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For similarly named air carriers, see Ryan Airlines.

Ryanair
IATA ICAO Callsign
FR RYR RYANAIR
Founded1985 (1985)
Commenced operations1985 (1985)
Operating bases
List of bases
Fleet size298
Destinations165[2]
HeadquartersDublin Airport, Fingal, Ireland
Key people
RevenueIncrease €4.325 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Operating incomeIncrease €683.2 million (FY 2012)[3]
Net incomeIncrease €374.6 million (FY 2012)[3]
Total assetsIncrease €9.001 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Total equityIncrease €3.308 billion (FY 2012)[3]
Websitewww.ryanair.com
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Ryanair Ltd. (Template:Ise, LSE: RYA, Nasdaq: RYAAY) is an Irish low-cost airline. Its headquarters is located on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Swords, Fingal, Ireland, with its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted Airports.

Ryanair operates over 290 Boeing 737–800 aircraft. The airline has been characterised by rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the aviation industry in Europe in 1997 and the success of its low-cost business model.

History

ATR-42 in 1991

Since its establishment in 1984, Ryanair has grown from a small airline flying the short journey from Waterford to London into one of Europe's largest carriers. Ryanair now employs over 8,500 members of staff (as of 2012) including over 1,200 pilots. After the rapidly growing airline went 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 €1,843 million in 2003 and €3013 million in 2010. Similarly net profits have increased from €48 million to €339 million over the same period.[4]

Early years

Ryanair was founded in 1985 by Christopher Ryan, Liam Lonergan (owner of Irish travel agent Club Travel) and Irish businessman Tony Ryan (after whom the company is named), founder of Guinness Peat Aviation.[5][dead link] The airline began with a 14-seat Embraer Bandeirante turboprop aircraft, flying between Waterford and Gatwick Airport[6] with the aim of breaking the duopoly on London-Ireland flights at that time, held by British Airways and Aer Lingus.[7]

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante in 1988

In 1986, the company added a second route – flying Dublin–Luton International Airport in direct competition with the Aer Lingus / British Airways 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. 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.[8] In 1989, a Short Sandringham was operated with Ryanair sponsorship titles but never flew revenue generating services for the airline.[9]

O'Leary returned from a visit to Southwest Airlines 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 took part in 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.[10]

1992–1999

Ryanair operated BAC 1-11 series 500 aircraft between 1988 and 1993

In 1992, the European Union's deregulation of the air industry in Europe gave carriers from one EU country the right to operate scheduled services between other EU states and represented a major opportunity for Ryanair.[11] After a successful flotation on the Dublin Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock exchanges, the airline launched services to Stockholm, Sandefjord Airport, Torp (110 km south of Oslo), Paris-Beauvais and Charleroi near Brussels.[12] In 1998, flush with new capital, the airline placed a massive US$2 billion order for 45 new Boeing 737–800 series aircraft.[citation needed]

Boeing 737-200 landing at Bristol Airport, the type operated by the company through the 1990s and until 2005.

2000s

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.

Ryanair launched a new base of operation in Charleroi Airport in 2001. Later that year, the airline ordered 155 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Boeing at what was believed to be a substantial discount, to be delivered over eight years from 2002 to 2010.[13] 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.[14] In 2003, Ryanair announced the order of a further 100 new 737–800 aircraft.[citation needed]

Boeing 737–800
Ryanair cabin with advertising on overhead lockers and safety cards on seatbacks


In April 2003, Ryanair acquired its ailing competitor Buzz from KLM.[15] By the end of 2003, the airline flew 127 routes, of which 60 had opened in the previous 12 months.[citation needed]

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.[16] A loss of €3.3 million in the second quarter of 2004 was the airline's first recorded loss for 15 years but the airline became profitable soon after. The enlargement of the European Union on 1 May 2004 opened the way to more new routes as Ryanair.[17]]

Carrying under 700,000 annually in its early years, passenger figures grew to 21.4 million in 2003.[citation needed] The rapid addition of new routes and new bases has enabled this growth in passenger numbers and made Ryanair among the largest carriers on European routes. In August 2005, the airline claimed to have carried 20% more passengers within Europe than British Airways.[18]

Ryanair posted record half-year profits of €329 million for the six months ending 30 September 2006.[citation needed] Over the same period, passenger traffic grew by more than a fifth to 22.1 million passengers and revenues rose by a third to €1.256 billion.[19]

