Ryanair is set to follow up its move into the bed bank arena with the launch of its own holiday product.
The airline has hinted in the past that it may enter the package business and a spokesperson confirmed to TTG that this would likely now be the case.
“That [Ryanair Holidays] will be the natural evolution, possibly within 18 to 24 months,” a spokesperson admitted.
Bed bank Ryanair Rooms is slated to launch on October 1, 2016 with the airline inviting interested parties to submit proposals to become partners.
The launch of an accommodation arm follows that of Ryanair Car Hire in August 2015, which saw the Irish carrier team up with CarTrawler.
Branching out from offering only flights and into holidays has proved lucrative for other airlines.
The likes of Virgin Holidays and British Airways Holidays are already well established, with the latter having quietly become the seventh largest Atol holder.
Ryanair rival easyJet has been offering holidays since 2011 – first outsourcing to Lowcosttravelgroup and then to Tui Group’s Hotelopia.
Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “More and more customers are looking to Ryanair for products other than flights, and we see this as a natural progression towards Ryanair.com becoming the Amazon of air travel.
“It also echoes the change in demand from customers for different types of accommodation, which in turn will be reflected by the varied range Ryanair Rooms will offer – from five-star hotel rooms to independent homestays.”
The expansion is part of the company’s Always Getting Better campaign, which was launched to try and improve the perception of the Ryanair brand.
When the carrier made its full-year results announcement in May, it attributed the upsurge in passenger numbers to the initiative.
Ryanair has confirmed it will launch “Ryanair Holidays” by the end of next year – but what do consumers think?
TTG hit the streets of London to find out...
Javier Gill
Transport for London
“I wouldn’t be interested in going on a Ryanair holiday, it’s not for me. I’ve flown with Ryanair in the past and there is always a problem so I wouldn’t want to imagine what a package holiday would be like. Their flights are getting more expensive and their staff are still rude.”
Jude Everett
social worker
“I’ve used Ryanair before and the service was fine but personally I wouldn’t choose to go on a package holiday with them as I like the flexibility that you get from putting together your own holiday.”
John Grain
marketing executive
“I doubt I’d book a holiday with [Ryanair] because of its reputation. When I’ve flown with them it really wasn’t the greatest flying experience of my life. Given the choice we would probably use easyJet instead. Nowadays I think people like having the ability to choose their own hotel and flights to suit their plans. Although I do take my kids to watch European football matches, so if they did things like city breaks it might be of interest to us.”
Kevin Fernandez
legal consultant
“I know from flying with Ryanair that they don’t always go to the most popular airports, but you can expect that for the price you pay. It’s a cheap compromise and in that way [Ryanair holiday packages] sound like a good idea, especially if they do some family-friendly deals.”