Aer Lingus blames RYR over discounting

The profitability of European airlines will be squeezed in coming months due to heavy discounting by Ryanair , its Irish rival Aer Lingus  said on Friday as it cut its profit forecast for the year.

Ryanair, which flies more international scheduled passengers than any other European airline, said last week it planned to introduce "aggressive" pricing to maintain volumes amid signs of weak demand in the autumn.
"Ryanair has opened the taps," Aer Lingus Chief Executive Christoph Mueller said, adding price cuts were being felt across Europe and with "significant intensity" in markets such as Italy and Poland.
"We are less affected than other carriers in Europe, but clearly the offering currently on the market on some of the Ryanair routes is below their own cost level," Mueller said. He said he believed Ryanair was selling tickets at up to 20 euros per passenger below cost on some routes.

A Ryanair spokesman said it "would not comment on the excuses of high-cost competitors."

Aer Lingus cut its profit forecast for the year by 13 percent, saying its profit for the full year would be around 60 million euros, down from a forecast of 69 million euros (£57.9 million) it made at the end of July.


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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/aer-lingus-says-ryanair-discounting-hit-eu-airlines-132749018--finance.html#Og2yUim

The number of passengers travelling with Aer Lingus fell in September as the airline began to feel the cost of ramped-up competition from Ryanair.
Numbers fell most markedly on short-haul routes, down 4.4pc to 881,000 people, while total numbers were down by 2.9pc to 989,000 in comparison with the same month last year.

Goodbody said that while some of the declines could be explained by the effect from the 2012 Olympics, the majority was more likely to be a result of Ryanair "opening the taps" and offering very competitive fares in the latter part of September.

Read more :
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/aer-lingus-suffers-passenger-slump-29635926.html