Cable & Wireless lands €15m Ryanair European network deal

22 Sep 2009

Low-fares airline Ryanair has awarded a €15m contract to Cable & Wireless to manage its European IT and communications network across 180 airports in 26 countries, it emerged today.

As part of the agreement, Cable & Wireless will manage Ryanair’s entire European telecommunication network, including all airports, bases, data centres and corporate offices. Cable & Wireless will provide an “always-on communications” network.

The deal will cover all aspects of passengers’ interactions with the airline, from online booking to airport check-in.

Ryanair check-in kiosks will use Cable & Wireless’ network, providing passengers with the ability to bypass traditional ticket lines, increasing speed, convenience and service as they travel through airports. The new touch-screen system also offers passengers the option to obtain boarding passes and to check in bags.

“This contract will enable us to gain better productivity and efficiency at lower costs from using a single large telecommunication network,” said Eric Neville, head of IT, Ryanair.

“Ryanair benefits from commercial flexibility across the entire solution, providing us the capacity to grow our passenger numbers to 67 million in 2010. We’ve worked with Cable & Wireless for a number of years now, and it has consistently delivered the excellent service we require. Its innovation, expertise and ability to service our network enabled the company to win this new contract.

“As we develop our facilities, it is important that we have a communication network that delivers what we need in terms of reliability and operational effectiveness, but also has the capacity to grow its pan-European network. The solution from Cable & Wireless meets all our criteria while offering all the assurances we need in terms of customer service, resilience and security,” said Neville.

“Each Ryanair site will be connected into a single secure, future-proof, high-speed Wide Area Network based on our next-generation network.”

“This is a fantastic deal for Cable & Wireless, as it cements our strategic relationship with Ryanair to 2014,” said Nick Lambert, managing director, Global Markets, Cable & Wireless Worldwide.

“With this latest contract we continue to prove our capability to provide the critical infrastructure that meets the company’s needs now – and a communication solution that has the flexibility and scalability to grow with its business in the future. We look forward to delivering an excellent customer experience to Europe’s largest low-fares airline and provide its business critical communication services,” added Lambert.

By John Kennedy

Photo: Cable & Wireless will manage Ryanair’s European IT and communications network across 180 airports.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com