Ryanair courts business agents

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s decision to keep out of the media spotlight is good news for everyone, according to the airline’s corporate sales manager Lesley Kane.

Kane, who has been with the airline for 17 years, appeared at the Advantage conference in an attempt to court business travel agents after years of O’Leary shunning them.

Kane apologized for the past relationship and said the airline wanted to work with travel management companies, particularly as it has 118 new aircraft on order which will need to be filled.  The airline is even opening an agent help desk.

"It’s positive for all of us that he’s taking a back seat and hopefully the next time he talks to the trade he’ll be more graceful," she said.

"He is the most hated person in the travel industry.

"We have a significant amount of work to do and there have been a number of incidents over the years that were not good or positive.

"We want to work with you and we’re saying sorry for the past 10 years.  We’re going to launch a travel agent help desk as a direct source of contact to help with any problems you have."

Kane said policy had fundamentally changed at the airline.

"O’Leary was vocal about agents not charging handling fees, but we have now changed.

"We have successfully grown ryanair.com so that it accounts for 99% of our traffic, but we want to grow through other distribution outlets.

"Travel Management Companies (TMCs) do book with us already – albeit directly through the website – and we’ll now make it easier for them."

Kane said the deal the airline signed with Travelport on April 2 was working well, particularly in the UK and Italy markets.

"We’re in discussion with Amadeus and Sabre and expect to get other companies on board by the end of the year and also have a relationship with agents," she said.

Kane described Ryanair’s change of stance as a ‘win-win’ situation as it would benefit the airline and give TMCs access to 1,600 routes for their clients.

Guild of Travel Management Companies chief executive Paul Wait said that if Ryanair offered the opportunity for incremental business travel, they should be applauded.  However, he said they faced several challenges.

"Firstly, frequent business travellers live around Heathrow, so to make a significant impact you need to deliver a service business travellers need, adapt and work with the TMC community and fly out of Heathrow and Gatwick.

"This is not possible until the airports expand and even if that did happen they would cease to be a low cost carrier."