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Is there enough volume to warrant budgets for developing mobile phone functionalities?

By Ritesh Gupta

Can one expect substantial budgets to go to mobile, particularly in local search? Would it be right to say that 2010 will likely turn out to be the year of testing before mobile really takes off in 2011?

A number of companies are currently in “test” mode and are likely to allocate more of their marketing budget for mobile search ads later this year – so that they can properly assess their strategy for 2011.

It remains a source of much debate and driven a great deal by smart phone adoption and volume of mobile search.  Right now, many people are getting both the volume and ROI from traditional web search.  Is there enough volume to warrant moving budgets into this channel?  

But there are quite a few who are quite active and bullish about the same at this juncture, too.

“Mobile has been taking off for more than a year already, with several travel companies reporting in the region of 3x annual growth,” says Marko Balabanovic, head - Innovation, lastminute.com.

Balabanovic added, “We recently commissioned the Future of Free Time report which looks at how the ways in which we travel and spend our free time will change over the next 5-20 years. This report confirms to us that mobile booking will become increasingly prevalent, for example one in three hotels bookings in Tokyo are already made on the day of arrival via mobile technology.”

“We expect to see these trends replicated here within the next few years and as revenues grow the budgets will increase but we’re already on the steep growth curve,” said Balabanovic, who is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming two-day Online Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit Europe 2010 (5-6, October) to be held in Prague.

Google is seeing that mobile hotel queries have grown almost 3000% in three short years.  It believes that although there are some developing, not quite fully-baked parts of the platform, mobile is a must.

Search pattern

Specialists point out there are quite a few ways in which search differ for mobile phones vis-a-vis PCs.

First, the queries are usually shorter on mobile. People tend to put shorter queries while searching on mobile phones and yet expect a high degree of relevancy. Second, the time spent searching per session is usually lesser than that on PCs. Users tend to search on mobiles while on the go, for instance on the way to office, during lunch time, on the way back home from office and late in the night before turning in. Usually the session length for searching tends to be short and sharp rather than prolonged. Third, because you carry the mobile phone with you everywhere, you can do searches based on your location. This adds another dimension of relevancy to your mobile search results.

Balabanovic  said, “The main difference we see is that a much larger proportion of searches are for nearby venues and for the same day or a short period ahead.”

He added, “You cannot ignore context with a mobile device: the location, time of day, even the weather.  There is also some mobile searching that is directly substituting current PC behaviour (the “sofa surfing”), but the local side is incremental and that’s where there’s a good chance for new services to take off.”

Progress

Google has unveiled a mobile feature that allows advertisers to add a clickable local phone number to mobile paid search ads.

In an interview with EyeforTravel, Rob Torres, managing director for Travel, Google, mentioned that this will be a huge opportunity for travel marketers, especially national advertisers who are experimenting with mobile advertising and remain focused on transparent, performance-based solutions.  

“We are already seeing great results from marketers who have added a phone number to their mobile ads.  Overall marketers are seeing anywhere from 5-30% increase in CTR by adding a phone number to their ad text.  In a recent case study, we found that calls from Google Mobile ads were 22% more likely to be relevant than calls from other lead sources and were 31% more likely to result in a booking,” Torres told EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta.

Commenting on the same, Balabanovic  said, “If you’re searching on a phone then switching to voice is super convenient, and you also see Google, Apple and others investing in voice UIs and voice search.  For simple quick bookings or information requests this has always been a popular channel, the new part is the fluidity switching between web and voice and back.  We’ve done some experiments with a university group in Edinburgh on combined voice and mobile web for our fonefood restaurant booking app.”

Targeted advertising

Mobile network operators have also been working on new mobile advertising services that enable brands to engage and interact directly with targeted segments their customer base.

It showcases the potential power of segmentation and trying to give users the information they want their way.   It is a benefit to the advertisers as segmentation is proven to drive better engagement and users can benefit from getting relevant messages or services rather than being lumped in with the masses. If effective, it can help a network operator deliver better user experiences and therefore reduce customer churn and build loyalty.

“It will be interesting to see how users feel about direct interaction from a third party advertiser and if users will respond positively to this new way to be “communicated with.”  I think it shows how challenging it is to get the user’s attention in this cluttered market and how you need to constantly innovate to deliver relevant and personalised content to stay competitive,” says Meredith Hanrahan, chief marketing officer, Cheapflights Media.

