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REDEFINING THE END-TO-END PASSENGER EXPERIENCE AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Ryanair introduces digital travel assistant and self-service hub

Digital Transformation | Initiatives // Nov 2021

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Ryanair has launched a suite of digital customer enhancements to further improve customer service and provide easy access to flight information. Among the initiatives are a new Day of Travel app assistant, Digital Self-Service Hub and myRyanair Wallet.

Using the new Day of Travel app, customers will be able to get live updates and notifications about the airport, terminal and gate information. Passengers will receive live videos and webcasts from Ryanair’s operations centre during major disruptions. The app also provides easy access to boarding passes, certificates and other travel documents.

Customers will be able to use the new Digital Self-Service Hub to change flights, update passenger info, add bags, seats and other services. The airline has improved its chat function to allow passengers to manage every aspect of their booking without calling the customer service team.

The myRyanair Wallet gives customers quick access to book flights using their wallet balance, and provides real time status updates on refunds.

Ryanair’s Director of Marketing Dara Brady said: “We are pleased to launch these innovative customer improvements which will enhance the travel experience of our guests. Driven by customer panel input, these improvements allow our guests to self-serve online when changing flight dates or passengers’ names, updating contact info or adding bags/seats. For customers who need extra assistance they can now track their interactions with Ryanair across calls/email/chat/social and receive live status updates online.

“Ryanair delivers the best customer service with the lowest fares and best on time performance and now our new Day of Travel Assistant (within the Ryanair app) will make travel easier and hassle free with live updates on departure times, terminals and specific gate info for boarding. In the small number of cases where we suffer disruption, customers will receive regular updates including live video and webcasts from our Ops Centre, ensuring they are kept as up to date as possible with what’s happening and how their disruption will be resolved. In rare cases of cancellations, customers who request a refund will now get confirmation and access to it within 24hrs in myRyanair and will be refunded to the original form of payment within 5 working days.

“Our first ever Customer Panel meeting in Sep was instrumental in driving these service improvements and we look forward to receiving further panel feedback at our 2nd meeting in early 2022, to help us develop more ways to improve our customers experience while we lower airfares post-COVID-19 and grow to carry 225m passengers p.a.”

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Ryanair launches digital updates to improve customer experience

Ryanair has launched a collection of digital customer updates to improve its customer service and provide better access to flight information.

These initiatives are a result of feedback from Ryanair’s first customer panel meeting in September 2021. These customer advisory panels consist of six people who will meet twice a year to deliver in-depth feedback and recommendations for future customer-led initiatives.

Within the ‘Day of Travel’ app, Ryanair is launching live videos and webcasts from its operations center during major disruptions; live updates on new departure times and re-routings during disruptions; as well as live updates on airport, terminal, flight and gate information. Additionally, the airline is improving the ease of the app’s access to boarding passes, certifications and other travel documentation.

In its digital self-service hub, the airline will track updates on guest claims and interactions with customer service, create new self-help videos alongside improving its chat and FAQs functions.

With the myRyanair Wallet, the company plans to update the myRyanair account to enable storage of all travel docs in one place, give quick access to flight bookings using wallet balance and maintain real-time status updates on refunds with one-click access. For its refunds, Ryanair has committed to confirming and giving access to refunds in myRyanair within 24 hours of the request and paying refunds to the original form of payment within five working days.

Dara Brady, Ryanair’s director of marketing, said, “We are pleased to launch these innovative customer improvements which will enhance the travel experience of our guests. Driven by customer panel input, these improvements allow our guests to self-serve online when changing flight dates or passengers’ names, updating contact info or adding bags/seats.

“For customers who need extra assistance they can now track their interactions with Ryanair across calls/email/chat/social and receive live status updates online. Our new Day of Travel Assistant (within the Ryanair app) will make travel easier and hassle-free with live updates on departure times, terminals and specific gate info for boarding.

“In the small number of cases where we suffer disruption, customers will receive regular updates including live video and webcasts from our Ops Centre, ensuring they are kept as up to date as possible with what’s happening and how their disruption will be resolved. In rare cases of cancellations, customers who request a refund will now get confirmation and access to it within 24 hours in myRyanair and will be refunded to the original form of payment within five working days.”

