Boy! Some pretty prickly remarks here. As far as I can tell, and I travel a lot by air on budget carriers, you can flip a coin on customer service between Ryanair and Easyjet. One thing I have noticed though Ryainair keep better time more consistently than Easyjet. Cheap as chips U get chips!

Vince, Cortona, Italy

Great news for Ryanair's 'customers'. Thankfully I haven't needed to use them but I have seen family wait in a slow lengthy queue to pay to check in having already waited in a lengthy and slow queue to actually check in. He had only hand baggage. His crime was not checking in online. I’m told they also close the check-in desks 10 minutes prior to the stated time. Appalling. I do hope their loss is Easyjet’s gain.

Barbara, Flackwell Heath, UK

Naturally, makes perfect sense for airports to lower their prices when Ryanair wants them to! Maybe only have half the runway lights on, or close security, shops etc...? O'Leary is only happy when things are going totally his way and he keeps earning his six figure wage - or is it seven now?

Jeff Michel, Surbiton, UK

'We cram ourselves like cattle with no leg space
of airline meals and comfy seats there is no trace
o'leary berates away, arrogant to the last
we all want to pay little and get their fast'

don craigton, wakefield, u.k.

'The fat pigs luxuriate in first class style
They whisk pass us at check in - we wait single file
From the city centre the ex-military airport was surprisingly far
I decided not to bother and joined the other scruffs in the bar.'

don craigton, wakefield, u.k.

For years now we have had very cheap flights, and this helped us to buy propety abroad! And now we can not afford to do this, so we do need all the flights that are offered.. All airlines will have to scale down, lots people will lose there jobs, thats is not good for them and we must think of them.

oliver, earls colne, UK

The facts seems to dismiss all the moanings about Ryanair.
50.000.000 passengers carried last year,the best punctuality
and the youngest 737-800 fleet(BA still flies 2nd generation 737).Ryanair placed a huge order to Boeing just after the 9/11
thus profiting from a great discount

enrique, tenerife, spain

I agree with a number of the comments below in relation to 'Get what you pay for'. I regularly use Ryanair to fly Ireland-UK and still appreciate the fact I pay €35 for a return flight if booked in advance. The service is standard but fine by me as the service allows me to see my family frequently

Adam, Dublin, Ireland

Many of you saying criticisms of customer service are missing the point, are in turn missing the point.

You can cut costs and still treat customers with basic respect and service, even at that low price. Easyjet does it.

Ryanair on the other hand treats customers like they hate them.

Tom Franklin, London, UK

"All thisjust to keep the damned tree huggers happy."

Are you kidding? You're not believing THAT excuse, are you? It's all about making money.

M. R., Lancaster,

Maybe,just maybe the Government will take notice for once and finally abandon it's airport expansion plans which have always defied any commonsense.

Philip, Braintree, Essex

As a regular flyer with ryanair, i can't say i'm particularly upset to learn that 150 of those horrible, arrogant, unhelpful drones at stansted are going to go back to the dole queue.

Spiteful i know, but that's the level ryanair drags you down to...

Paul, Brno, Czech Rep

Ryanair is withdrawing its Basel service mid Nov to Dec 19th and then restarting it on Dec 21st? Where is the logic there? Also, Katowice and Basel are not, by any stretch of the imagination, "sun" destinations in mid winter.

Jeni, Berlin, Germany

James Allen, Manchester obviously has no concept of the cross-wind landing.

Simon, Hertford,

Hopefully this is a trend in the reduction of aircraft, where we will just have to schedule our flights more cleverly in advance of planned departure dates. Aircraft engines are required to push 95000lbs through the air, while a car only weighs 2500lb and we have reliable figures on car pollution.

Peter, Twickenham,

In 1985 I was paying 290 Pounds Sterling to fly return Dublin /London with either Aer Lingus or BA. I was paying over 500 pounds to fly Dublin to Barcelona with either Iberia or Aer Lingus.Enter Ryanair and NOW I pay €75 DUB/LDN and €135 DUB/GIR. God bless the Ryans and O'Leary.

