A new low fare no frills airline serving Ireland and the United States is being planned. The company will be called Aerfare and $200 million is being sought to launch it. Fares will be 30% to 50% cheaper than currently offered.
O'Leary said: "I've been asked if I were Minister for Finance, what I would do to reduce costs by €4bn. I wouldn't reduce them by €4bn. I'd reduce them by €20bn in one year. I would eliminate 20 per cent of the civil service by simple means of requiring them all to work a minimum of 40 hours a week from Monday to Friday, and take 20 days' holidays a year like everybody else in the bloody real world. And if you don't like it, leave."
Ryanair has flown straight into a new media storm over its 2010 charity calendar which features its own scantily clad employees. The National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) has slammed the airline as "irredeemably old-fashioned" and accused it of a "serious lack of imagination."
Aer Lingus is expected to announce major changes on its Atlantic routes. An annoucement is expected this week and there is mounting speculation that the airline will scale back its New York Dublin service to one flight a night.
A big business effort is underway in Ireland to convince Irish people to back the same European treaty they rejected last year. Employers such as Intel and Ryanair have lined up to lobby Irish voters to say yes to the Lisbon treaty. They say that Ireland risks creating an even bigger economic crisis if voters say no.
Ryanair says it is planning a standing room only section on some of its flights. The airline's publicity-mad boss Michael O'Leary says it plans to offer free "seats" to people who will fly standing up. O'Leary said passengers would sit on bar stools with a waist-belt or just stand up for flights lasting less than 90 minutes.
Michael O'Leary, boss of Irish airline Ryanair, has said that swine flu would only affect "people in slums." Here are some other outrageous Michael O'Leary moments.
An eagerly-awaited live television confrontation between Aer Lingus chief Dermot Mannion and his opposite number at rival airline Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, was called off by RTE following intervention by the Irish Takeover Panel. Both men had confirmed they would appear on the current affairs show "Prime Time" on Tuesday but withdrew just hours before the scheduled screening after they were directed by the Takeover Panel not go ahead. The panel said in a letter to RTE that the direction was issued under 1997 legislation.
PRESIDENT Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Brian Cowen led a host of tributes to the life and political career of former Cabinet minister Seamus Brennan, who died on Wednesday, July 9, aged 60, at his home in Churchtown, Dublin.He had been fighting cancer for some time. While political colleagues were aware of the battle, most Irish people only learned of his illness when he said he wasn't making himself available for a position in Cowen's Cabinet reshuffle earlier this year.
Low-fares flier Ryanair has warned it could mark up a $95 million loss this year if oil prices stay at around $130 per barrel.The Irish airline said its profits fell by 85% in its first quarter this year as high oil prices almost doubled the fuel bill. Despite increasing passenger numbers by 19% to 15 million during the period, and boosting revenue by 12% to $1,223 million, profit slumped to $33 million from $219 million in the same period in 2007.