News: Ryanair re-launching London to Brussels flights
Flights > News > # 1123 (14/12/2006)
Ryanair is re-launching flights from London to Brussels next summer, two and a half years after axing the route in protest over higher charges at Charleroi (also known as Brussels South) airport.
The no-frills carrier will operate four flights a week between Stansted and Charleroi from June 1 next year.
Ryanair is increasing the frequencies on three routes from the UK to Ireland. There will be four rather than three flights a week from Edinburgh and Manchester to Shannon from March 28, and there will be seven flights a week instead of four between Liverpool and Cork.
Meanwhile, Ryanair’s flights between Liverpool and Kerry face the chop on January 16, and the route between Newcastle and Oslo, will be axed on March 24.
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Considering that Ryanair used to operate up to four daily flights to Brussels from Stansted before their row with the EU over the deal they had with Charleroi airport, it does seem slightly odd that they have chosen to reinstate the route with just four flights each week.
Since Ryanair axed this route, Eurostar has gained even more market share between London and Brussels, partly due to the opening of the first phase of the channel tunnel rail link, which has knocked 20 minutes off journey times, but also because of the security chaos at airports during the summer. We don’t really think that Ryanair can compete with Eurostar on convenience or speed for journeys between the centre of London and the centre of Brussels, so are they trying to beat the train on price? This also looks unlikely, because even when Ryanair are giving flights away for a few pennies, the cost of getting to and from the airport at each end, together with all the additional hidden extras, not to mention the recently increased air passenger duty, make it very unlikely that passengers based in London will gain much of a saving by choosing to fly with Ryanair instead of taking Eurostar.
There is probably a much more simple explanation for Ryanair’s selection of this route. Our understanding is that these flights will be operated using aircraft based in Charleroi. Operating the short flight to London Stansted provides a useful filler, which saves Ryanair from having to find another new, untested destination. With these flights operating just four times each week, Ryanair should be able to maintain prices which will generate them much healthier profits than they might have otherwise got by operating these flights several times each day.