Balabanovic pointed out that the mobile operators are sitting on a scary amount of personal data that can be mined to do better targeting.  

“It will be interesting to see how much of a privacy backlash this provokes.  But from an advertiser’s point of view, it should be possible to be much more relevant,” added Balabanovic.

From a user’s perspective, travel suppliers like InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) believe that the mobile experience will not replace the deliberate planning process involved with something as important as an annual family holiday. For a full planning process, customers need a large screen with multi-tasking and easy inputs. More importantly, the context of the mobile experience does not lend itself to this type of deliberate planning process. Users need a stable environment with few distractions.

“The mobile experience is designed for a real-world context with lots of distractions. It is designed for somebody making a booking while waiting on a busy street corner or hurrying to figure out if a hotel room is available at the next subway stop. Tasks should be easy to complete and in small enough chunks that users can complete them while dealing with real-world distractions,” says Bill Keen, director of product development, IHG. “One area where mobile can help the deliberate planning process is with social networking. Users can quickly share plans and get feedback from co-travellers who are not collocated for the planning process.”

Online Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit Europe 2010

Marko Balabanovic, head - Innovation, lastminute.com is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming two-day Online Marketing and Social Media Strategies for Travel Summit Europe 2010 (5-6, October) to be held in Prague.

For more information, click here

Or contact:

Gina Baillie
VP Global Marketing & Events
EyeforTravel
London, UK: +44 (0)207 375 7197
gina@eyefortravel.com | Comments (0)

Expedia’s Q2 profit nearly triples

Expedia reported a higher-than-expected second quarter profit. The online travel company reported a profit of $114.3 million, compared with $40.9 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose eight percent to $834 million. It was primarily driven by an increase in advertising & media revenues and hotel revenues. Domestic revenue increased 9 percent while international revenue increased 8 percent.

Gross bookings increased 19 percent for the second quarter of 2010 compared with the second quarter of 2009, driven primarily by 10 percent growth in transactions and a 17 percent increase in average airfares. Domestic bookings increased 15 percent and international bookings increased 28 percent.

Revenue as a percentage of gross bookings (revenue margin) was 12.5 percent for the second quarter, a decrease of 121 basis points compared to the second quarter of 2009, due primarily to a higher mix of air bookings, which have a lower revenue margin than other products and services. The higher mix of air bookings is due in part to an increase in air ticket prices.

Gross bookings from Expedia, Inc.’s international businesses were $2.2 billion in the second quarter, accounting for 33 percent of worldwide bookings, up from 31 percent in the prior year period.

International revenues were $301 million, representing 36 percent of worldwide revenue, consistent with the prior year period. EMEA represents roughly one fourth and APAC approximately 5 percent of Expedia, Inc.’s worldwide business. | Comments (0)

Yapta ties up with Booking.com

Airfare tracking and hotel rate tracking service Yapta.com has integrated hotel search results from Booking.com.

Using Yapta’s enhanced hotel rate tracking service, travellers can monitor pricing on over 196,000 domestic and international properties and be alerted via email when prices drop.

Yapta mentioned that Booking.com’s hotel inventory “is particularly deep in EMEA markets”. Considering this, the company expects such content to be highly relevant to international travelers looking to track hotel prices on Yapta.  

Yapta enables travellers to designate the hotel they are most interested in and be automatically alerted when the rate drops – or when it reaches a desired price point.  Yapta checks for the lowest published rate of a tracked hotel and reports decreases to the traveller with a custom email that links them to the savings opportunity.

Yapta launched its hotel rate tracking service in March 2009. To date, Yapta has alerted travelers to more than $350 million in savings.

“Partnering with Yapta not only broadens the distribution of our hotels content, but it also gives travellers a better opportunity to comparison shop and get the best deal on their hotel,” said Jacob Kivett, affiliate sales manager, North America from Booking.com. | Comments (0)

UK consumer searches for flights in June were up 28% on May levels

The total number of UK consumer searches for flights in June were up 28% on May levels, according to the latest quarterly independent research from Greenlight, a specialist search and social marketing consulting and technology firm.

According to the report, ‘Flights Report June 2010’, there were 38 million searches performed online in June by consumers compared to 29 million in May.

