Ryanair (, ) is an Irish airline with headquarters in Dublin and its biggest operational base at London Stansted Airport in the UK. It is Europe's largest low-cost carrier.
Ryanair operates 729 routes across Europe and North Africa from 29 bases. The airline has been characterised by rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the air industry in Europe in 1997. Ryanair is the third largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers and the world's largest in terms of international passenger numbers.
Ryanair has grown since its establishment in 1985, from a small airline flying a short hop from Waterford to London, into one of Europe's largest carriers. After taking the rapidly growing airline public in 1997 the money raised was used to expand the airline into a pan-European carrier. Revenues have risen from €231 million in 1998 to some €843 million in 2003, and net profits have increased from €48 million to €239 million over the same period.
Half year profits for the period ended 31 October 2007 included ancillary revenue of €252 million. This activity was associated with the sale of car hire, hotels, travel insurance, as well as on board sales and excess baggage revenues. Ancillary revenue now accounts for just over 16% of total revenues.
In 1986 the company added a second route – flying Dublin-London Luton in direct competition to the Aer Lingus / BA duopoly for the first time. Under partial EU Deregulation, airlines could begin new international intra-EU services as long as at least one of the two governments gave approval (the so-called "double-disapproval" regime). The Irish government at the time refused its approval in order to protect Aer Lingus, but Britain, under Margaret Thatcher's pro-free-market Conservative government, approved the service. With two routes and two planes, the fledgling airline carried 82,000 passengers in one year.
Passenger numbers continued to increase, but the airline generally ran at a loss, and by 1991 was in need of restructuring. Michael O'Leary was charged with the task of making the airline profitable. Ryan encouraged him to visit the USA to study the 'low fares/no frills' model being used by Southwest Airlines. O'Leary quickly decided that the key to low fares was to implement quick turn-around times for aircraft, "no frills", and no business class, as well as operating a single model of aircraft.
O'Leary returned, convinced that Ryanair could make huge inroads into the European air market, at that time dominated by national carriers which were subsidised to various degrees by their parent countries. He competed with the major airlines by providing a "no-frills", low-cost service. Flights were scheduled into regional airports, which offered lower landing and handling charges than larger established international airports. O'Leary as Chief Executive did a publicity stunt where he helped out with baggage handling on Ryanair flights at Dublin airport. By 1995, after the consistent pursuit of its low-cost business model, Ryanair celebrated its 10th birthday by carrying 2.25 million passengers.
The airline launched its website in 2000, with online booking initially said to be a small and unimportant part of the software supporting the site. Increasingly the online booking contributed to the aim of cutting flight prices by selling direct to passengers and excluding the costs imposed by travel agents. Within a year the website was handling three-quarters of all bookings, and now accounts for 100% of the total.
Ryanair launched a new hub of operation in Brussels South Charleroi Airport in 2001. Later that year, the airline ordered 155 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft from Boeing at what was believed to be a substantial discount, (taking full advantage of the downturn in aeroplane orders after the slump in air travel following the September 2001 aircraft attacks in the United States) to be delivered over eight years from 2002 to 2010. Approximately 100 of these aircraft had been delivered by the end of 2005, although there were slight delays in late 2005 caused by production disruptions arising from a Boeing machinists' strike.
In 2002, Ryanair launched 26 new routes and established a hub in Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, its European expansion firmly on track.
In 2003, Ryanair announced the order of a further 100 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft, and in February a third continental base was opened at Milan-Bergamo in Italy.
In April 2003 Ryanair acquired its ailing competitor Buzz from KLM at a knock-down price. Expansion continued with the launch of a base at Stockholm (Skavsta), Sweden. By the end of 2003, the airline flew 127 routes, of which 60 had opened in the previous 12 months.
The airline launched two more bases in the first half of 2004, at Rome (Ciampino) and Barcelona (Girona), increasing the total to 11 hubs.
During 2004, Michael O'Leary warned of a "bloodbath" during the winter from which only two or three low-cost airlines would emerge, the expectation being that these would be Ryanair and EasyJet. A modest loss of €3.3 million in the second quarter of 2004 was the airline's first recorded loss for 15 years. However, the airline immediately bounced back to ever greater profits afterwards. The enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004 opened the way to more new routes as Ryanair and other budget airlines tapped the markets of the EU accession countries.
In February 2005, Ryanair announced an order for a further 70 Boeing 737-800 aircraft along with an option for a further 70. This was expected at the time to allow Ryanair to increase passenger numbers from the 34 million expected in 2005 to 70 million in 2011. Some of these aircraft would be deployed at Ryanair's 12 European hubs, others to 10 new hubs the company intended to establish over the next seven years. In an example of the airline's relentless prioritising of cost over all other factors, the aircraft will be delivered without window shades (rumoured in media, although regulations of the Irish Aviation Authority mean that Ryanair's newest airplanes still do contain window blinds), seat back recline and seat back pockets, which result in savings of several hundred thousand dollars per aircraft and give continued savings through reduced cleaning and repair costs.