On 13 February 2006, Britain's Channel 4 broadcast a documentary as part of its Dispatches series, "Ryanair caught napping." The documentary criticised Ryanair's training policies, security procedures and aircraft hygiene, and highlighted poor staff morale. Ryanair denied the allegations[20] and claimed that promotional materials, in particular a photograph of a stewardess sleeping, had been faked by Dispatches.[21]

On 5 October 2006, Ryanair launched a €1.48 billion (£1bn; $1.9bn) bid to buy fellow Irish carrier Aer Lingus. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said the move was a "unique opportunity" to form an Irish airline. The new airline would carry over 50 million passengers a year.[22] On 2 October 2006, Aer Lingus rejected Ryanair's takeover bid, saying it was contradictory.[23]

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.[24]

Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, stated in April 2007 that Ryanair planned to launch a new long-haul airline around 2009.[25] The new airline would be separate from Ryanair and operate under a different branding. It would offer both low cost with fares starting at €10.00 and a business class service which would be much more expensive, intended to rival airlines like Virgin Atlantic Airways. The new airline would operate from Ryanair's existing bases in Europe, to approximately six new bases in the United States. The new American bases will not be main bases such as New York's JFK airport, but smaller airports located outside major cities. Since the Boeing 787 was sold out of production until at least 2012, and the Airbus A350 XWB will not enter service until 2013, this would contribute a delay to the airline's launch. It is said that the name of the new airline will be RyanAtlantic and will sell tickets through the Ryanair website under an alliance agreement.[26] In February 2010, O'Leary said the launch would be delayed until 2014, at the earliest, because of the shortage of suitable, cheap aircraft.[27]

In October 2008, Ryanair withdrew operations from a base in Europe for the first time when it closed its base in Valencia, Spain.[28] Ryanair estimated the closure cost 750 jobs.[29] Ryanair has since reintroduced its Valencia base, doubling its previous capacity.[citation needed]

On 1 December 2008, Ryanair launched a second takeover bid of Aer Lingus offering an all-cash offer of €748 million (£619mil; US$950mil). The offer was a 28% premium on the value of Aer Lingus stock, during the preceding 30 days. Ryanair said, "Aer Lingus, as a small, stand alone, regional airline, has been marginalised and bypassed, as most other EU flag carriers consolidate." The two airlines would operate separately. Ryanair stated they would double the Aer Lingus short haul fleet from 33 to 66 and create 1,000 new jobs.[30][31][32] The Aer Lingus Board rejected the offer and advised its shareholders to take no action.[33] On 22 January 2009, Ryanair walked away from the Aer Lingus takeover bid after it was rejected by the Irish Government on the grounds it undervalued the airline and would harm competition.[34] However, Ryanair retained a stake in Aer Lingus; in October 2010, competition regulators in the UK opened an enquiry; due to concerns that Ryanair's stake may lead to a reduction in competition.[35]

In 2009, Ryanair announced that it was in talks with Boeing and Airbus about an order that could include up to 200 aircraft. Even though Ryanair had dealt with Boeing aircraft up to this point, Michael O'Leary said he would buy Airbus aircraft if they offered a better deal. However, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy denied in February 2009 that any negotiations were taking place.[36]

On 21 February 2009, Ryanair confirmed they were planning to close all check-in desks by the start of 2010. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's chief executive said passengers will be able to leave their luggage at a bag drop, but everything else will be done online. This became reality in October 2009.[37]

In June 2009, Ryanair reported their first annual loss, with a loss posted of €169 million for the financial year ending 31 March.[38]

In November 2009, Ryanair announced that negotiations with Boeing had proceeded poorly and that Ryanair was thinking of stopping the negotiations, then put at 200 aircraft for delivery between 2013–2016, and simply returning cash to shareholders.[39] Boeing's competitor Airbus was mentioned again as an alternative vendor for Ryanair, but both Michael O'Leary and Airbus CCO John Leahy dismissed this.[40] In December 2009, Ryanair announced that negotiations with Boeing had indeed failed. Plans were to take all 112 aircraft already on order at that point, with the last deliveries occurring in 2012, for a total fleet of over 300. Ryanair confirmed that an agreement had been met on price, but it had failed to agree on conditions, as Ryanair had wanted to carry forward certain conditions from its previous contract.[41]

2010s

On 28 March 2010, Ryanair announced that the on-board mobile phone service provided by OnAir would be temporarily unavailable because the contract had been terminated after a 13-month proving period.[42]

As of February 2010, Ryanair had an average fare of €32. Ryanair stood by that fact that its average fare was less than half of competitor EasyJet's of €66.

