Ryanair Flight Attendants like you’ve never seen them before

by Martha Edwards on

Hey guys, ever have fantasies involving naughty stewardesses? Here’s something to add to your Christmas wish list: The flight attendants of infamous low-cost European airline Ryanair have shed their usual blue uniforms in favour of something skimpier in a new promotional item for the airline — they’re posing in teeny tiny bikinis for a new calendar, which will be sold on Ryanair flights for £5. This photo is of Miss January, in case you’re curious.

The proceeds from the sales of The Girls of Ryanair Calendar 2008 will be going to a good cause — Angel Quest is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping special needs kids. And for a limited time, you can order yours online by clicking here.

Check out this article for more sneak previews.

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“Ego Air” to Take to Inflated Skies?

by Catherine Bodry on

Ryanair’s chief Michael O’Leary is considering budget transatlantic flights, but says he would create a new airline to run them. Name options include “something sexy like O’Leary Air or Ego Air,” he told a news conference to promote Ryanair’s latest flight deals.

All he needs is a fleet of new longhaul aircraft, which he’s going to hold off on purchasing. Aircraft prices are currently at a peak, but they can fall by as much as 30 – 40% in a typical cycle. And like other budget airlines, there will not be first class; about 80% of the seats would be economy with a service for business travellers at the front. Furthermore, the airline would serve secondary airports, as does Ryanair.

No talk of fare prices, but I’m certainly in for a cheap(er) transatlantic crossing. Now if I could only convince a budget airline to fly Anchorage – Shanghai…. Any takers?

[via USA Today]

Ultra Cheap Airfares May Be A Thing Of The Past in Europe

by Martha Edwards on

Those 1P (or better yet — FREE!) airfares you can find in England aboard Ryanair or some similar budget carrier sure are exciting after the exorbitant prices we’ve been paying ever since Air Travel became an industry. But they’re a bit deceptive, don’t you think? You don’t ever actually pay 1p. For example, I booked a flight for ???20 and when all was said and done, it ended up being ???60. And that’s before any excess baggage surcharges.

The Office of Fair Trading thinks these ultra-low prices are deceptive too, and they’ve ordered airlines to start being more upfront about their pricing. This means they’ll have to start padding their prices with the cost of non-optional fixed extras like fuel surcharges and air passenger taxes. And if they don’t comply, they’ll find themselves in court.

In all honesty, I don’t mind the low-low air fares, even if it is shady marketing. At least it makes me feel like I’m getting a deal, even if It’s only for the few precious moments before I click that dreaded ‘Calculate’ button.

BING-DING: RyanAir’s Obvious Southwest Rip-Off Even More Obvious

by Justin Glow on

Last month we reported on RyanAir‘s cheap airfare notification program called BING! that is strikingly similar to Southwest Airlines own DING! program. A reader pointed us to an even more glaring rip-off from Ryanair’s FAQ, which was cribbed directly from Southwest’s. Someone did a search-and-replace (s/DING!/BING!), but even so, both companies have nearly-identical FAQs. Have a look:

Could RyanAir be this dumb? I certainly don’t think so. My guess is the company who developed Southwest’s DING! program also wrote the FAQ, and RyanAir commissioned the same company to build their cheap airfare notification system. Even so, you’d think they’d have the brains to spend a few hours making it look like they didn’t completely rip-off another company verbatim. Screen shots after the jump.

Southwest Airlines:

Ryanair:

BING-DING: Ryanair’s Obvious Southwest Rip-off

by Justin Glow on

I’m sure most of you have heard of Southwest Airlines‘s cheap airfare notification system called DING! It’s a little program you download that sits in your taskbar and alerts you with Southwest’s famous in-flight *DING!* when a low fare pops up.

European carrier Ryanair recently developed their own program, and it’s quite obvious they did very little brainstorming when coming up with a name. Come on, BING? They changed one letter! I honestly can’t imagine why they’d call it BING, knowing that Southwest has one called DING. What’s going on?

[via Cranky Flier]