On the matter of The Middle Earth Taxi Service

Time and again the main "plot hole" flaw that I have heard levelled against, first The Lord Of The Rings, and now also The Hobbit, is why the Eagles, those fierce and inscrutable creatures of Middle Earth, didn't conveniently take Gandalf and his Company to exactly where they wanted to go? Meanwhile in real life, thousands of people every day board Ryanair flights...