Occupancy in Europe's largest airline is 96 percent and its cheapest prices on the continent • Reasons: Proper management and maximum utilization of aircraft fleet
Rainier aircraft // Photo: Reuters
Among the figures for Reynair Airline's December 2019 performance, which posted nine percent growth over December last year, was an equally important figure: December's average occupancy was 96 percent, which means that most flights were nearly full.
Rainier is today the largest airline in Europe, with more than 2,100 lines for 234 destinations. By 2019, the company flew 152.4 million passengers, of which about 753,000 were passengers on the Ben Gurion Airport. It holds 27 percent of flights, in Poland and Ireland it holds 29 percent of flights. Ben Gurion Airport is the tenth market share with ??? percentage.
The main reason for the company's growth is mainly the prices: the average price for the Brainair ticket is low in Europe: € 37, six percent lower than last year. The average ticket price for the competing Wizier was 46 euros, in Izjet 61 euros and in Norwegians 91 euros. By comparison, the average price of a ticket at Lufthansa is € 176.
The Irish company is taking full advantage of its aircraft, ensuring that the stay on the ground is no more than 30 minutes. Last week we saw such a quick turnaround at Ramon Airport in Eilat. In the field planning, Rainier's demands, which sought to stop as close as possible to the terminal, were taken into consideration to save the need for buses and to allow passengers to move on foot from the plane to the terminal. As soon as the plane stabilized at the parking position, the fuel tanker clung to it. Two built-in stairs were pulled out of the plane, front and rear, to save port time and ascent, and also not to use the port staircase services, which are at extra cost. As passengers descend, the flight attendants rush to clean the plane themselves and prepare it for the arrival of passengers from the terminal. There are no pockets behind the seats, so there is no garbage in passengers.
Cleaning is quick and takes less than ten minutes, so ten minutes after landing, the flight attendant signaled that passengers could be brought up. They were already waiting at the departure gate and rushed to the plane, and after less than 10 minutes the plane began to drive towards the take-off route. Less than half an hour on the ground and the plane was already in the air.
What we saw at Ramon Port happens at all the airports that Rainier arrives at. It operates a single-model fleet of one aircraft, Boeing 737, to simplify maintenance and allow rapid replacement of aircraft in the event of a malfunction. Against the average growth of four percent of airlines worldwide, Rainier's achievement of nine percent is notable, especially given that it was severely damaged by the ground of the Model 737 Max, which was supposed to increase its seat offerings by 20 percent.
Rainier ordered Boeing another 135 aircraft of 737 Max, with an option for another 70 aircraft, but the ground disrupted the plans for expansion. When canceled, in the coming months, Rainair will renew its naval throttle, with Max aircraft, called by another name to stay away from the problematic image, by 16 percent.
Rainier CEO Michael O'Leary has tried to pressure European aviation authorities to allow short-haul flights with only one pilot, but will probably not succeed, following several cases of fainting in the cockpit recently.
One of Rainier's biggest advantages is its online ordering system. After deciding on the destination you can choose the flight date at the cheapest ticket price. Those who can be flexible on departure and return dates will be able to find bargains almost every week, with Rainier also often launching sales promotions where tickets start at floor prices. From Israel flights from Eilat are the cheapest, and today when you can park at Ramon Port free of charge, it is also a bad option, which pays off, especially if you are traveling with an entire family.