Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair Holdings, has said in an interview with the newspaper The Telegraph that he would consider launching a package holiday arm to rival that of low-cost rival easyJet.
“I wouldn’t rule out setting up a holidays division. The holiday product is probably a reasonable way of charging higher fares and yields and for wrapping it into a package,” he told the daily.
However, he would only review the situation once Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has squeezed as much growth as possible out of the ongoing growth of the ULCC’s fleet. The new Boeing aircraft will be sufficient for it to increase its traffic aggressively without it having to depart from its existing model, which will take some years.
Ryanair and its subsidiaries Lauda, Buzz (Poland), and Ryanair UK operate a fleet of 590 aircraft: 167 B737-8-200s, 395 B737-800s, one B737-700, and twenty-seven A320-200s, with 193 more on order: 150 B737-10s and forty-three B737-8-200s.
Competitor easyJet set up its holiday division five years ago, becoming a major success for the company with forecasts of pre-tax profit to be over GBP180 million pounds (USD237 million) in 2024.