In April 2010, after a week of flight disruption in Europe caused by the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, Ryanair decided to end refusals to comply with EU regulations which stated they were obliged to reimburse stranded passengers.[43] In a company statement released on 22 April 2010, Ryanair described the regulations as 'unfair'.[44] On 29 April 2010, Ryanair announced the cancellations of all of its routes from Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport after talks about decreasing taxes with the airports management failed. That airport is the only one serving Budapest, so the airline is not able to operate from an alternative lower-cost airport in the surroundings.

In June 2010, Ryanair called for a scrapping of the Irish Government's tourist tax, implying it was destroying Irish tourism.[45]

In August 2010, Ryanair held a press conference in Plovdiv and announced its first ever Bulgarian destination connecting Plovdiv with London Stansted. The service is planned to start in November 2010 with two flights weekly.[46]

On 31 August 2010, Ryanair announced that they would be withdrawing all their routes from their smallest base, Belfast City. In September 2010, it was announced that Ryanair would be reducing flights from Shannon due to rises in airport fees.[47] Ryanair has also announced the start of routes from Larnaca to Brussels South-Charleroi and Larnaca–Girona by the end of the year.

On 30 September 2010 Ryanair announced that it will start flights from Tallinn to 7 destinations in December 2010: Skavsta (near Stockholm), Weeze, Rygge (near Oslo), Dublin, Milano-Bergamo, Edinburgh and Luton.

In the last three months of 2010, Ryanair made a loss of €10.3 million, compared with a loss of €10.9 million in the same period the previous year. In this time, more than 3,000 flights were cancelled. Ryanair blamed the losses on strikes and flight cancellations due to severe weather.[48]

In March 2011, Ryanair opened a new maintenance hangar at Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, making it Ryanair's biggest fleet maintenance base.

On 23 May 2011, Ryanair announced plans to temporarily cut capacity by grounding 80 aircraft between November 2011 and April 2012 due to the high cost of fuel and continuing weak economic conditions.[49]

In June 2011 Ryanair and COMAC signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of the C-919, a Boeing 737 competitor.[50]

In July 2012 Ryanair applied for slots to operate routes out of Copenhagen Airport from October 2012.[51]

On 19 June 2012 Ryanair Chief Executive, Michael O'Leary announced his intentions to make an all-cash offer to buy Aer Lingus. However the bid is likely to face a stiff challenge from the European Commission, which blocked an earlier 2007 bid. The combined companies would control 80% of the 370,000 journeys between the UK and Ireland every month. The Irish Government said it was looking to sell its 25% stake in Aer Lingus, however it was made clear that they would not sell their share to Ryanair due to competition concerns. Michael O'Leary pledged that he would keep the two airlines separate and competitive to one another. He said he would boost Aer Lingus's passenger numbers from 4.5m to 14m over the next five years.[citation needed]

Criticism

Ryanair Headquarters in Dublin Airport
Boeing 737–200 in 2003

Employment relations

In the early years, when Ryanair had a total of 450 employees who each had shares in the company, there was an agreement that staff would not join a union on the basis that they would have influence on how the company was run.[52] The treatment of employees has changed considerably since then and new employees no longer get shares in the company. However, Ryanair still refuses to recognize or negotiate with any union, be it for pilots or for cabin crew. In 2011 a former Ryanair captain was awarded financial compensation by an employment tribunal in London after having been fired for handing out a union form while on duty to a cabin crew member.[53]

Contracts offered to Ryanair staff are at times unusual and made complicated when compared to other airlines, for example by forcing pilots to establish limited companies in Ireland and working for Ryanair through an agency,[54] or by forcing ground staff in Spain to open bank accounts in Gibraltar for them to collect their wages on.[55]

Ancillary revenue and in-flight service

Twenty percent of Ryanair's revenue is generated from ancillary revenue, that is income from sources other than ticket fares. In 2009 ancillary revenue was at €598 million, compared to a total revenue of €2,942 million.[56]

Ryanair has been described by the consumer magazine Holiday Which? as being the worst offender for charging for optional extras.[57] As part of the low-cost business model the airline charges fees, these can be related to alternative services like using airport check-in facilities instead of the online service fee and using non-preferred methods of payment. It also charges for extra services like checked in luggage and it offers food and drinks for purchase as part of a buy on board programme.[58] Ryanair argues that it charges for a large number of optional extras in order to allow those passengers who do not require baggage, priority boarding or other premium services to travel for the lowest possible price by giving customers the flexibility to choose what they pay for.