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Ryanair issues travel warning for passengers flying from UK airport today

R yanair has issued a warning to passengers, advising them to arrive 'at least three hours before flight' due to a power outage at Stansted Airport. The Irish airline stated: "Due to a power outage affecting the baggage belt and security screening areas at London Stansted (STN), we are advising all passengers departing from Stansted Airport today to arrive at least three hours before your flight and to proceed straight through to security screening."

The company urged customers flying from Stansted to keep an eye on the Ryanair app for updates about their flight. Passengers flying from London Stansted Airport will find the check-in desks in the main terminal check-in hall, which can be easily accessed from all car parks and transport options.

Ryanair also reminded passengers that check-in baggage is an optional extra on their flights. With options of 10kg or 20kg check-in bags costing as little as £12.99 to add to your booking, the airline advises customers to book check-in baggage in advance as it's much cheaper.

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Ryanair passengers at London Stansted can find plenty of amenities in the terminal while awaiting their flights including shops, airport lounges and popular restaurants - giving customers space to unwind before their flight. Options such as airport lounges are cheaper when booked in advance.

Ryanair flies to Rome and Dublin from Stansted as well as Lisbon, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Bratislava, Malta, Marrakech and more. Passengers can go to the Ryanair website to check in online and see information about your luggage allowance, reports Birmingham Live .

London Stansted Airport is in the process of upgrading its security equipment. This next generation security will transform the passenger experience by making it smoother, seamless and stress-free.

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Ryanair's hand luggage message as holidaymakers told 'you may be asked to hand it over'

Ryanair has issued a warning to passengers who are planning to travel with the budget airline this spring and summer - and it's all to do with hand luggage

• 02:00, 11 MAY 2024

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Ryanair has cautioned passengers that they might need to surrender their carry-ons and suggesting always having a "last-minute" item in hand luggage. The airline, competing with the likes of Jet2, Easyjet, Wizz Air, TUI, and others, recommends passengers pack a small, foldable bag within their hand luggage to sidestep extra charges this spring and summer.

The Irish carrier has divulged '14' savvy travel tips for its customers. Ryanair advises: "Do pack a lightweight, foldable bag inside your carry-on luggage. If you're asked to hand over your carry-on luggage to check-in crew at the last minute because the overhead lockers are full, you'll have somewhere to stash your phone, e-reader, money, snacks and any other valuables you can't live without during the flight."

This compact bag can be conveniently tucked under the seat in front of you, adds the airline. Led by Michael O'Leary, Ryanair also cautions travellers against a backpack blunder that could potentially spoil their holiday.

The airline counsels: "Don't pack a rucksack in a rush. A little bit of forward planning will definitely pay off. Place heavy items in the middle of your rucksack, or as close to your back as possible this will put less strain on your back when you're walking," reminding flyers to pack smartly for comfort and convenience.

"Follow the golden rule of rolling your clothes rather than folding. Not only will this give you more room, but you'll also find that your clothes are less creased. At check-in, tie all rucksack straps together neatly to prevent them from getting tangled in the carousel when you land.", reports Birmingham Live .

Following these revelations, it could be seen that Ryanair has placed an order for a Boeing 737 Max aircraft in a special version of the Max 8, which seats 197 passengers instead of the usual 189. This requires an additional emergency exit due to the increase in seating.

The company offers services from multiple UK airports including Birmingham Airport, London Gatwick, London Stansted, London Luton and others.

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RYANAIR AND ESKY PARTNERSHIP TAKES OFF

RYANAIR’S LOW FARE FLIGHTS NOW AVAILABLE TO BOOK AS PART OF ESKY PACKAGE HOLIDAYS

Following the announcement of their “Approved OTA” (online travel agent) partnership in April last, Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Thurs, 9 th May) announced that its low fare flights are now available to book as part of eSky holiday packages, just in time for the peak Summer holiday season. For eSky customers who wish to book Ryanair flights/ancillaries, this exciting new partnership means;

• Customers benefit from Ryanair’s low fares combined with eSky’s dynamic holiday packages.
• Customers receive all flight-related communications directly from Ryanair, including T&Cs and important flight updates.
• Customers have direct access to their myRyanair account to manage their booking.
• Customers don’t have to complete Ryanair’s customer verification.

