SAS surprised yet again of Ryanair’s behaviour

Although Ryanair a few weeks ago refused its original offer of free flights to SAS’ board members to experience the low-service airline, SAS Group’s Director of Communication and Executive Vice President, Claus Sonberg, today made his first flight with Ryanair, which could be followed via both Facebook (www.facebook.com/flysas) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/sasgroup).

Once Claus Sonberg had landed at London Stansted though, Ryanair – in its continuous dirty-trick style – sent out a press release with inaccurate information. This is Ryanair’s third misleading press release regarding SAS in the past three months. On SAS’ Facebook account, a Fletcher Reede kept updating with Ryanair messages. Ironically, Fletcher Reede is Jim Carrey’s character who cannot stop lying in the 1996 movie Liar, Liar.

In its release, Ryanair falsely claims Claus saved 1,400NOK by travelling Ryanair instead of SAS. Ryanair also quoted a misleading and inaccurate SAS fare of 3,344NOK compared to Ryanair’s 970NOK, as the airline deleted a number of services that it charges for. Ryanair also failed to acknowledge that its starting price for the fare was a low 299NOK, far from the final purchase price. As always, SAS’ fares are open and include no hidden charges.

“When I booked my first Ryanair flight last Monday, it came to 1564NOK, including checked in luggage, priority boarding and SMS confirmation, which are only some of the services Ryanair recommends, but charges you extra for. When checking SAS flights on the exact same dates and similar times, the price came to 1918NOK. A saving of 354NOK does not equate well to all the extra hours of travelling when flying with Ryanair. I had to get up before 6am Oslo time to be in London for a meeting at 1pm, local time,” says Claus Sonberg, Executive Vice President, Group Communications, SAS Group.

Claus Sonberg will return to Scandinavia tomorrow with Ryanair. To follow Claus’ journey live, please go to www.facebook.com/flysas or sign up for SAS’ Twitter at: www.twitter.com/sasgroup.For more information:
Claus Sonberg, Executive Vice President, Group Communication, SAS Group, +46 709 – 97 16 60