In 2009, Ryanair abolished airport check-in and replaced it with a fast bag drop for those passengers checking in bags.[59] The option of checking in at the airport for €10 has been discontinued, and all passengers are required to check-in online and print their own boarding pass. Passengers arriving at the airport without a pre-printed online check-in will have to pay €40 (now €60/£60 May 2012) for their boarding pass to be re-issued, whilst customers unable to check-in luggage online are asked to pay a €100 fee to do so at the airport (as of June 2012). Ryanair has also replaced the free online check-in with a €6 online check-in fee which is charged per person, per flight.[60] Although this fee is waived on "Free", "€1" and "€5" promotional fares, it has been criticised as being a non-optional extra charge which should be included in the headline fare.[61]

No-frills

New Ryanair aircraft have been delivered with non-reclining seats, no seat-back pockets, safety cards stuck on the back of the seats, and life jackets stowed overhead rather than under the seat. This allows the airline to save on aircraft costs and enables faster cleaning and safety checks during the short turnaround times.[62] It was reported in various media that Ryanair wanted to order their aircraft without window shades;[62] however, the new aircraft do have them as it is required by the regulations of the Irish Aviation Authority.

Other proposed measures to reduce frills further have included eliminating two toilets to add six more seats,[63] redesigning the aircraft to allow standing passengers, suggested that passengers should pay to use the toilets,[64] charging extra for overweight passengers,[65] and asking passengers to carry their checked-in luggage to the plane.[66]

In common with other no-frills airlines, Ryanair is a strictly point-to-point carrier and does not offer connecting flights. Passengers who purchase an onward flight from their destination, intending to make a connection, are held responsible for making it to the airport on time for each flight. Ryanair does not compensate passengers who miss their flights because they arrive too late at the airport, nor does it provide replacement tickets free of charge. If a passenger misses his or her flight, then it is the passenger's responsibility to buy a new ticket at his or her own expense. This rule applies regardless of the passenger's chosen method of transport to the airport (including another Ryanair flight).[67]

Customer service

Ryanair has been criticised for many aspects of its customer service. The Economist wrote that Ryanair's "cavalier treatment of passengers" had given Ryanair "a deserved reputation for nastiness" and that the airline "has become a byword for appalling customer service ... and jeering rudeness towards anyone or anything that gets in its way".[68]

In 2002, the High Court in Dublin awarded Jane O'Keefe €67,500 damages and her costs after Ryanair reneged on a free travel prize she was awarded for being the airline's 1 millionth passenger.[69][70]

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 London Stansted Airport, greatly angering disabled rights groups.[71] 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,[72] at that time. A court ruling in 2004 judged that the responsibility should be shared by the airline and the airport owners;[73] Ryanair responded by adding a surcharge of £0.50 to all its flight prices. On 30 March 2011, it announced that from 4 April it would add a surcharge of €2 to its flights to cover the costs arising from compliance with EC Regulation 261/2004, which requires it to pay for meals and accommodation for passengers on delayed and cancelled flights.[74]

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 criticised Ryanair for this reason and called on the company to provide customers with a means to contact the company by email.[75]

Publicity

Controversial advertising

Ryanair's advertising and the antics of Michael O'Leary, such as causing deliberate court controversy in order to generate free publicity for the airline,[76] have led to a number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and occasionally court action being taken against the airline.[77][78][79][80]

Another Ryanair tactic is to make deliberately controversial statements to gain media attention. An example of this was the live BBC News interview on 27 February 2009 when Michael O'Leary, observing that it was "a quiet news day", commented that Ryanair was considering charging passengers £1 to use the toilet on their flights. The story subsequently made headlines in the media for several days and drew attention to Ryanair's announcement that it was removing check-in desks from airports and replacing them with online check-in. Eight days later O'Leary eventually admitted that it was a publicity stunt saying "It is not likely to happen, but it makes for interesting and very cheap PR".[81] The concept of Ryanair charging for even this most essential of customer services was foreseen by the spoof news website "The Mardale Times" some five months previously, in their article "Ryanair announce new 'Pay-Per-Poo' service".[82]