However, the research observed a dramatic shift in the way in which they searched for flights online, compared to the previous quarter. Whilst generic keywords accounted for just 6% of online searches for flights in March, they jumped more than five-fold to 40% in June. Meanwhile, search for short haul flights, which accounted for 64% of overall flight search volumes in March, suffered a sharp drop accounting for 38% in June.

Using industry data and proprietary technology, Greenlight identified and classified 356 of the most popular global destinations that UK consumers book flights to and profiled which search terms they used when they went online in June to find flights to each location. The research also took a set of generic keywords which are not destination-specific but are also used when searching for flights.

Key findings reveal:

• The term ‘Flight’ was queried 13.6 million times. It accounted for 88% of the 15.4 million generic flight searches conducted online in June. With 98% share of voice, SkyScanner was the most visible website for generic keywords in natural search. It achieved this through ranking at position one for eight of the generic keywords analysed, overtaking CheapFlights - which lost 81% share of voice, dropping to position 11, having been the most visible website for generic flight searches in March

• Flights to European destinations were the most popular. Palma proved to be the top flight destination, with the term ‘Palma flight’ accounting for 7% of the 14.5 million short haul flight searches conducted in June

• CheapFlights was the most visible website for short haul destinations. It achieved a dominant 96% share of voice through ranking at position one for 439 keywords including the top five most searched for terms: ‘Palma flight’, ‘Alicante flight’, ‘Barcelona flight’, Faro flight’, and ‘Rome flight’. It was likewise for long haul destinations. CheapFlights achieved 95% share of visibility for the 3.1 million searches made in June, 4% of which were for the term ‘Flights to New York’

• On the domestic front, flights searches for London and Dublin were most popular. Of the 2.2 million searches conducted online, the terms ‘London flight’ and ‘Dublin flight’ accounted for 43% and 10% respectively. Visibility-wise, Ryanair, which featured outside of the top 20 most visible websites for domestic flights in March, made great strides. It achieved 56% share of voice to rank at position four in Greenlight’s June league table of most visible websites for domestic flight keywords

• Of the top 10 advertisers in paid search, nine were aggregators and agents, but just one was a direct provider: Thomson. This is consistent with Greenlight’s analysis in its March report, where aggregators were more aggressive in their paid search advertising strategies for the flights industry. Overall in June, eBookers was the most visible advertiser in paid search with 72% visibility, an increase of 18% since March.

Source: Greenlight

To gauge social media interaction with brands, Greenlight monitored the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the top 15 brands in its integrated league table, in order to assess how many ‘fans’ and ‘followers’ each has. Greenlight ranked brands based on the cumulative value of their ‘fans’ and ‘followers’, a score which it terms the Social Media Popularity Index (SMPI). It further analysed the proactivity of brands by considering the number of ‘posts’ and ‘tweets’ brands produced for consumers to interact with in June. Greenlight’s SMPI reveals:
 
BritishAirways was the most followed brand, with a combined following of over 25,000 on Facebook and Twitter. It was also the most interactive brand, as it produced 272 ‘tweets’ in June. Content included responses to customer queries and complaints, plus the latest news on the ongoing staff strike
 
By contrast, Expedia had a following of over 5,000 on Twitter, yet it did not produce a single ‘tweet’ in June and, therefore, it missed out on vital interaction with social media consumers
 
Neither FlightCentre nor Ryanair currently have official UK accounts on Facebook or on Twitter. This is a significant issue for Ryanair, as it received negative commentary on its services and its customer care on unofficial Facebook and Twitter pages. In 2009, it shut down its Twitter accounts, therefore, isolating the brand from social media interaction with consumers

(Greenlight used the data to compile its quarterly league table of the top 60 performing flight brands and websites, in both natural and paid search, based on their website’s visibility in relation to the most popular search terms).

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Identifying those added services and products your customers place value on

IN-DEPTH: Interview with Doug Hesley, corporate director of revenue management, Norwegian Cruise Lines

Ancillary revenue products vary by complexity, cost and their impact on consumers.

For example, monetising ad space in an airlines in-flight magazine is less complex than provision of in-flight catering or hotels to an airline’s consumers. The latter not only requires more expertise but is arguably more central to the consumer experience.