Brian O'Toole, Figueres, Spain

BAA are a shambles. They run a monopoly and have unjustifiably increased prices. Whether you like Raynair or not, BAA and Government taxes will keep you on the ground unless you want a second mortgage to have the privilege of flying.All thisjust to keep the damned tree huggers happy.

tony, Limasssol, Cyprus

The only loser here is the customer. Ryanair provided a fantastic service only to be priced and taxed out by Brown's administration. The rich will simply carry on travelling with scheduled expensive flights whilst the low earners will carry on working in over priced slave driven Britain under Brown.

mike lincoln, wakefield,

We were going to fly Ryanair last year, but they cancelled the flight and offered us a flight several hundred miles way instead (gee, thanks!). By the time they cancelled it it was impossible to find another cheap flight.

M. Ross, stockport,

"Message to saulius; airplanes are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions."

Nothing emits 100% of greenhouse gasses. It's a very lame (and overused) argument.

M. R., stockport,

Someone said...." I would rather pay full fare with a decent airline, to go anywhere, rather than give one penny of my money to Ryanair. ..." Are you sure? Often BA or Air France are up to 10 times more expensive AND the srvice is rarely as good! I fly Ryanair & Easyjet frequently. Excellent

Brian Rosen, Vienne, France

Michael O'Leary is not often wrong. On this occasion, it appears that he is right again!

Tom, Balsall Common, England.

Never forget O'Leary was born rich, and he has a rich kid's arrogance and disregard for 'ordinary' people, both his staff and his customers.

Ryanair is an awful experience.

And not as cheap as all that.

D Short, London, UK

My heart bleeds for some of those nasty RyanAir employees at Stanstead, boo hoo!

shay, Navan, Ireland

What price a new runway now?

Dean, Manea, UK

Yes MarkS, Leeds, let's put him in Downing Street. That'll be £3 for that cup of tea Mr President and another £8 for bringing in 2 bags. £4 for not opening the front door yourself. Did you like the adverts playing in the hallway as you came in? And did you know that 92% of our visitors are on time!

Dave, Edinburgh, UK

-"Mr O'Leary said that high oil prices would drive “crappy competitors” out of the airline business."

Quite possible. And the crappiest of them all - Ryanair, should be the first to go.

Gary Hobbler, Torquay,

My daughter recently flew one way from Luxembourg on Ryanair for nothing - not even airport taxes! I presume there was some logic to their pricing structure but it escapes me!

Kevin Miller, Tonbridge,

Thanks to Ryan Air and Michael O'leary I have been able to travel to places that I would otherwise have not been able to afford. Anti- Ryan Air snobs might think I should never have been given the chance

CG, Liverpool, UK

Maybe with there being less planes for their pilots to fly,they could go back to Flying School and learn how to land a plane properly,preferably on two wheels,rather than one.

james allen, manchester , england

I am stunned by all the spite. I have used RyanAir extensively, often flying Milan-Luton for just 22 Euros (incl taxes and CC charges!). I travel with hand luggage and I use in-line check-in (getting free priority boarding). If you expect subservient service from overpaid attendants, just fly BA!

Marco, Milano, Italy

Hooray!!! Less NOISE!!!!!

Fred, The Wirral, UK

Most of the above comments which attack O'Leary are simply wrong. The obvious difference between O'Leary/Ryanair and BAA is customer choice and state patronage. As a London resident I have almost no choice as to the airport operator who ruins my journeys- with airlines there is a choice.

Matt, London,

I can certainly add my voice to the concern about service from BAA. On June 20 I flew in to Gatwick to be greeted by a queue for Passport control that lasted for 1.5 hours. The actual time spent going through passport control checks was less than a minute. Not a good first impression!

Martin Hodgkinson, Toronto, Country

Message to saulius; airplanes are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions. Trucks, buses and especially cows emit far more.
As regards cutting back on flights, it makes financial sense. Despite his obnoxious attitude, you can't argue with Michael O'Leary's financial acumen!

Ian, Cambridge,

I don't know why people are so critical of Ryanair as you get what you pay for. Prior to Ryanair starting up flights to most of these destinations were too expensive for a lot of people.

No one is forcing you to fly with Ryanair as there are other airlines out there.