'bye bye Latehansa' (referring to Lufthansa) is one of Ryanair's Boeing 737-800s, taken at Girona-Costa Brava Airport, Spain. (2008)

Ryanair often use their advertising to make direct comparisons and attack their competitors. One of their advertisements used a picture of the Manneken Pis, a famous Belgian statue of a urinating child, 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 for further price comparisons.[77]

Another deliberately provocative ad campaign headlined "Expensive Bastards!" compared Ryanair with British Airways. As with Sabena, British Airways disagreed with the accompanying price comparisons and brought legal action against Ryanair. However, in this case the High Court sided with Ryanair and threw BA's case out ordering BA to make a payment towards Ryanair's court costs. The judge ruled "The complaint amounts to this: that Ryanair exaggerated in suggesting BA is five times more expensive because BA is only three times more expensive. Accordingly, in my view, the use was honest comparative advertising. I suspect the real reason that BA do not like it is precisely because it is true."[83]

In 2007 Ryanair used an advertisement for its new Belfast route which showed Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness (then Northern Ireland deputy prime minister) standing alongside Gerry Adams with a speech bubble which said "Ryanair fares are so low even the British Army flew home".[84][85] Ulster Unionists reacted angrily to the advertisement, while the Advertising Standards Authority said it did not believe the ad would cause widespread offence.[86]

Innuendo often features in Ryanair advertisements with one ad featuring a model dressed as a schoolgirl, accompanied by the words "Hottest back to school fares". Ryanair ran the advertisement in two Scottish and one UK-wide newspaper. After receiving 13 complaints, the advertisement was widely reported by national newspapers, generating more free publicity for the airline. The Advertising Standards Authority (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 absurd 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".[87]

Another incident where it is speculated that Ryanair has used controversial statements for free publicity occurred in November 2011. The airline has proposed the introduction of pay-per-view porn on its flights, CEO Michael O’Leary revealed to UK newspaper The Sun. O'Leary likened the service to those commonly provided in hotels, saying "hotels around the world have it, so why wouldn’t we?”.[88]

Misleading advertising

Although it usually does not serve the primary airport of major European cities, Ryanair has been criticized for placing the names of famous cities on distant secondary airports that were not built for tourist traffic and lacked transit links to the main city. Examples include "Paris Beauvais" and "Barcelona Reus" (which is over 90 minutes by car from Barcelona). Frommers has dubbed Ryanair the "ultimate bait-and-switch airline" for this deceptive practice.[89]

Ryanair was ordered by the ASA to stop claiming that its flights from London to Brussels are faster than the rail connection Eurostar, on the grounds that the claim was misleading, due to required travel times to the airports mentioned. Ryanair stood by its claims, noting that their flight is shorter than the train trip and that travel time is also required to reach Eurostar's stations.[90][91]

In April 2008, Ryanair faced a probe by the UK Office of Fair Trading, 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".[92]

In July 2009, Ryanair took a number of steps to "increase the clarity and transparency of its website and other advertising" after reaching an agreement with the OFT. The airline's website now includes a statement that "Fares don't include optional fees/charges" and they now include a table of fees to make fare comparisons easier.[93]

In July 2010 Ryanair once again found itself in controversy regarding alleged misleading advertising. Ryanair circulated advertisements in two newspapers offering £10 one-way fares to European destinations. Following a complaint from rival carrier EasyJet, the ASA ruled the offer was "likely to mislead".[94] Ryanair made no comment on the claim but did hit back at EasyJet, claiming they cared about details in this regard but did not themselves print their on-time statistics. EasyJet denied this.

