Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
The Guardian, Friday 3 April 2009

Ryanair's service levels are so bad that an increasing number of passengers
would prefer to take a three-hour boat trip across the Irish Sea, one of
Europe's leading ferry operators said yesterday.

Stena Line reported a 10% increase in passengers on its Dublin to Holyhead route
in February and claimed that passenger dismay at air travel conditions was a big
contributor to the shift. Gunnar Blomdahl, Stena Line chief executive, said his
business had ramped up service standards while Ryanair, the dominant carrier
between London and Dublin, had gone in the other direction with its "insulting"
staff.

"I think we have benefited from all the trouble you have at the airport. First
you are insulted by a Ryanair person, then you have to get through security," he
said. "We have gone the other way and made it easier. The ferries are also much
better than they were four or five years ago."

The Dublin-Holyhead crossing was an often notorious experience for the vast
majority of travellers who could not afford the high fares on Aer Lingus and
British Airways. Rough weather and drab facilities made it an arduous journey,
but Blomdahl said Stena had improved its boats beyond recognition over the past
five years. He added that public rumblings over add-on charges and service
standards at Ryanair had coincided with a concerted effort by ferry operators to
win back business.

Asked about reactions to Ryanair's charging regime, he said: "Everybody is
talking about it, so there must be an opinion that it is not fun. They have gone
the other way when it comes to improvements. We have improved our product."

A Rynair spokesman said the airline was unaffected by the Swedish company's
revival. A spokesman said: "Please ignore the ramblings of Stena Lines's Captain
Hook. Ryanair carried more passengers to and from London in February than the
entire ferry industry carried on all routes to and from Ireland. Ferry travel is
simply for those transporting bullocks." Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair chief
executive, often cites the dramatic fall in London-to-Dublin fares as one of the
airline's proudest achievements.

Blomdahl added that a sharp drop in freight traffic on Stena ferries had allowed
the company to offer discounts and more capacity to leisure passengers on its
Ireland vessels. A 15% reduction in freight traffic has resulted in more space
for passenger cars, he said. Stena had lost about 5% of its business to airlines
on the Irish sea route over the past five years, he said, but he claimed that
the company had now clawed back some of those passengers: "In bad times people
tend to use the ferries more. It is cheaper to take the family in a car than to
fly."

Blomdahl was speaking as family-owned Stena announced an operating profit of
272m Swedish kronor (£23m) last year, down from Skr612m in 2007 as high fuel
prices and the recession took their toll. The Stena boss said freight traffic on
its ferries in Britain and Scandinavia was down 15%, in line with global trade
figures. However, he added that there were some signs of recovery on the
Holyhead-Dublin route, which is showing less serious declines from trucks
carrying consumer goods.

"The Irish sea route was first into the crisis and, because it is recovering a
bit, maybe we are seeing the first one out. But I still think that 2009 will be
a tough year." Blomdahl added that there was still no sign of an uplift in
freight demand on its Scandinavian services.