Ryanair says only five European carriers will survive - Dublin Airport News

Airport news for Dublin on 29/09/2008.

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The deputy chief executive of the Irish carrier, Howard Millar, when speaking at an airline conference in London said that there were only five European airlines with the financial strength to survive the rocky road ahead for the industry.

Millar suggested that budget carriers easyJet and Ryanair would make it through the tough times, and a Ryanair spokesman later added that the other three airlines being referred to were British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM.

In his remarks, Ryanair’s exec also noted that due to the economic conditions across Europe further consolidation of airlines is inevitable, as are reductions in workforce and a decline in the number of flights that air travellers will have to choose from.

There is good news in all this for holiday travellers, Millar continued: “People are more price sensitive and carriers will struggle to fill their seats unless they reduce fares.”

Ryanair is maintaining a pessimistic outlook for its full-year financial performance, although it is hoping to break even, which is an improvement over its remarks in July – at the oil price peak – when it projected that it would experience its first fiscal year loss since 1989.

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