Over the past few months, Ryanair has signed “Approved OTA” distribution agreements with six large OTAs, including this partnership with eSky, demonstrating how OTAs can work transparently with Ryanair to benefit consumers.

Speaking from Warsaw, Ryanair CMO, Dara Brady, said:

“We’re delighted to be in Warsaw with the eSky team today to officially launch our partnership. This is great news for eSky customers who will now be able to book Ryanair’s low fares as part of their eSky booking with full price transparency (no overcharges or hidden mark-ups) and direct access to their booking through their myRyanair account.

With the peak summer season just around the corner, we look forward to seeing lots of happy eSky customers onboard our low fare Ryanair flights across 300 routes from our 13 Poland airports.”

eSky Group CEO, Łukasz Habaj, said: “It’s our pleasure to be here with Ryanair and announce that we’re finally live with our integration. This partnership underscores our commitment to bringing our customers value with stand-alone flights and City Break and Holiday packages. Ryanair’s extensive flight network and low prices will significantly contribute to our offering and strengthen the Lowest Price Guarantee on our Flight+Hotel offers .”

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Ryanair launches prague – paphos & kosice routes.

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (1st August) celebrated the first flight from Prague to Paphos, while on Monday (3rd August) it will launch a twice weekly service to Kosice, both as part of its extended Summer 2020 schedule.

To celebrate its new routes, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from 729 Kc for travel to Kosice and from 759 Kc to Paphos, both until the end of October, which must be booked by Wednesday (5th August), only on the Ryanair.com website.

Ryanair places record order for 300 planes after Boeing price row

The company wants the aircraft as they are more fuel efficient, have more seats and also make far less noise than the bulk of its current fleet.

Business reporter @SkyNewsBiz

Tuesday 9 May 2023 17:24, UK

Ryanair has ended a price feud with Boeing to confirm a deal for 300 new planes which, the no frills carrier said, was a record US order by an Irish company.

Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers said it was buying 150 737 MAX 10 aircraft with an option for a further 150 for delivery between 2027 to 2033.

The list price for the planes would total $40bn (£31.7bn), Ryanair revealed, but the sum due would likely be significantly below that figure given the size of the order.

Ryanair said the phased nature of the deal meant it would support its ambitions to create 10,000 new jobs.

It believed the order would allow it to almost double its traffic to 300 million passengers per year by March 2034 from the 168 million flown to the end of March this year.

The MAX variant aircraft have 228 seats - a 20% improvement on its non-MAX aircraft which currently dominate the fleet.

It has already begun the process of bolstering its fleet with an earlier version of the new MAX planes after they were cleared to fly again in the wake of two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, in 2018 and 2019 respectively, that left 346 people dead.

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The MAX variants are a popular choice for Ryanair as they offer greater fuel efficiency alongside the extra seats.

The MAX 10 aircraft, yet to be certified, has long been in Ryanair's sights but chief executive Michael O'Leary previously pulled talks with the company 18 months ago, claiming the price sought did not match Ryanair's valuation.

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He wasn't entirely pleased with the deal, telling reporters that Boeing had sought a larger order than Ryanair had planned.

"I was told to say there was a competitive discount, although I did not think it was particularly competitive", he added.

He remains upset over Boeing's failure to meet its existing delivery targets but said of the benefits of the new deal: "Ryanair is pleased to sign this record aircraft order for up to 300 MAX-10s with our aircraft partner Boeing.

"These new, fuel efficient, greener technology aircraft offer 21% more seats, burn 20% less fuel and are 50% quieter than our B737-NGs.

"This order, coupled with our remaining Gamechanger deliveries, will create 10,000 new jobs for highly paid aviation professionals over the next decade, and these jobs will be located across all of Europe's main economies where Ryanair is currently the No1 or No2 airline.

"In addition to delivering significant revenue and traffic growth across Europe, we expect these new, larger, more efficient, greener, aircraft to drive further unit cost savings, which will be passed on to passengers in lower air fares."

