Ryanair Israel
 

See: http://www.independent.ie/business/i...-30532981.html

That's quite a venture he's planning.

Would certainly force UP to reexamine their pricing structure.

And not a surprising statement considering how U2 has taken over the LCC scene in TLV, though his comment of "all over Israel" is quite telling.

That being said, I don't see this happening. It was said for some press, and it's a nice thought, but I doubt it pans out to more than just some Israeli flights.

:confused:
In any event, we're still waiting for the first FR flight, after all these years of hyperbole. I'm not saying it won't happen, but MOL is infamous for getting publicity.

They've been saying for years that they're going to fly to TLV - it's highly unlikely to happen though, and is usually said just to garner press attention

Hope it does happen, although I doubt I would fly them...

It's funny, but I have the same feeling. I really hope they start lots of flights to TLV - and I hope to fly them ZERO times

Exactly. It will force competitive pricing but I doubt I will ever fly with them. I would say never but you should never say never I guess...

I look forward to all the media reports about the outraged ultra-orthodox passengers when the Ryanair calendar is marketed in-flight...

And when the flight is scheduled to depart Friday afternoon but is delayed until after nightfall... maybe even until the wee hours of Saturday?

You'd think it would spur competitive pricing but easyjet has shown it doesn't always work. I'm going to London in November - easyjet is $265, BA is $735 and LY is $818. Possibly the biggest "no brainer" ticket decision ever and why I continue to love easyjet from TLV and will definitely fly Ryanair if they start flying here.

Fair point, and likely, the price war initiated by FR would mostly affect U2.
But in the long run, I do expect changes.

BA and LY assume people will still pay higher fares for "all-inclusive" fares and/or "benefits" such as status, club, etc. Which is why I don't believe BA or LY will ever be as cheap as U2. But the market remains volatile, with U2 every so often adding more flights.

Eventually, things will settle at an equilibrium, with the legacies forced to bring down fares as more and more people head to U2. FR may suck as an airline, but they have a track record of bringing down prices (similar to B6 and WN do in America)

The "Israeli" angle Ryanair are pursuing is interesting - I think part of the reason people fly LY is because it is "Israeli" if this was somehow "Ryanair Israel" then maybe people would get behind it more. Regarding competition, I also think that having more than 3 airlines flying a route leads to better pricing then just 3. Have you flown Ryanair, by the way? I have flown them twice in the last couple of years (MRS to BOD and STN to FKB) and found both flights to be just fine - better in many ways than AF, AZ and some of the US domestic flights. To a certain extent I prefer Ryanair to Easyjet as they allow a carryon + personal item vs. Easyjet that just allow a carryon.

I have never flown FR and as I understand, they are in essence the same as NK.
I don't plan on ever flying either (though honestly, if the fare were cheap enough and I had no need for checked bags or the like, I *might* consider flying and paying extra for exit row seats).

I don't mind EasyJet but I avoid Ryanair.
Terrible reputation, and I cannot stand the whole advertising in your face theme on-board their aircraft.

What Ryanair is attempting to do has already been done before. Back in the 1990's Tower Air, which was a New York based budget/low cost international airline, was EL AL's major competitor on non stop New York-Tel Aviv flights. All TLV flights on Tower Air had Israeli based crews thereby giving the airline an "Israeli" feel to it. I knew many people who flew Tower Air back in those days. All of them told me how horrible the airline was, however they continued flying it because Tower Air was significantly cheaper than EL AL (back then, for the most part, only EL AL and Tower flew multiple daily non-stops to Israel).

Consequently, the Israeli feel of this prospective Ryanair Israel venture will have little to do with it's success or lack thereof. It's the price per ticket and whether it can maintain low costs which will determine its success in the Israeli marketplace.