Why Ryanair Will Never Fly To Heathrow

Expensive, cumbersome, slow… Ryanair’s management has plenty of reasons to say no to Heathrow.


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European low-cost giant Ryanair has a firm presence at hundreds of airports across the continent. One place it is never seen, however, is London’s Heathrow Airport. Speaking at Eurocontrols’ Straight Talk Live this week, Ryanair’s operations directors, Neal McMahon, was clear there was no interest in going there.

One of the reasons for this is the sheer cost of doing business at London’s biggest airport. He said,

“They’re looking to increase the price again; the most expensive airport in Europe is looking to increase prices by 50%. It’s absolutely nuts.”

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But skipping Heathrow isn’t hurting the low-cost giant. In fact, Heathrow’s problems have seen Ryanair benefitting as more passengers start to realize the benefits of flying out of smaller, less congested airports. McMahon noted,

“I think the big difference this year with Heathrow and the security issues they’ve had is the number of passengers that actually migrated to Stansted … We're seeing a huge number of passengers that have migrated.”

Taking the once bitten twice shy notion to heart, Ryanair’s ops director says that passengers, and particularly families, have arrived at Heathrow only to find flights canceled and holidays ruined. The converse is true at Stansted, where security lines are manageable, cancelations are rare, and most people get away on holiday with zero extra stress. He concluded,

“We have no interest in going to Heathrow with the colossally high prices where you can't do a 25 minute turnaround and you can't get the aircraft utilisation. So that's probably one of the few airports where we will never be, and we will never base an aircraft.”

Where else will Ryanair never go?

Asked if there are any other airports that Ryanair hates quite so much as Heathrow, McMahon responded instantly with “Paris Charles de Gaulle.” He joked that it can take about an hour to taxi from the runways to the terminal at CDG, and said that Ryanair just wouldn’t get the utilization it needed to make it viable.

Ryanair’s favorite airports are the ones that have grown with the airline. CEO of Ryanair, Eddie Wilson, gave the example of Milan Bergamo as an airport where both the airline and the airport itself have been successful as a result of each other’s growth. He said,

“The most successful airports that we have had are ones that have grown with us. You take faces like Bergamo that has grown from a small cargo airport in 2003 to Italy's third largest airport today.”

Hub facilities not necessary

Ryanair works on a point-to-point strategy, so it doesn’t need all the facilities that a big hub airport like Heathrow could provide. The entire business model of the airline is getting people from A to B without a transfer in the middle. That, says Group CEO Michael O’Leary, has set it apart, particularly over the last summer.

“Transfers completely broke down at almost every hub airport in Europe this year. There's billions of bags sitting in warehouses where transfers have completely failed.

“When flying with Ryanair, we get you there directly to every regional airport across Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe. You don't need to be transferring through these God awful hub airports, which are routinely delayed, lose your bag and you pay twice or three times the airfare.”