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Ryanair trouble reinforces no-frills image
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26 August 2008

Ryanair trouble reinforces no-frills image

Ryanair has just bludgeoned its way back into the media spotlight with a decision to cancel thousands of tickets purchased through third-party websites.

The budget airline argued that the move would help speed up its booking system, which was being slowed down by the screen-scraping techniques used by price comparison sites.

Ryanair also claimed that these sites levied unnecessary handling charges, meaning that customers could really only get the best deals by booking directly with the airline.

The decision, which sparked anger in the travel industry, is the latest dent in the reputation of a company already dubbed by disgruntled passengers as the world's least favourite airline.

But the company is more likely to see the bad publicity as another PR coup, as it seeks to grab the headlines yet again and reinforce its core message of the lowest prices, without any frills.

Ryanair's belligerent managing director Michael O'Leary has successfully kept up the carrier's high profile by upsetting the apple cart with his company's no-nonsense, take-it-or-leave-it approach.

And to great effect.

The company, which started out as a short-hop service from Waterford to London in 1985, has mushroomed in size since industry deregulation in 1997 to become the third largest airline in Europe.

 
 
   
   
 

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