Travel News Monkey

Ryanair is having to face competition from not only other low-cost airlines but also from the railway, at least in France. Ryanair is locked in a battle for passengers with TGV of France, which is the largest and most successful high-speed railway system in Europe.

Ryanair is trying to break into the French domestic market which is dominated by Air France. Come May and Ryanair will start inexpensive flights from Beauvais airport, 50 miles north-west of Paris, to Marseilles. The company also has plans to tap into the German domestic market with operations between Frankfurt and Berlin.

Yet, its plans about succeeding in the European market may come a cropper if it fails against the united front offered by TGV and Air France. In fact, the TGV seems to be having a bumper year, in a recent revelation the SNCF has mentioned that it made a profit of €1bn and will be paying its shareholders, the French tax paying public, a handsome dividend of €130mn.

TGV runs a network of high-speed trains that can touch 200mph and a section of older lines that run the “slow” trains which touch 100 mph. Ryanair is trying to avoid a direct competition with SNCF-owned TGV on the Paris to Marseilles route. It is looking to cater to customers who will come to Beauvais from Normandy and the north of France.

Ryanair will start the flights from 2^nd May with four flights a week to and from Marignane airport, west of Marseilles and eventually raise it to return flights every day. The average price will be in the range of €25 to €30 with a maximum price of €250, inclusive of taxes. The train ticket for a one-way journey between Paris and Marseilles is   €104.90.

The train journey between Paris and Marseille takes three hours to cover the 500 miles. The distance can be covered by air in a little over an hour.

As it turns out the open skies policy has not really resulted in cheaper flights for Americans flying to Europe. Couple this with a weak dollar and you get a situation where Americans flying to European cities really need to have the right flight information in order to save precious dollars. Currently the round-trip fares between European cities and American cities are in the range of $1000-$1500.

One of the things that you can do to save some travel money is to avoid the summer rush and fly before June. Research on deals, spend some time online and you may come up with some real bargain basement deals for Europe in the months of April and May. Bargains up to 50% off on the summer prices can be had. You should look up the facts on the open skies policy between the US and Europe, new routes have been added.

So you have more choice, if you are savvy with your ticket hunting increased choices could mean lower fare. A new service usually means lower fares to attract traffic. So watch out for newer routes, introductory fares are lower than standard ones.  A great bit of information for flyers to Europe is that it’s cheaper to first touch base at Heathrow in London and then move on to wherever you wish to be going. Connecting flights via London, Europe’s biggest hub, are generally cheaper than direct flights. Check code-share prices, you do not necessarily pay less for a ticket offered under a code-share agreement.

British Airways has initiated a “Fly, Drive & Save” deal that allows you to save $50 on a round-trip ticket to the UK or mainland Europe. The offer period is from April 23 to May 27.  Follow the link for information on more such deals.