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LockBit ransomware group’s leader unmasked and hit with sanctions; UK house prices inch higher– business live

Leader of major cybercrime group has been unmasked and sanctioned by the UK, US and Australia, authorities say

• ‘They’re everywhere’: Labour’s wooing of City goes into overdrive
• 4d ago Full story: Dmitry Khoroshev named as alleged leader of ransomware gang LockBit
• 4d ago Closing post
• 4d ago Do: Khoroshev and co-conspirators took at least $500m in ransom payments
• 4d ago Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Cybercrime is destroying livelihoods and businesses
• 4d ago U.S. charges Russian national Khoroshev with developing and operating LockBit ransomware
• 4d ago US, UK and Australia sanction leader of Lockbit cybercrime gang
• 4d ago Summer ticket fares will rise less than expected, Ryanair CEO says
• 4d ago BoE policymaker warns AI traders could destabilise financial markets
• 4d ago Disney’s streaming business makes profit for first time
• 4d ago UK bond yields hit three-week low
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• 4d ago The regional picture
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• 4d ago BP profits miss forecasts as oil and gas trading weakens
• 4d ago Introduction: Halifax reports small rise in UK house prices

Full story: Dmitry Khoroshev named as alleged leader of ransomware gang LockBit

The alleged leader of what was once the world’s largest ransomware outfit, LockBit, has been named as Russian national Dmitry Khoroshev by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), after the seizure of the criminal gang’s infrastructure .

Khoroshev, who lived his online life under the name LockBitSupp, has been sanctioned by the UK, US and Australia as a result of the unmasking.

He was so certain of his anonymity that he once offered a $10m (£8m) reward to anyone who could reveal his identity. The US government is now offering a reward of up to $10m for anyone who can share information leading to his arrest or conviction.

LockBit was seen as one of the world’s most dangerous ransomware groups and its high-profile victims included delivery firm Royal Mail and aerospace company Boeing .

Closing post

Time to recap…..

The UK, US and Australia have sanctioned the Russian leader of one of the world’s most prolific ransomware groups, LockBit .

As part of an ongoing international law enforcement investigation, Russian national Dmitry Khoroshev has been identified as one of the leaders of the group, which the Government says has been responsible for extorting more than one billion dollars from victims globally.

As part of the sanctions, the Foreign Office said he would now be subject to a series of asset freezes and travel bans.

The UK’s sanctions minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan says :

“In sanctioning one of the leaders of LockBit we are taking direct action against those who continue to threaten global security, while simultaneously exposing the malicious cyber-criminal activity emanating from Russia.”

The US Justice Department has unsealed a 26-count indictment against Khoroshev returned by a grand jury in the District of New Jersey.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco explains:

“Working with U.S. and international partners, we are using all our tools to hold ransomware actors accountable—and we continue to encourage victims to report cyberattacks to the FBI when they happen. Reporting an attack could make all the difference in preventing the next one.”

Here’s the rest of today’s business news stories:

Do: Khoroshev and co-conspirators took at least $500m in ransom payments

LockBit was particularly disruptive because it was designed as “ransomware-as-a-service” (RaaS) – meaning cybercriminals could buy the package and operate it themselves.

The DoJ alleges that Khoroshev — as the LockBit developer — would typically receive a 20% share of each ransom payment extorted from LockBit victims, with whoever conducted the hack getting the remaining 80%.

Today’s indictment says Khoroshev and his co-conspirators extracted at least $500m in ransom payments from their victims, meaning he received at least $100m in digital currency.

FBI director Christopher Wray says that the LockBit ransomware group are responsible for billions of dollars in losses and caused havoc on critical infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.

“The charges announced today reflect the FBI’s unyielding commitment to disrupting ransomware organizations and holding the perpetrators accountable.”

The UK’s NCA says today that the group targeted over 100 hospitals and healthcare companies and at least 2,110 victims were forced into in some degree of negotiation by cyber criminals.

The DoJ has charged Dmitry Khoroshev with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, extortion, and related activity in connection with computers; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; eight counts of intentional damage to a protected computer; eight counts of extortion in relation to confidential information from a protected computer; and eight counts of extortion in relation to damage to a protected computer.

