OT: Ryanair avionics
 

This is way off topic but I can't find the information elsewhere (and don't know where to look, and I am not a member of anet, where this info could perhaps be found). So, if someone knows, or can direct me to the right source I would be appreciative: Does anyone know whether Ryanair 737's are equipped for cat III landings? Someone has told me that they are not, but I find that surprising.

PPRuNe might be the place to ask. There is a "spotters corners" for non-professional flyers to ask questions. (I'm assuming you're not a pilot. If you are, there are other forums there you can post on.)

www.pprune.org/forums/index.php

Thanks. I'll give that a try. And yes, you are very right that I am not a pilot.

Without knowing right off the bat. I would bet that Ryanair is not Cat III. It is very expensive to maintain the equipment and to keep the crew trained. I would be willing to bet they are only Cat I approved

Even if Ryanair were Cat III equipped, which I doubt, they have to fly into airports that are Cat III equipped. Stanstead is not so equipped, so a big part of their system would be cut off.

I would be very surprised if a carrier that specialized in secondary airports would have the need to absorb the costs of the avionics and the ongoing certification costs for the crews.

DF

I thought so too, but a quick look at the AIS airport database showed that all 4 London airports are Cat III ...

Having said that, even if FR's aircraft have CAT III avionics, it is, indeed, unlikely that FR's pilots would hold the necessary certifications.

There are clearly a few things I need to learn about Cat III operations--thanks for the replies. Somone on another forum is quite adamant that Ryanair are evil because they cannot fly in Cat III conditions. My response was that it did not matter all that much because they flew into many secondary airports, so they probably aren't prone to hugely more delays or cancelations than other airlines. It is interesting how many people love or absolutely hate this airline, but I am never particularly amused by getting involved in those kinds of discussions...:(

This thread has no connection to AC/AE or Canadiana, as such, I'm going to move it to the home where you are most likely to get an answer. It doesn't really fit here either, unless Ryan Air has a FF program, but AC is certainly not the right place.

Simon