In June 2006, the company announced that in the quarter ending 30 June 2006 its average yields were 13% higher than the same quarter of the previous year and its passenger numbers were up by 25% to 10.7 million, although year-on-year comparison was difficult because of the movement of Easter from first quarter 2005 to second quarter 2006. Net profits (€115.7m) increased by 80% over the same quarter in 2005. Management indicated that this level of growth may not be sustained for the remainder of this year, despite adding 27 new aircraft and opening new routes.
Ryanair's passenger numbers have grown by up to 25% a year for most of the last decade. Carrying under 0.7 million annually in its early years, passenger figures grew to 21.4 million in 2003. The rapid addition of new routes and new hubs has enabled this growth in passenger numbers, and Ryanair is now among the largest carriers on European routes. In August 2004, the airline carried 20% more passengers within Europe than British Airways.
Ryanair posted record half-year profits of €329 million for the six months ending 30 September 2006. Over the same period passenger traffic grew by more than a fifth to 22.1m passengers and revenues rose by a third to €1.256 billion
Aer Lingus floated on the Irish Stock Exchange on 2 October 2006 following a decision by the Irish government to sell more than 50% of its 85.1% share in the company. Workers retained a 15% stake. The shares began trading at €2.20 each, valuing the firm at €1.13bn. Ryanair said it had bought a 16% stake in Aer Lingus and was offering €2.80 per share for remaining shares. On the same day Aer Lingus rejected Ryanair's takeover bid, saying the bid was contradictory. With a total of 47% of Aer Lingus in the hands of the Irish Government, the employee share ownership trust, and other entities that have publicly rejected the bid, and a further 4% in the hands of Bank of Ireland and AIB who are considered highly unlikely to sell, the takeover bid is now effectively dead. The Ryanair website describes the attempted take over as, "In October...we make an all cash offer for the small regional airline, Aer Lingus".
Fourth quarter 2006 profits far exceeded analyst expectations, and over the period from October 2006 to February 2007, the stock rose by some 50%. The press suggested that Ryanair is now selling on its 737-800s at higher prices than the cost of acquisition from Boeing. They also noted that average fares keep increasing.
In contrast to its popular advertising messages and regular free seat sales, the airline's average fares have been rising for three years|||Financial Times|
In January, following a BBC investigation, Ryanair conceded that a claim it had cut its CO2 emissions by half in recent years was "an error".
In the meantime, Ryanair started its flight operation to the island of Malta, from Dublin, Luton and Pisa. New bases have been created at Bremen (April), Weeze (June), Bristol (November), Alicante, Valencia and Belfast George Best.
In May, Ryanair launched BING. This application brings daily fare specials to the user's computer.
On 16 May, Ryanair launched a seat sale with fees, taxes and charges waived. A small number of destinations, including Dublin, were offered with 1 million seats for 1 penny or 1 Euro cent. Ryanair's website crashed as it received four million hits from bargain hunters. The sale lasted until the following Monday with just over half a million free seats taken up.
On 18 July, the British Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ordered Ryanair not to repeat a claim that airline industry "accounts for just 2% of carbon dioxide emissions". The ASA ruled it breached rules on truthfulness by not explaining the figure was based on global rather than UK emissions (which are 5.5% of the total) and exclude incoming flight figures.
On 6 September, Ryanair announced that it will establish a 23rd base at George Best Belfast City Airport.
In August, the company announced it would start charging passengers to check-in at the airport, therefore reversing its policy of paying for online check-in. It says that by cutting airport check-in it reduces overhead costs.
In October 2007, Ryanair began to decommission some of its older 737-800 series aircraft that were originally purchased in 1998. The aircraft are to be sold off to Brazilian airline Varig.
The following list consists of a few European airports that is currently serving with Ryanair.
One of their advertisements used a picture of the Manneken Pis, a famous Belgian statue of a urinating urchin, with the words: "Pissed off with Sabena's high fares? Low fares have arrived in Belgium." Sabena sued and the court ruled that the advertisements were misleading and offensive. Ryanair was ordered to discontinue the advertisements immediately or face fines. Ryanair was also obliged to publish an apology and publish the court decision on their website. Ryanair used the apologies for further advertising, primarily further price comparisons. 
Another of their advertisements featured a model dressed as a schoolgirl accompanied by the words "Hottest back to school fares". After receiving 13 complaints, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) instructed them to withdraw the advert in the United Kingdom, saying that it "appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour and was irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence". Ryanair said that they would "not be withdrawing this ad" and would "not provide the ASA with any of the undertakings they seek", on the basis that they found it abstract that "a picture of a fully clothed model is now claimed to cause 'serious or widespread offence', when many of the UK's leading daily newspapers regularly run pictures of topless or partially dressed females without causing any serious or widespread offence".
In April 2008, Ryanair faced a probe by the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after a string of complaints about its adverts. It was found to have breached advertising rules seven times in two years. ASA's director general Christopher Graham commented that formal referrals to the OFT were rare, the last occurring in 2005. He added that the ASA "would prefer to work with advertisers within the self-regulatory system rather than call in a statutory body, but Ryanair's approach has left us with no option." Ryanair countered with the claim that the ASA had "demonstrated a repeated lack of independence, impartiality and fairness".