In total, those charges carry a maximum penalty of 185 years in prison.

Each of the 26 counts charged by the indictment also carries a maximum fine of the greatest of $250,000, pecuniary gain to the offender, or pecuniary harm to the victim.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Cybercrime is destroying livelihoods and businesses

Dmitry Khoroshev will now be subject to a series of asset freezes and travel bans, the UK’s National Crime Agency says.

The UK’s sanctions minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan says:

“Together with our allies we will continue to crack down on hostile cyber activity which is destroying livelihoods and businesses across the world. “In sanctioning one of the leaders of LockBit we are taking direct action against those who continue to threaten global security, while simultaneously exposing the malicious cyber-criminal activity emanating from Russia.”

Britain’s National Crime Agency says it, and its international partners, now possess more than 2,500 decryption keys which could be used to unlock data encrypted by Lockbit.

The NCA has so far proactively reached out to nearly 240 LockBit victims in the UK, it says.

NCA director general Graeme Biggar says today:

“These sanctions are hugely significant and show that there is no hiding place for cyber criminals like Dmitry Khoroshev, who wreak havoc across the globe. He was certain he could remain anonymous, but he was wrong.

U.S. charges Russian national Khoroshev with developing and operating LockBit ransomware

The US Department of Justice has unsealed a raft of charges against Dimitry Yuryevich Khoroshev over his alleged roles as the creator, developer, and administrator of the LockBit ransomware group.

Fresh from being sanctioned by the US, UK and Australia today, Khoroshe v has also been charged by a 26-count indictment returned by a grand jury in the District of New Jersey.

Attorney General Merrick Garland explains that the charges follow the international disruption campaign targeting LockBit carried out earlier this year:

“Earlier this year, the Justice Department and our U.K. law enforcement partners disrupted LockBit, a ransomware group responsible for attacks on victims across the United States and around the world. “Today we are going a step further, charging the individual who we allege developed and administered this malicious cyber scheme, which has targeted over 2,000 victims and stolen more than $100 million in ransomware payments. We will continue to work closely alongside our partners, across the U.S. government and around the world to disrupt cybercrime operations like LockBit and to find and hold accountable those responsible for them.”

US, UK and Australia sanction leader of Lockbit cybercrime gang

Just in: The US, UK and Australian governments say they have sanctioned the leader of the LockBit ransomware group, whose recent victims include Royal Mail .

The US Treasury say it is exposing that that the cybercriminal responsible for the Lockbit ransomware variant is Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev , a Russian national.

Lockbit has conducted a swath of hacks, using phishing attacks to tricks computer users into downloading malware onto their computers. The infected computer is then compromised and encrypted, with Lockbit demanding money from the victim to release their data.

Khoroshev, the US Treasury alleges, is the primary operator of the well-known and public-facing LockBit-related cybercrime moniker, “LockBitSupp.”

In a statement, the Treasury explains:

As a core LockBit group leader and developer of the LockBit ransomware, Khoroshev has performed a variety of operational and administrative roles for the cybercrime group, and has benefited financially from the LockBit ransomware attacks. In addition, Khoroshev has facilitated the upgrading of the LockBit infrastructure, recruited new developers for the ransomware, and managed LockBit affiliates. He is also responsible for LockBit’s efforts to continue operations after their disruption by the U.S. and its allies earlier this year.

The US Department of State has also announced a reward of up to $10m for information that leads to the identification or location of any senior individual in the LockBit group.

Nice $10,000,000 reward for LockBitSupp #Cronos #Ransomware #DarkWebInformer #DarkWeb #Cybersecurity #Cyberattack #Cybercrime #Malware #Infosec #CTI pic.twitter.com/OMIoPYolVL — Dark Web Informer (@DarkWebInformer) May 7, 2024

Khoroshev has also been added to the UK’s sanctions list , and faces a series of asset freezes and travel bans.

The UK government’s list of sanctioned individuals says:

Dmitry Yureyvich KHOROSHEV is or has been involved in relevant cyber activity in that he has been responsible for, engaged in, provided support for or promoted the commission, planning or preparation of relevant cyber activity, or provided technical assistance that could contribute to relevant cyber activity.