Ancillary performance is about identifying what added services and products your customers place value on and how much that value is worth to them, says Doug Hesley, corporate director of revenue management, Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Travel suppliers and intermediaries acknowledge that any single travel player cannot truly be a “one stop shop” for everything linked to travel. Offering ‘everything’ will dilute the travel provider’s brand equity, and ultimately their ability to deliver. It is important to underline that trying to meet a set of diverse customer needs requires considerable investment and expertise that invariably takes years to develop.

From the offerings perspective, according to Hesley, the best bundles are designed to package added value for the consumer, and all in all, it’s a balancing act.

Hesley, who is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming Travel Distribution Summit North America 2010, to be held in Chicago (13-14 October), spoke to EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta about this balancing act when it comes to bundling, offering value, sustaining profitability and much more. Excerpts:

Tours, activities, restaurants, nightlife, events, and car parking are just some of the many ways that hotels and other travel companies can use to cross-sell to their customers, whilst providing the customer with inspirational and useful, detailed information about the destination as well as potentially boosting SEO results. Which is the best way to go about this?

Doug Hesley:
 
The best bundles are designed to package added value for the consumer.  Keep it simple - add something truly valuable to your core product and make it easy for your customers to find and purchase.  Over-bundling confuses customers, and erodes profitability.  

It’s a balancing act - if you bundle too much value, your profitability suffers; if you don’t bundle enough value, you find yourself further behind tomorrow and planning your next bundle.  
 
From Norwegian Cruise Lines’ perspective, who should be responsible for managing a complete end-to-end ancillary strategy?   
 
Doug Hesley:

The cruise industry has been focused on ancillary revenue for years, understanding that a thorough end-to-end strategy requires many key players.  The success depends upon the correct coordination of efforts along every step of the way, including evaluation of customer data, strategic planning, execution via operations and finally post formal analysis.  Obviously, revenue management is the perfect group to lead these efforts.
 
How do you think RM professionals are currently looking at final Customer Life Time Value optimisation, which takes into account the potential total spend across all current and future properties of an organisation. How do you think the onus is on RM professionals to drive ancillary revenues?
 
Doug Hesley:

Ancillary revenue exists today; for many organisations this is an untapped well. Similar to demand, considerable gains can be made simply by optimising the ancillary revenue that already exists just under the surface.  

Once you've picked that fruit, higher up the tree likely exists greater long-term returns that help redefine organisations through better understanding and leveraging the total lifetime value and cycle of customers.  

To reach those gains, Revenue Management must partner closely with other key players to develop and execute a comprehensive strategy.
 
When it comes to cannibalising core product, which is the best way to introduce new products and services to compliment main sales, not affect them?
 
Doug Hesley:

Ideally your products will complement each other, whether they are multiple versions of a core product or different products altogether.  Cruise lines offer hundreds of itineraries, knowing the plethora of options both increase volume and frequency from existing customers while simultaneously attracting new customers (additional volume) who may not have previously considered making a purchase.

One of the main reasons behind travel companies not tasting much of success in generating ancillary revenues is that they do not have a deep understanding of consumer retail behaviour. How much inroads have made into the same by the industry? How do you think hotels are going about understanding their customers, what they need, and how to go about up-selling and cross-selling to them throughout the booking path?  
 
Doug Hesley:

I believe considerable progress has been made by organisations focused on customer segmentation.  A successful pricing strategy is one that caters to every customer segment; a successful ancillary strategy taps into the willingness of those customers to purchase beyond the core product.  

Unfortunately, the industry has been required to spend a considerable amount of time navigating through the recession; as more time is shifted towards business after the recession we are seeing increased focus on every available means to recover lost revenue (ancillary revenue) through bundling (to increase volume) and unbundling (to tap into new or underutilised revenue streams).  
 
What according to you are the do's and don'ts in Ancillary Services Selling? For example, would you advise cruise lines to concentrate on the part of the business where they can add value and also to enter into commercial relationships with an array of partners?
 
Doug Hesley:

Personally, I make every effort to avoid rewarding customers for purchases they would have made whether I rewarded them or not (unincented demand).  The buyer is already standing at the register with cash in hand, why are you asking if they have today's Wacky Wednesday coupon?  

Ancillary performance is about identifying what added services and products your customers place value on and how much that value is worth to them, and then providing those services and products to them (for a fee).  

