How Can Ryanair fill their Planes

As regular FR flyers.... you know alot of FR flights leave partially full, some shockingly 30% full.
Could you do things differently?

any ideas-

I think they should reduce the price of all usnsold seats that are still available before departure(low thrills stand-by @ home)... if the airline earn 1p 1c profit on any seat sold during this period ..it must be better than a empty seat at 36,000ft ..this will also improve figs for Q.4 plus others figures pax numbers etc and i will get more flights in

My 10kg hand luggage is packed and my redial finger is ready to call my taxi-cab firm ... !!Now where is that deal!!

Not sure it is quite that simple! Extra pax means more weight so we have to carry more fuel...

It's true though - I have had some truly shocking pax loads this week!

I think it does not work that way, as Ryanairs pricing strategy is in favour of charging the highest price at the moment of departure. that's how they make money. So, if you reduce the price on the day of departure all unflexible people (who are willing to pay the high price) will figure out to wait untill that very last moment and then buy cheap... It might only work on tourist routes, where an other sort of demand is existing....
So, no, nothing for Ryanair
And, on the other hand, if this idea would work, Ryanair shurely would have implemented it allready, right

Granted this will not be suitable for organised passengers they will have already booked,more for the opportunist waiting for that late late chance of getting a seat.

Nice idea but completely incompatible with the yield management system of fare structuring that ryanair's whole success is based on.
What would the incentive be to buy a cheap ticket months in advance or gamble on a mid price ticket in the fear it might go up if everyone knew fares would tumble on the day? Ryanair would go bust!
I seem to remember the now long defunct Definate having a fixed pricing structure with cheap on the day fares and they didn't last long

Most of the flights I've flown with on ryanair have been at least 90% full. Having already trained as cabin crew if the load is 129 or less the cabin crew block off rows 3 to 8 and last 4 rows (tray tables fixed). And if the load is 177 or less then it is rows 3 and 4 (purely for balance reasons since there are no assigned seat numbers)

So the only way to be sure whether it is less than 129 passengers (unless clearly obvious), it is to notice the blocked rows, particularly the last 4 rows.

While an inbound/outbound flight might appear half full or below the usual 180+ capacity, you must remember that ryanair carry passengers on both sectors. Inbound to the airport and outbound from it, ryanair would prefer to carry 189 passengers on both sectors but it is still making money collecting passengers to/from destination.
On some days you will get a 50% load and on others a 90%, if that route is proving unsuccessfull then ryanair will reduce the frequency. If it continues then it will close that route at that particular season, and then replace it with a new route and experiment with it.


Ryanair also makes some of it's revenue in inflight purchases, and the more passengers they have the easier it is for the airline to reduce the airport taxes and charges. Which is why in the majority of their fares it is either free, reduced or half price. The more pax thay have the easier it is to split the airport/fuel/salary bill and reduce the overall price of the fare.
But the airline is unlikely to make any more money filling the lasts seats at a reduced price, often late departures are for those who need to get somewhere and are willing to pay for it. Often 1 high fare is equal to perhaps 8 reduced fare seats, and 8 high fares are equal to much much more but with less take off weight and less fuel.
Ryanair sells their seats cheap (offer fares), reduces the airports taxes and charges, and then sells the last remaining seats near to departure at a higher fare.

Rich00cap wrote:
I seem to remember the now long defunct Definate having a fixed pricing structure with cheap on the day fares and they didn't last long

Sorry, wrote this on my phone and predictive text has let me down! Definate should have been Debonair. Thought I should clear that up...

How Can Ryanair fill their Planes
My point may not be practical it was a thread starter right or wrong,
Do any have any ideas?
Unfortunately alot of planes fly routes 30% full ive been on several, i was not saying all flights are 30 % full.

It was a good discussion though!

Rich00cap wrote:Nice idea but completely incompatible with the yield management system of fare structuring that ryanair's whole success is based on.
What would the incentive be to buy a cheap ticket months in advance or gamble on a mid price ticket in the fear it might go up if everyone knew fares would tumble on the day? Ryanair would go bust!
I seem to remember the now long defunct Definate having a fixed pricing structure with cheap on the day fares and they didn't last long

To be fair if you purchase a ticket months in advance the ticket you buy may not be the cheapest, many purchase tickets and then find a week later prices for the same route have dropped or can even increase - but i would say any FR price is very compatible with any other carrier or even better.
Advanced ticket buyers buy in advance for a reason,they need flights at a particular date/time so the very same customers would not gamble and buy at the last minute and i'm sure these very same passengers make up the biggest % of flyers todate..
If Ryanair decided to sell off remaining seats on random flights at a certain time for any route hours before a flight is due to depart and only made a minimul % on any seat or broke even on any seat that would normally be empty, i would have thought this would be better for the inflight shop and also Ryanair pax figs would increase. Now i know it is not possible you good people have spoken.

Have you any ideas?

Rich00cap wrote:It was a good discussion though!

yes...I cannot remember a discussion in a long time hence

i like the idea of Germanwings. They offer "blind booking", it means you book return flights from an airport you can choose (only bases), but you don't know what the destination will be. so, the carrier can put you on flights with space on it. seems for me all right the idea. price is around 40€ return trip.

"Advanced ticket buyers buy in advance for a reason,they need flights at a particular date/time so the very same customers would not gamble" - Well it's more or less the other way round. Normaly people are more flexible the longer the time until the departure is. Puuh, could anyone understand?

Just to perpetuate this discussion in my humble opinion it would be disastrous for ryanair's profit if they even gave passengers a hint of suggestion that bottom price tickets might be available at the airport at the last minute.
I take your point that sometime fares go down after you've booked them but the chances are they won't and if you're happy with the price when you see it you take it, with the balance of probability that that is the best price you're likely to get.
Another point with the cheap advance fares, how many tickets do they sell that people don't use? I have bought several £10 returns and for work reasons have not been able to travel. If this happens the airline keeps every penny and doesn't have to pay the tax to the Government.
At the end of the day early cheap purchases put guaranteed income in Ryanair's pockets which they can use to negotiate good deals for new aircraft etc, they wouldn't want to jeopardise this.
One thing that could be changed is the on the day fare, while it needs to be high to encourage early bookings, it is extortionately high at almost £200 one way I believe.

Gruenmann wrote:i like the idea of Germanwings. They offer "blind booking", it means you book return flights from an airport you can choose (only bases), but you don't know what the destination will be.D

I love this idea! I'd pay £35- £40 for a blind ticket. It would be great not knowing if you're gonna end up in Stockholm, Rome, Riga or Madrid!
Let's lobby Ryanair on this one, what a great revenue raiser it could be on slow days, especially for us all on here who just love to fly.

Yeah, nice... And your Destination is........ "Bydgoszcz"

Gruenmann wrote: Yeah, nice... And your Destination is........ "Bydgoszcz"

Probably a new route watch this space

great topic this one and good to see how other people see the booking system working.i work on a different principal although i would like to get flights as cheap as possible. i know what i have previously paid for my flights and when i am happy with the price as appears i book it. if it goes up i win if it goes down i am not too bothered as i am happy with the price i have selected. one other note although prices have appeared since december and i dont fly till the end of july i have booked as late as may and had good prices.(doncaster to girona)but will now be east midlands to girona

I was on FR 9283 (FARO - STANSTED) on the 18th Feb and our load according to what I heard from the number 4 was 63.
I was surprised because unusually that flight was originally on offer in january for £3 one way (which is why I was on that route).
Faro is a popular route in all seasons, and more popular when a fare of £50 is sold at £3 one way.