Ryanair has announced drama tic price cuts on flights to and from Britain, offering passengers one- way flights for £19.99. The airline also said yesterday that Civil Aviation Authority figures for the key Dublin-London route showed Ryanair was more punctual than any of its rivals. However, Aer Lingus rejected has this, saying Ryanair's announcement was "clearly designed to mislead".
Ryanair is introducing the one-way £19.99 fare on all its British routes, except London-Gatwick. This compares with £38 for a single ship/rail ticket from Dublin- Holyhead-Euston for £38 and £39 for a return trip (Stena Sealink). A one-way ticket for foot passengers from Dublin to Holyhead is £27.
The airline said the fare was the lowest ever offered to passengers travelling between Ireland and Britain and would be available from Thursday on a one-way basis.
Ryanair's commercial director Mr Michael Cawley said in a statement that the fare should be compared with the average return fare of £200, which was available in 1986, before the arrival of the airline.
"It underlines Ryanair's ongoing commitment to provide low fares, efficient and on-time services, and demonstrates the need to ensure that there should be competition for the provision of a second terminal at Dublin Airport in 1999 and beyond," he said.
Aer Lingus said the Civil Aviation Authority's punctuality statistics for 1997 showed it was more punctual than Ryanair on routes from Dublin to Stansted, Birmingham and Manchester. On the Heathrow route, where Aer Lingus competed with British Midland, Aer Lingus's performance was 72.3 per cent, compared to British Midland's 65.9 per cent.
"It is a reflection of the different values placed on good punctuality that Ryanair measure as `on-time' flights those departing within one hour," said a statement. On routes such as Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, Aer Lingus gained market share and increased load factors consistently since January 1997, it said.
Aer Lingus fares to Britain start at £99 for two people (£49.50 per person) and no charge is made for credit-card transactions. "This latest Ryanair fare costs at minimum £40 return (provided seats are available at the £19.99 rate), plus credit-card charges and customers must decide for themselves the level of customer service offered," said the Aer Lingus statement.