When an airline offers me priority boarding and a complimentary beverage in exchange for $10, you'll see me paying $10 with a smile on my face - I value early boarding and safely storing my carry-on. If your organisation doesn't have the ability to successfully deliver those added products and services, partnering with someone who can is something I would recommend that - if you don’t do it, your competitor will.

Travel Distribution Summit North America 2010

Doug Hesley, corporate director of revenue management, Norwegian Cruise Lines, is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming Travel Distribution Summit North America 2010, to be held in Chicago (13-14 October). The two-day event will feature over 60 speakers, including the ones from Hilton, Wyndham, Travelport, Lufthansa, Expedia, Google and from many other such organisations of repute.

For more information, click here:

Or contact:

Marco Saio
Event Director
marco@eyefortravel.com
0044 (0) 207 375 7219

Or

Rosie Akenhead
Event Director
rosie@eyefortravel.com
0044 (0) 207 375 7229 | Comments (0)

Offering the most relevant day-of-travel information

American Airlines has launched its new iPhone application, offering its customers a new way to stay connected with the airline while they are travelling.

The new iPhone application’s intelligent data display allows American to provide the most relevant day-of-travel information.

According to the airline, this means the application knows and displays who the customer is and where they are going – from where they are departing and what gate, to where they will sit, and where they are on the standby list, once they are logged in.

With the new applications, customers are able to:

• Enter log in and password only once – allowing the application to push upcoming flight details to the home screen automatically;
• Set a parking reminder;
• Monitor the standby list;
• Track elite status progress;
• View personal flight details – receive gate, seat and flight status information at a glance; 
• Access Mobile Boarding Pass – the application saves it for you, so it's always easy to find;
• Use GPS to locate the nearest airport served by American;
• View terminal maps;
• Play Sudoku.

The app also provides access to a variety of other tools such as book and check-in for flights, create flight status notifications, check flight status and schedules, access FFP account information and also enroll in it, and access contact information.

The app was designed using customer and employee input. During its development, American conducted usability sessions to gain valuable feedback from AAdvantage members, which helped determine what they valued most. Members with varying ranges of AAdvantage status were able to “test drive” the application during these sessions and voice opinions about the features they liked and found useful during day of travel, and the ones they could do without.

Launch

The new iPhone application will be introduced in several phases as the airline continues to develop the capabilities of the tool, including an iPad-specific version in the coming weeks.

Future versions will further utilise the iPhone’s global positioning features, enable push notifications, International Flight Check-In, request and view the Upgrade List, along with other functions that take advantage of the “app experience”. | Comments (0)

International GDS bookings deliver highest average daily rate increase

The combined global revenue for the GDS and ADS in June was up nearly 30 percent over the prior year.

Hotel average daily rates (ADR) in both corporate and leisure travel are, for the first time since the downturn, remaining steady or growing, according to July’s The Pegasus View from Pegasus Solutions.

Global distribution system (GDS) bookings worldwide realised a year-on-year increase of +6.3 percent in ADR, while this same figure for GDS bookings outside North America actually edged out May for the highest ADR growth year-to-date at +7.5 percent over 2009. Similarly, as the pace of booking volumes eased from May levels for the alternative distribution systems (ADS), ADR for the channel compared to the prior year did not budge, according to Pegasus.

Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions, said, “It’s clear to us that demand is increasing and room supply growth is slowing – the formula for higher occupancy, ADR and revenue. This month, however, we’re most pleased to see evidence that hotels are harnessing the value of strategic pricing. The end of the rate nosedive, especially in the leisure sector, and as evidenced by Marriott’s recent announcement to boost corporate rates, shows hoteliers are capitalising on their worth, which will be imperative to a full recovery.”

June GDS bookings were +23.5 percent higher than the prior year, making it the third consecutive month this year to experience double-digit growth through the channel. These gains in bookings also eclipsed comparative figures for 2008 and 2007 by more than +43 percent. Another encouraging GDS trend was a growing length of stay, indicating an easing of corporate travel budgets.

Other positive data included a slight length of stay increase for the global ADS. The channel is still exhibiting signs of bargain-shopping with the average look-to-book ratio climbing approximately +50 percent over 2009 for the second month in a row. However, ADR did not retreat on a global level, and for markets outside North America actually increased slightly, helping support a revenue increase of +20.8 percent from a bookings increase of +20.1 percent. | Comments (0)

New airfare shopping mobile app launched

ITA Software has launched its airfare shopping mobile app, OnTheFly, for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.

