If you were thinking of including Greece in your European itinerary, Ryan Air had some deals, including non-stop flights to Greek islands from (presently, with a favorable VAT!) from major European cities, and a lot flights utilizing Athens airport to airports both inside and outside Greece.

Here's the interactive Ryan Air map. Click on a Greek airport, and you can see non-stop flights utilizing that airport to other places.

https://www.ryanair.com/en/cheap-flight-destinations/

Ryan Air is calling its promotion "Keep Flying Greece". Some of the flights start at prices less than 10 euros, making it easier to buy those extra goodies.

They must have spotted a drop off in bookings via their very sophisticaated algorithms and decided to drop prices to suck in more customers. The "Keep Flying Greece" is a teaser as part of their "being nice" strategy after years of being nasty. Still I doubt they will be charging their client airports any less for the pleasure of having them land.

I happen to like Ryan Air. I've actually never had a bad experience flying them, and they fly to some great places that are othrwise hard to reach with the majors. I particularly like that the seats don't recline. "Nasty" to me is the joker in front of me reclining for a 1 hour flight.

All the airlines have algorithms that push discounted tickets to fill the plane, and I am not surprised -- given the hysteria I see in the media -- that some people aren't booking Greece. But some of these tempting deals will probably get people to change their mind. I'm looking at flights from Italy to the Greek islands, and realizing some of them are cheaper than my local taxi fares in Italy, and that is just to take my cat to the vet, not have the wild beauty of a Greek sunset.

This is a great move by RA. Flights to Spain are currently silly prices.

Strange though as the reports here were that booking to Greece were very high.

I fear for the islands if they are forced into a unified application of VAT. Some islands such as Corfu and Kephalonia are expensive as it is.

But then you'd be flying Ryan Air...

Maybe it's just me, but I drive straight past Stansted Airport where the UK Ryanair flights depart so I can fly from Heathrow to Greece with Aegean Airlines or BA. I would rather book with an airline that shows the final price upfront even if it ends up costing more.

"Nasty" to me is the joker in front of me reclining for a 1 hour flight.

And "nasty" to me is some would-be travel expert who has decided that even though I PAID for a seat that reclines I'm not supposed to enjoy that feature so little whiner will feel "happy."

Heimdall,

I choose the majors and legacy airlines over Ryan Air sometimes, especially if I have luggage. But Ryan Air really comes in handy if you travel to places off the beaten track (like Thessaloniki!) I didn't find it hard to master the Ryan Air booking procedure, and I know what I'm paying for (and what I am not paying for).

Also, what I save flying Ryan Air enables me to fly business class for longer flights. In business class with flat beds, I'm not stuck behind some sorry sort who could only afford economy but still wants to recline.

I think a lot of people have somewhat out of date ideas about Ryanair. It is not and probably never will come anywhere near luxury travel, but the website is very transparent and easy to use now and CS has improved enormously. I also love the non-reclining seats - everyone is guaranteed the same amount of space for the entire flight - bliss.

Correction to my original post:

While I am sure the 30 percent discount applies to all international flights in and out of Greece, some news indicate that the discount doesn't apply to flights strictly within Greece. However, if you are going to one of the islands from mainland Europe, there are some non-stop Ryan flights to the islands, and it might be that the discount applies to the whole package if you book a flight to an island that has a Ryan air layover in Athens.

I'm not in a hurry to fly FR again after the last trip couple weeks ago. FR bag drop was a mess and took 45 mins by which time the gate was closed & people start to panic and push in to get to the front of the line. Best travel with carry on only if you can. Same with Easyjet though, and this stress is not something I want when I am going on holiday. I only went on FR because it was a last minute booking and BA etc were very expensive as I didn't book in advance. I do agree that it can be convenient that they use out of the way airports or airports not used by other airlines (depending on where your final destination is of course), but this is only an advantage IMO if your journey does not involve Stansted. The last trip culminated in a go-around at Stansted on the return flight, which is quite unpleasant esp as no particular reason was given apart from "traffic".

BA or similar are definitely my preference, FR is a shabby experience in comparison.

There was a story on BBC a few days ago about the long queues at Stansted Airport border control. I've used the airport several times in the past with no problem, but Stansted has gotten busier in recent years, no doubt partly because of more Ryanair flights.

RM67, I know that Ryanair has been on a charm offensive recently, but people have long memories.

"...people have long memories."

I have a long memory. At least so far. If it's discovered I've booked on RA, I'll likely also forget I've done so.

<i> some news indicate that the discount doesn't apply to flights strictly within Greece</i>

I see a 27.98€ round trip fare for Athens - Santorini and a 14.97€ for a Athens - Thessaloniki round trip.

My top tip for clearing immigration quickly at Stansted (courtesy of Tommy) is not to use the automatic passport checking gate thingies - they are crap, don't work half the time and need repeated human intervention. Go for one of the manned desks even if the queue looks longer - you will be through quicker.

'I happen to like Ryan Air. I've actually never had a bad experience flying them'

Godd for you Sandra. I travelled with them 8 years ago with my son in a wheelchair after a chemiotherapy.
They couldn't have cared less and behaved less than friendly : they just didn't behave at all. They simply ignored my son.
I still use them, but I hate them.

I use them for work and avoid them when I fly with my family.

But it is a reliable company, safe, on time, cheap and with aircrafts well maintained. They are just run by an inhumane system.
Internal and external.

As long as you are fit to travel, they are ok.
Anyway, my rant is over, just can't get over it.
Have all a good day.

<<But it is a reliable company, safe, on time, cheap and with aircrafts well maintained.>> How do you know they are safe? If there is one thing I don't feel on FR, it is safe. They are not always cheap either.

Safe : because their reports are ok and they have not crashed up to now. They are not on IATA' list of companies to be avoided.
So with info on hand they are safe.
Did you often fly wiht htme ? I've done it about 100 times, never felt unsafe.
Must say I never felt unsafe in a plane except for one short leg in Cuba in an Antonov. Which was probably ok.

Ryanair is safe, and they now have more passengers on international flights than any other airline. If all you are looking for is a cheap flight, and you read the terms & conditions carefully, then they are fine.

I just don't like their idea of customer relations. Part of the charm offensive seems to be muzzling Michael O'Leary, but he is still the CEO.

Quotes from Michael O'Leary:
http://www.theguardian.com/business/...daftest-quotes

<i>...and they now have more passengers on international flights than any other airline</i>

This is the same as bragging about how many prisoners you can fit into a given space .