Free flights from Ryanair

In a typically provocative gesture, Ryanair has announced the release of one million free flights if Ireland beat England in the 6 Nations rugby match due to be played at Croke Park in Ireland on Saturday 24th February.

The offer - 1,000,000 FREE FLIGHTS WHEN ENGLAND CHOKE AT CROKE - was announced yesterday by Peter Sherrard of Europe's most successful (and loudest!) lowcost airline. He said that the Ryanair wanted to give Irish fans the opportunity to celebrate by flying free of charge to England so that they could boast about the victory and to give English fans the chance to avoid the humiliation of television replays by flying free of charge out of the country.

Sherrard expressed the airline's confidence that the Irish team would win their 4th consecutive victory against England this weekend. If they do then Ryanair will issue the million free tickets on the morning of Monday 25th February and they will be sold on a first come first served basis. The tickets available will be one way and the offer excludes taxes and charges.

Easyjet's CEO interviewed by El País

Last Thursday Easyjet, one of Europe’s largest Low cost airlines, opened its new base in Madrid and today El País publishes an interview with Andrew Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of the company who has managed to increase Easyjet’s profits by 56% in his first year as CEO.

In the interview, when asked whether Eastjet was going to include taxes and handling costs in its advertised prices, as recommended by the European Commission, Andrew Harrison said that all Easyjet clients had the chance to see the final price before reserving their tickets on the internet. He also said that taxes raised prices considerably and that it was important for Easyjet clients to see the cost of flights and taxes separately.

He said that the biggest difference between Easyjet, Europe’s fourth largest airline, and other traditional airlines was his company’s efficiency. He said that the company had invested a lot in new planes and that it used modern technology to cut costs and that it was a very focussed business.

In fact Eastjet will receive its 100th new Airbus this April and has ordered another 100 airbus to be delivered by 2010.

Possible merger of Easyjet with other lowcost airlines.

When asked about plans to merge with other airlines Andrew Harrison told El País that the company’s priority was what was best for its clients although he could not rule out mergers in the future. He said that in five years time the company would be twice as big, something which in his opinion would benefit both Easyjet clients and shareholders.

He said that the company operated 6% of short haul flights within Europe and that this would increase to 10% within five years.

Online seat selection with Jet2.com

Jet2 announces online seat selection on all its flights.

According to a press release sent out today, the lowcost airline Jet2.com has launched two new online perks for passengers:

• Online Seat Selection for all Jet2.com flights and
• Online Check-in on all routes from the UK & Amsterdam.

meaning that travellers can choose a seat and check-in from the comfort of their own home or workplace. The new system is called Stress-Less.

Online seat selection to Spain
This service is available on all flights. Jet2 operates cheap flights to the following Spanish destinations: Alicante, Almería, Barcelona, Ibiza, Malaga, Menorca, Murcia, Palma, Tenerife and Valencia. Holiday-makers flying to and from these airports can now choose their seat at any time - during online reservation or up to 5 hours before departure. Obviously the earlier the seat is chosen, the more likely passengers are to get the best seats. Online seat selection will be particularly useful for large groups and families wishing to sit together.

Online check-in on flights to Spain

Online check-in is also available for people with a valid EU pasaport on flights to the above destinations, but only on outbound flights from the UK. Online check in can be carried out 28 days or less before departure and closes 5 hours before the flight is due to leave. It is best to wait until the day before the flight is due since name and date changes are not possible once passengers have completed online check-in

Related: Online check in with low cost airlines