In April 2011 Ryanair advertised 'a place in the sun destinations' but the advert was banned when it was found that some of the destination experienced sunshine for as little as three hours per day and temperatures between 0 and 14 °C.[95]

Criticism of surcharges

In February 2011 a Ryanair passenger, Mr Miro Garcia, brought a claim against Ryanair for unfair surcharges, claiming that the €40 (£36) surcharge on passengers who failed to print out a boarding card prior to arrival at the airport was unfair. Judge Barbara Cordoba, sitting in the Commercial Court in Barcelona, held that, under international air travel conventions, Ryanair can neither demand passengers turn up at the airport with their boarding pass, nor charge them €40 (£34) if they do not, and that the fines were abusive because aviation law obliges airlines to issue boarding passes. Judge Cordoba stated that: "I declare abusive and, therefore, null, the clause in the contract by which Ryanair obliges the passenger to take a boarding pass to the airport...the customary practice over the years has been that the obligation to provide the boarding pass has always fallen on the airline." The judge ordered a refund for Mr Garcia and said the fact the company was a low-cost carrier did "not allow it to alter its basic contractual obligations".[96] However, Ryanair appealed the decision and the Appeals Court in Spain overturned the ruling in November 2011, holding that the surcharge is in compliance with international law; a decision which was welcomed by Ryanair.[97]

In December 2011 Ryanair announced that they would fight against the UK Treasury's plan to ban what Which? magazine calls "rip-off" charges made when customers pay by credit card.[98] EU legislation has already been drafted against surcharges for methods of payment.[99]

Competitors

Passenger numbers. Ryanair carried 58,700,000 passengers in 2008, an 18% increase over 2007

Ryanair now has a number of low-cost competitors. In 2004, approximately 60 new low-cost airlines were formed. Although traditionally a full-service airline, Aer Lingus moved to a low-fares strategy from 2002, leading to a much more intense competition with Ryanair on Irish routes.[100]

Airlines which attempt to compete directly with Ryanair are treated competitively, with Ryanair being accused by some of 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 base at Dublin to Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. A fierce battle ensued, which ended with Go withdrawing its service from Dublin.[101]

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.[102]

Ryanair has also responded to the decision of another low-cost carrier, Wizz Air that plans moving its flight operations from Warsaw Chopin Airport in Poland to the new low-cost Warsaw Modlin Airport in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki.[103] Ryanair had previously operated the route to Dublin from Warsaw but they withdrew claiming that the fees at Warsaw's main airport were too high. When Wizz Air announced they would start operations from Modlin Airport, Ryanair announced several new routes from the same airport, most of which being exactly the same routes as offered by Wizz Air.

Ryanair has asked the high court to investigate why it has been refused permission to fly from Knock to Dublin. This route was won by CityJet, which was 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.[104]

DFDS Seaways cited competition from low-cost air services, especially Ryanair, which now flies to Glasgow Prestwick Airport and London Stansted Airport from Gothenburg City Airport, as the reason for scrapping the Newcastle–Gothenburg ferry service in October 2006.[105] It was the only dedicated passenger ferry service between Sweden and the United Kingdom, and had been running under various operators since the 19th century.

Destinations

A Ryanair BAC 1-11 and an Aer Lingus Boeing 737 at Dublin Airport, Ireland in 1993. The two airlines are the largest operators out of Dublin Airport.
Main article: Ryanair destinations

Ryanair's largest bases include London-Stansted, Dublin, Milan-Bergamo, Brussels-Charleroi, and Alicante.[106] There are non-base airports which serve more destinations than certain base airports. Some of these even have more daily departures than some base airports.

Ryanair prefers to fly to smaller or secondary airports, usually outside of major cities, to help the company cut costs and benefit from lower landing fees. For example, Ryanair does not fly to the main Düsseldorf airport. Instead, it flies to Weeze, 70 km from Düsseldorf. Secondary airports are not always far from the city it serves, and can in fact can be closer than the city's major airport; this is the case at Gothenburg-City and Rome-Ciampino. Ryanair does still serve a number of major airports, including Barcelona, Berlin-Schönefeld, Dublin, Edinburgh, London-Gatwick, and Porto, although the majority of these cities do not have a secondary airport that Ryanair could use as an alternative.[89]

Ryanair flies in a point to point model rather than the more traditional airline hub and spoke model where the passengers have to change aircraft in transit at a major airport, usually being able to reach more destinations this way.[107][108] Ryanair has 50 European bases. Despite it being an Irish airline, and having a significant presence there, it also has a significant presence in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom as well as many other European countries (although the airline has no bases in France). The United Kingdom is its biggest market, containing the airline's largest base, London-Stansted, and ten others, as well as a total of four other non-base airports.