The airline has come under heavy criticism in the past for its poor treatment of disabled passengers. In 2002, it refused to provide wheelchairs for disabled passengers at Stansted Airport, greatly angering disabled rights groups. The airline argued that this provision was the responsibility of the airport authority, stating that wheelchairs were provided by 80 of the 84 Ryanair destination airports at that time. A court ruling in 2004 judged that the responsibility should be shared by the airline and the airport owners; Ryanair responded by adding a surcharge of £0.50 to all its flight costs.
Ryanair does not offer customers the possibility of contacting them by email or webform, only through a premium rate phone line, by fax or by post. An Early day motion in the British Parliament put forward in 2006 criticized Ryanair for this reason and called on the company to provide customers with a means to contact the company by e-mail.. Some people claim that Ryanair is therefore flouting UK E-commerce Regulations, which state that the email address of the service provider must be given.
Ryanair denied the allegations and published its correspondence with Dispatches on its website. It claims to have forwarded all twenty allegations to the UK and Irish aviation authorities, both of whom agreed that there was no substance to them. It also alleged that the programme was misleading and that promotional materials, in particular a photograph of a stewardess sleeping, had been faked by Dispatches.
Much of the subsequent coverage of the programme in the media considered that the documentary was overblown and failed to make substantive claims against the airline, with some going so far as to label the attempted exposé as a vindication for Ryanair. Following the documentary, Ryanair launched new services and a free flights offer.
Ryanair's general stance on environmental matters has led a UK government minister to label the airline the "irresponsible face of capitalism" in early 2007.
Airlines which attempt to compete directly with Ryanair are treated harshly, with Ryanair reducing fares to significantly undercut their competitors. In response to MyTravelLite, who started to compete with Ryanair on the Birmingham to Dublin route in 2003, Ryanair set up competing flights on some of MyTravelLite's routes until they pulled out. Go was another airline which attempted to offer services from Ryanair's hub at Dublin to Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. A fierce battle ensued, which ended with Go withdrawing its service from Dublin.
In September 2004, Ryanair's biggest competitor, EasyJet, announced routes to the Republic of Ireland for the first time, beginning with the Cork to London Gatwick route. Until then, easyJet had never competed directly with Ryanair on its home ground. Easyjet announced in July 2006 that it was withdrawing its Gatwick-Cork, Gatwick-Shannon and Gatwick-Knock services; within two weeks Ryanair also announced it would withdraw its own service on the Gatwick-Knock and Luton-Shannon routes.
Ryanair have asked the high court to investigate why they were refused permission to fly from Knock to Dublin. This route was won by CityJet, who were unable to operate the service. The runner up, Aer Arann was then allowed to start flights, a move Ryanair criticises on the basis that not initiating an additional tender process was unlawful.
DFDS Seaways cited competition from low-cost air services, especially Ryanair (which now flies to Glasgow Prestwick and London Stansted from Gothenburg City Airport) as the reason for its scrapping the Newcastle-Gothenburg ferry service in October 2006. It was the only dedicated passenger ferry service between Sweden and the United Kingdom and had been running since the 19th century (under various operators).
Ryanair negotiates extremely aggressive contracts with its airports, demanding very low landing and handling fees as well as financial assistance with marketing and promotional campaigns. In subsequent contract renewal negotiations, the airline plays airports off against each other, threatening to withdraw services and deploy the aircraft elsewhere if the airport does not make further concessions. In April 2006, a failure to reach agreement on a new commercial contract resulted in Ryanair announcing that it would withdraw service on the Dublin–Cardiff route at short notice. The airport management rebutted Ryanair's assertion that airport charges were unreasonably high, noting that Cardiff charges were already below Ryanair's average, and claimed that Ryanair had recently adopted the same negotiating approach with Cork Airport and London Stansted Airport. Ryanair was forced to give up its Rome Ciampino–Alghero route after the route was allocated to Air One as a Public Service Obligation (PSO) route. The European Commission is investigating the actions of the Italian Government in assigning PSO routes and thus restricting competition.
As of May 2008, the Ryanair fleet consists of the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total In Service | Orders | Options | Passengers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-800 | 166 | 138 | 170 | 189 |
Under European aviation legislation, aircraft must carry contingency fuel of around 5% of a trip's fuel requirement, and enough to divert to an alternative airport if required. It is standard practice in the airline industry for captains to anticipate delays from headwinds, storms and rerouting, and to request extra fuel as required to cope with it. An internal Ryanair memo sent to pilots in May 2008, and seen by the Sunday Times, insisted that any request by an aircraft captain for extra fuel should be the "exception" and referred to a 300kg maximum. In the case of a Boeing 737, 300kg of extra fuel would provide about 5 minutes additional flying time.
The memo also shows that Ryanair is issuing warning letters to pilots who request extra fuel without explanation, letters which company pilots claim can be used in disciplinary proceedings. A company spokesman admitted that pilots were allowed extra fuel only in "exceptional cases" and said that Ryanair had suffered one incident in the past three years due a low fuel situation.
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