Airlines and travel distributors can license and integrate OnTheFly into their branded mobile products and booking platforms to take advantage of this new sales and service channel.

Travellers can also download the shopping-only version for free from the App Store. Mobile applications for BlackBerry and Android platforms are planned for later in 2010.

OnTheFly enables users to easily shop for optimal airfares for any itinerary in the world, according to the company.

Built on QPX, ITA’s airfare pricing and shopping engine, OnTheFly offers the same comparison shopping features used by many travel companies and by ITA’s Matrix airfare search application at http://matrix.itasoftware.com.

Specific features include:

• Flexible airport selection automatically suggests additional airports around origin or destination and allows multiple airports to be selected;
• Intuitive travel date selector enables users to specify either single or multiple departure and arrival dates in one calendar interaction; 
• Fine-grained control over search parameters allows users to specify number and type of passengers, departure and arrival times, number of permitted stops, cabin class, and others;  
• Easy-to-read chart summaries of search results enable easy comparison among airlines, number of stops, travel dates and airports, as well as total mileage and carbon emissions for each trip;  
• The ability to build an itinerary flight by flight makes it easy to explore multiple options, with controls for sorting flights by airline, price, departure time, arrival time, flight duration, and number of permitted stops; 
• Full disclosure of exact airfare calculation, including all taxes and fees, provides all information necessary to make a reservation and purchase the ticket.

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easyJet’s Q3 revenue up by 5.3% to £759.2 million

easyJet says it continued to deliver a “good commercial performance” in the third quarter despite the challenges presented by significant disruption caused by volcanic ash and, more recently, the combination of air traffic control industrial action and crewing issues in some parts of its network.

Passenger numbers increased by 3.5% to 12.3 million. The majority of the growth reflects the continued development of non-UK originating passengers which increased by 3.7 percentage points to 53.1% of total passengers.

Total revenue per seat increased by 3.5% to £53.23, driven by passenger revenue growth up 4.5% (reported and constant currency) reflecting the strength of the easyJet network

Ancillary revenue

Ancillary revenues were flat in the period at £9.95 per seat. The checked bag charge, declined by 1.1% in the period to £4.60 per seat as charges were waived in the period immediately after the volcanic disruption.

Ancillary revenues, excluding the checked bag charge, increased by 0.1% per seat in the quarter.

“This is despite the £2.5 million negative impact from regulatory changes to the sales process for insurance products. Hotel and car hire revenues have also declined against a difficult economic environment. As a result of our improved offering, on board spend per head has continued to increase and grew from £1.84 to £2.00. However a change in European Union VAT regulation has negatively impacted margins. Actions to mitigate this impact are now in place,” stated the airline in an official release.

Impact of the volcanic ash on the period results

The disruption to European airspace due to the eruption of the Eyjafjalla volcano had a significant impact on the financial results of the business in the period. Over 7,000 flights were cancelled impacting nearly a million passengers and causing an estimated lost profit of £65 million, full details of which are set out in the table below. Had the current more appropriate ash related flight restrictions been in place throughout the period of disruption, the estimated financial loss from the volcanic ash cloud would have been limited to around £20 million.

Outlook

easyJet mentioned that forward bookings are in line with the prior year and with 64% of the fourth quarter seats now sold, total revenue per seat growth for the final quarter at constant currency is expected to be in the range of 2% to 3%.

“Therefore full year total revenue per seat at constant currency is expected to increase by around 2.5%, a better performance than originally expected,” stated the airline.  | Comments (0)

O’Leary sells off €20 million Ryanair shares

Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary has sold five million of his 60 million shares in the airline for €3.90 a piece.

As per the information available, Davy Stockbrokers placed the shares at 3.90 euros apiece, according to the person, who declined to be identified. Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for Ryanair, said the company doesn’t comment on the personal dealings of O’Leary. The move has resulted in a gain of €19.5m, which is then subject to capital gains tax of 20pc, making for a €3.9m windfall for the exchequer and leaving O’Leary with €15.6m.

O’Leary was paid €595,000 for his role as chief executive at Ryanair in the year to the end of March, after he took a voluntary 10pc pay cut. His bonus for the period was almost cut in half, to €241,000.

Ryanair recently reported a pre-tax profit of €105m for the three months to the end of June.


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