Ryanair's largest competitor is EasyJet which, unlike Ryanair, has a focus on larger or primary airports and also heavily targets business passengers. Ryanair, in more recent years, has focused on sun destinations such as the Canary Islands and Greece. EasyJet often criticizes Ryanair for its choice of airports and Ryanair often refers to EasyJet as a high fares airline.

Choosing destinations

When Ryanair negotiates with its airports, it demands very low landing and handling fees, as well as financial assistance with marketing and promotional campaigns.[109] In subsequent contract renewal negotiations, the airline has been reported to play airports against each other, threatening to withdraw services and deploy the aircraft elsewhere, if the airport does not make further concessions. According to Michael O’Leary's biography "A Life in Full Flight", Ryanair's growing popularity and also growing bargaining power, with both airports and aircraft manufacturers, has resulted in the airline being less concerned about a market research/demographics approach to route selection to one based more on experimentation. This means they are more likely to fly their low cost planes between the lowest cost airports in anticipation that their presence alone on that route will be sufficient to create a demand which previously may not have existed, either in whole or in part.[110]

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.[111] The airport management rebutted Ryanair's assertion that airport charges were unreasonably high, claiming that the 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 Airports.[112] Ryanair was recently reported to have adopted 'harsh' negotiating with Shannon Airport and is closing 75% of its operations there from April 2010.[113] 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.

Fleet

A Ryanair Boeing 737–800 taxiing at Manchester Airport.
A Ryanair Boeing 737–800, named Nyköping, takes off from London Luton Airport, England. (2007)

Ryanair claims to operate the newest, greenest, and quietest fleet of aircraft in Europe.[114][115] As of August 2012, the average age of the Ryanair fleet is 4.2 years.[116]

Ryanair's fleet reached 200 aircraft for the first time on 5 September 2009.[114][117] All aircraft in the Ryanair fleet have been retrofitted with performance enhancing winglets and the more recent deliveries have them fitted as standard.[118]

The company also owns a single Learjet 45, based at London Stansted Airport but registered in the Isle of Man as M-ABEU, which is mainly used for the quick transportation of maintenance personnel and small aircraft parts around the network.[119]

Ryanair Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers
(Economy)
Boeing 737–800 298[116] 8 189

Past fleet

Ryanair has operated the following types of aircraft in the past:

Ryanair Past Fleet[116]
Aircraft Introduced Retired
Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante 1985 1989
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 1986 1989
BAC One-Eleven 1987 1994
ATR 42 1989 1991
Boeing 737–200 1994 2005

Accidents and incidents

  • On 10 November 2008, Ryanair Flight 4102, from Hahn Airport, suffered undercarriage damage in an emergency landing at Rome Ciampino Airport, after experiencing multiple bird strikes, which damaged both engines on approach. The registration number of the aircraft involved was EI-DYG. There were 6 crew members and 166 passengers on board.[120] Two crew members and eight passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.[121] The port undercarriage of the Boeing 737–800 collapsed,[122] leaving the aircraft stranded on the runway and closing the airport for over 35 hours.[121] As well as damage to the engines and undercarriage, the rear fuselage was also damaged by contact with the runway.[123] The aircraft involved was damaged beyond repair and has since been scrapped.

See also

References

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  2. ^ Route Map (The count does not include flights to Corsica which is already listed under FSC, Munich West under FMM and the following airports to which Ryanair don't fly yet or have stopped flying to: DTM, GRZ, LUZ, OSI, PUF, VBS, VRN)
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Further reading

  • Creaton, Siobhán (2007). Ryanair: The full story of the controversial low-cost airline. London: Aurum. ISBN 1-84513-293-9.
  • Creaton, Siobhán (2004). Ryanair: How a Small Irish Airline Conquered Europe. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-85410-992-8.
  • Calder, Simon (2002). No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low Cost Revolution in the Skies. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-932-X.
  • Clark, Andrew (8 May 2006). "Guardian Unlimited". Ryanair ... the low-fare airline with the sky-high insurance levy. London. Retrieved 29 May 2006.
  • "Telegraph". Disabled groups attack 33p Ryanair levy. London. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2006.
  • "alfb.net". All we need is low. Ryanair is cheaper as two one-ways than as a return ticket. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
  • Ruddock, Alan (2007). Michael O'Leary – A Life in Full Flight. Dublin: Penguin Ireland. ISBN 978-1-84488-055-3.
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