Low-cost airline Ryanair has announced a partnership with the Erasmus Student Network, to offer discounted flights to students across Europe while on their Erasmus+ program.
Students with a valid ESNcard will be eligible for a 15% discount on eight one-way fares, or four roundtrips, a year.
Students will also be able to check a bag of up to 15kg for free, and will be offered in-journey deals on the Ryanair app, as well as weekly travel offers.
Ryanair has promoted European integration over the past 30 years, said an airline spokesperson, providing young people with the freedom to fly cheaply across Europe.
“There are a lot of similarities between Ryanair and the Erasmus Student Network, in terms of driving European integration and mobility”
“There are a lot of similarities between Ryanair and the Erasmus Student Network, in terms of driving European integration and mobility,” he told The PIE News. “And the unrivalled breadth of coverage across Europe.”
Over eight million students have flown on Ryanair in FY17, according to the company. And with the 15% discounts and free checked bag, it estimates student savings of around €600m a year.
Hugo Urción, partnerships manager at the Erasmus Student Network, said that with the current geopolitical events both in Europe and beyond, encouraging travel is vital.
“What is really important at ESN at the moment is to promote not only just mobility itself but also the multiculturalism that brings this mobility,” he told The PIE News.
“It’s something that helps [students] to understand that basically travelling and mobility and to get to know other cultures and get to know other people is what really matters.”
The deals will be promoted locally, nationally and internationally, said Urción, with the aim of reaching students both during and before their Erasmus+ experience.
This partnership is part of Ryanair’s ‘Always Getting Better’ program, which is now in its fourth year.
In the past three years the airline has attempted to enhance its services by allowing two free carry-on bags, offering allocated seating, launching a Ryanair USA website and improving functionalities to the mobile app.