Joan Lawson, Essex, UK

I think a lot of these comments have missed the point. Ryanair provided a service - just like the supermarkets Pile them High and sell cheap mantra. You get what you pay for. There in business to make money. All seem to be the same these days. forget service it is for getting to A-B. bottom line

ann, London, UK

Ryanair criticises BAA for offering a poor customer service, then ends its own service to numerous destinations. Way to offer a great service, Ryanair!

Tony, London,

This airline has become better known for its "absolutely no customer service whatsoever" policies than for its low prices.

After losing one child's bag, then finding it again, Ryanair refused to deliver it to their destination. The looming recession is just bringing these problems home to roost

Peter Archibald, Windsor, UK

Hopefully this will go some way towards discouraging the destructive airport expansion we're experiencing in the South of the UK. BAA do not care for public opinion, but maybe they'll start to listen when key airlines like Ryanair start to pull out and their revenue stream is affected.

MH, Weybridge, UK

Michael O'leary
patron saint of air travellers..god bless u sir.
grond them/ fly them as u choose
best wishes to all ryanair staff for your wonderful service

mike cassidy, gloucester, england

ONce again O'Leary says it as it is. Why can't we have more business leaders like him. I regularly use Ryanair at Stansted and the only problems I have ever encountered have been directly attibutable to the incompetent airport managment and staff.

Peer, Halstead,

Ryanair has the best punctuality in the industry and unlike BA, they don't lose your bag. In my book, thats good service. We should all thank O'Leary - he is the only one brave enough to take on the monopoly airport provider (BAA) who provide such terrible service.

Gregg, London, UK

Delighted to hear of Ryanair's troubles. They have a complete disregard for passengers and are the worst culprits for stealth charges.

I'll be glad to see the back of them.

James, London,

So Ryanair, the airline renowned for misleading ads (including one in Norway advertising flights to "London Prestwick airport"), hidden charges, climate-change denial, shabby treatment of staff, and numerous other examples of expedient shysterism is now having problems? Cry me a river.

Andrew, Stoke Newington, UK

Good riddance to the money grabbing O'Leary ... lets hope you are priced out of the market ... I would rather pay full fare with a decent airline, to go anywhere, rather than give one penny of my money to Ryanair. No doubt he will dream up another get rich quick scam when this one is over ..

susan, glasgow,

You might not like Mr O'Leary but as a businessman he is Aplus and those passengers complaining about service. The old addage strill goes you get what you pay for.

You want a cheap flight so the service level goes down to that level as well. The difference is Mr O Leary is not afraid of saying so

louis Sallons, Senven Lehart,

I wouldn't say this is O'Leary having a business outlook, I would say this is O'Leary cutting his nose off to spite his face.

He is trying to bully airports to reduce their costs - which all other airlines have to pay - so that Ryanair can operate profitably. Ciao to Ryanair - and not too soon

Mark Johnson, Nottingham, UK

Pendulums swing. When the oil producers have nowhere worthwhile to invest, oil will come down and we'll see Ryanair's de-mothballed 737's once again plus lots of new ones.

Henry, Poitiers, France

speaking about services... ryanair really shows what airline is for - it is not more than a bus to go from A to B . and if you pay as cheap as for a bus you should not expect more services than in a bus. so it just right. but mainly cheap airlines are to blame for CO greenhouse efect, not cars

saulius, vilnius, lithuania

Have you recently tried booking online - the prices are extortionate and more important - misleading.
I think this is a sign of what is to follow. Less demand and higher prices making the business of low cost flying no longer low cost.
PG

PG, Ammanford, S/Wales,UK

Like him or loathe him, you have to admire Michael O'Leary's totally focussed business outlook.

Pity we can't put him into 10 Downing Street for a couple of years......

MarkS, Leeds,

There's hope for the planet yet!

The peaking of the oil supply may yet save us from the worst excesses of the capitalist system - as long as we don't just go back to coal instead. Fortunatey, coal-fired planes are not yet viable!

Bill, London,

Ryanair is probably the worst "airline" in thye world for gouging its passengers so I'm not sorry to see them in trouble.

Let'sm hope they go out of business in 12 months and we get a proper airline that believes in customer service.

Stephen Edwards, Wokingham, UK

Maybe this is the start of the air industry contraction. about time.

Adrian, London, UK