Lockbit’s operations were severely disrupted by a coordinated international crackdown earlier this year.

Today, the UK’s National Crime Agency reports that between June 2022 and February 2024, more than 7,000 attacks were built using Lockbit’s services. The top five countries hit were the US, UK, France, Germany and China.

The National Crime Agency says the founder of the #Lockbit website - which provides ransomware to hackers around the world - has been identified and sanctions placed on him (as he is assumed to be in Russia). His name is.... (1/2) https://t.co/1pMlsm1iI3 — Total Crime (@totalcrime) May 7, 2024

Summer ticket fares will rise less than expected, Ryanair CEO says

Good news for holidaymakers looking to fly overseas this summer – ticket fares will rise less than expected.

That’s according to budget airline Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, who has predicted that ticket fare prices this summer are likely going to be lower than previously expected,

Speaking to reporters in Brussels today, O’Leary says:

“Looking at summer ... We thought pricing would be up 5-10%. We’re heading to flat (pricing year-on-year) to 5% up, which is surprising with a lot of the Airbus <AIR.PA> fleet grounded for maintenance.”

This appears to have knocked shares in airlines. EasyJet’s shares are now down 5% in London, with British Airways parent company IAG down 1.5% and Wizz Air off 3%.

Ryanair’s shares are down 4%.

Airlines have been pushing up prices since the end of pandemic restrictions, as they try to recoup their losses during Covid-19 and take advantage of customers keen to travel again.

In April, one industry consultant said he was seeing “quite stunning levels of pricing” in the market , as passengers stumped up higher air fares.

BoE policymaker warns AI traders could destabilise financial markets

Advances in artificial intelligence risk destabilising the financial markets, a Bank of England policymaker is warning today.

Jonathan Hall , an external member of our Financial Policy Committee (FPC), argues that market stability could be threatened if deep neural networks – programs that uses multiple layers of artificial neurons to process information – were turned into deep trading agents, which select and execute trading strategies.

Hall tells the University of Exeter Business School that AI traders could amplify shocks and undermine market stability.

He says there are two risks:

[First] That deep trading agents, whilst increasing efficiency in good times, could lead to an increasingly brittle and highly correlated financial market. [Second] That the incentives of deep trading agents could become misaligned with that of regulators and the public good.

Hall cites a well-known example of AI confusion, where researches taught a system what a panda looked like, and then added noise to the picture of a panda – leading the AI system to declare that the animal was almost certainly a gibbon.

From a financial stability perspective, this raises the question of whether through bad luck, or targeted malicious behaviour, a tiny change in market prices could abruptly shift the trading signal from “buy” to “strong sell”? And, unlike in the image example, it would be extremely difficult for a human to know whether that sudden shift was the result of a model error, or indicated some important, but inscrutable, information in the pattern of prices.

Hall then cites the idea that an AI system could be trained on all historic price changes and all readable historic data relevant to fundamental financial analysis. Such an algorithm would have risk, and profit and loss, rules built in, and over time would outcompete human traders.

If that happened, capital would shift towards this high-performing AI system. But if it was unable to absorb shocks, this ecosystem that is unsustainable.

Hall says there are two general concerns about such a trading algorithm based on analysing the fair value of stocks – either it shows exhibit volatile, unpredictable behaviour because it was not trained well, or it fails because it can’t adjust to a change in market environment.

But there’s another danger too – what about an AI system that analyse order book data to predict the imminent order flow of other traders?

Studies have shown that such “informed AI speculators” will behave in a cooperative, way until triggered to do otherwise, leading to lower price informativeness and lower market liquidity.

And worse – the AI system might learn that it can make the best profits during times of market instability, so decide to amplify any external shock that hits the markets….

Hall argues that City firms must ensure that any AI systems they develop are aligned with regulations.

Any deep trading algorithms must be trained in a way that ensures that their behaviour is consistent the regulatory rule book. This is a dynamic process in two respects: Training must be updated to respond to any discovered divergence between regulatory intent and reaction function; and trading managers must keep reinforcing the rules to make sure they are not forgotten

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