Getting into the low-cost long-haul market, as have Eurowings (Lufthansa’s subsidiary), is not the priority of Ryanair. At a press conference on 29 September in Paris, the "big boss" of the Irish company stated they wanted to focus instead on the European short-haul market. With nearly 400 Boeing 737’s on order, and by offering a "helping hand" to the traditional airlines, the idea is to work more in tandem and synergistically with them.
Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair: "We have no partnerships in sight with smaller airlines like Air France, Lufthansa or International Airlines Group (British Airways & Iberia), but we are talking to those flag carriers about the possibility of us beginning to feed them, as we fly to more and more primary airports or hub airports. And I think that would be a model for the future. I think they are going to start talking to easyJet, to Ryanair and others about ‘‘will you feed our long-haul operations at our hubs’’, because that would help them to reduce their short-haul losses."
Ryanair has a wolf’s appetite. The biggest low-cost, last year in Europe, with 90 million passengers, targets 160 million by 2024. To get there, the Irish low-cost, launched 30 years ago, is taking on a new much wiser image. "I think in the past Ryanair was cheap and a bit nasty, now we are going to be cheap and very friendly and very caring to our customers", explains Michael O'Leary.
The presence of garish yellow on board the company’s Boeings will be significantly reduced. From January 2016, the new aircraft will have a much more sober cabin. As for the flight attendants’ uniforms, they will be hidden away in a closet somewhere. As early as December, the cabin crew will be wearing the outfits created by the young Irish designer, Emma Collopy seen here. The "Chelsea Blue" will be replaced by a more subtle "Royal Blue". As for the company’s distinctive yellow colour, it will be seen less and less.
