Ryanair to trial hub-and-spoke transfers

In a departure from their current model, Ryanair has announced that it is going to trial airside transfers at both London Stansted and Barcelona El Prat airports. This departure from point-to-point in favor of the hub-and-spoke operating of traditional network carriers means that Ryanair flights will no longer operate solely on an A to B basis but the airline will now accept onward bookings as well to a wide variety of destinations.
As Ryanair operates over 100 routes from Stanstead this can create multiple opportunities for its customers to switch planes without the current problem of having to go through customs and immigration, security screening and checking baggage time and time again. The delays created by this problem made Ryaniar reluctant to guarantee connections, especially when fast turnaround of planes is a key element to the success of the current Ryanair model. Today this means the company will now be able to sell through-tickets via its website.
Part of the reason behind this trial is that it fits in well with Ryanair’s announcement in 2013 that it intended to change customers’ perceptions of the airline, an unhealthy feeling that Ryanair were trying to fleece its passengers at every opportunity through high surcharges and operating a booking system that appeared designed to trick customers. Today the carrier now offers generous baggage allowances and has transformed the website into a slick customer-friendly platform.
However, the target market for Ryanair with this trial is the business and not the leisure traveler. According to Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, he wants to woo the business-class customer, a policy which began back in 2014 with the introduction of a no-frills ‘Business Plus’ service which offered greater comfort and more flexibility, though at an appreciably higher price. This was followed by ‘My Ryanair Club’ which has no peripheral benefits, but it does allow corporates to book multi-city tickets.
Ryanair has already chosen to team up with another low-cost carrier, Norwegian Air for long-haul transfers throughout Scandinavia. Interlining is a practice Ryanair had long avoided owing to the complexity of tabling complementary flight schedules to swap passengers.
However, all passengers can still benefit from this trial. Whereas before if you searched on their website for a flight between two cities that weren’t directly connected, zero results would appear, an occurrence found with most operators’ platforms. However, instead of being offered an expensive overnight connection with a full-service carrier to solve the problem, Ryanair can now offer a cheap transfer with only a short layover required.