengers numbers to boom by one third above 1999`s levels due to the popularity of online sales and the addition of ten new routes.

Ryanair apparently sold a record 83% of all seats directly online through Ryanair.com and Ryanair Direct during August, which is an increase of 40% on 1999 figures.

Passengers numbers for the carrier reached 5.6m in 1999, an increase of 13%, and are expected to rise to 7m in 2000-2001 according to PA News.

O`Leary also said during the shareholders` annual general meeting that the Irish government had caused stagnation in traffic between the UK and Ireland, stating, `At our home base in Dublin Airport, the government-owned airport monopoly has introduced dramatic price increases, delivered awful facilities and traffic has stagnated as a result.`

O`Leary has proposed to fund and construct a new low-cost airport terminal in Dublin in order to improve competition and expand the carrier`s services. O`Leary also indicated that Ryanair was currently in talks with some 25 airports across Europe about new routes for 2001.

Finally, O`Leary stated that Ryanair would be purchasing three new Boeing 727-800 aircraft that will be delivered in 2002.

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