Ryanair

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Ryanair
IATA FR	ICAO RYR	Callsign RYANAIR
Founded		1985
Focus cities		Dublin International Airport London Stansted Airport Rome Ciampino Airport Pisa Galileo Galilei Airport Orio al Serio Airport Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Cork International Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport London Luton Airport Girona-Costa Brava Airport Stockholm-Skavsta Airport Shannon International Airport Charleroi Brussels South East Midlands Airport Madrid Barajas International Airport Marseille Provence Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport Bremen Airport Airport Weeze
Fleet size		133 plus 148 on order
Destinations		132
Headquarters		Dublin, Ireland
Key people		Michael O'Leary (CEO) Michael Cawley (Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer)
Website: http://www.ryanair.com

Ryanair (ISEQ: RYA, LSE: RYA, NASDAQ: RYAAY) is an Irish airline headquartered in Dublin. Its biggest operational base is at London Stansted Airport, it is Europe's largest low-cost carrier and it is one of the world's largest and most successful airlines (whether in terms of profits, number of flights, number of passengers flown). Ryanair operates - at one count - on 362 routes to 22 countries. Ryanair has been characterised by rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the air industry in Europe in 1997. Over the years, it has evolved into one of the world's most profitable airlines,^[1] running at remarkable margins by passing its costs directly to its customers. Ryanair is the 3rd largest airline in europe in terms of passenger numbers carrying just over 40 million in 2006.

Ryanair is also one of Europe's most controversial companies, praised by some, criticised by others. Its supporters praise its commitment to low fares, radical management, and its willingness to challenge what it calls the 'establishment' within the airline industry (similar to its American counterpart, Southwest Airlines). Critics, meanwhile, have attacked its trade union policies,^[2] hidden "taxes" and fees, and limited customer services, and charged that it practises deceptive advertising. In October 2006, Ryanair was voted the world's most disliked airline in a survey by the TripAdvisor website, and in November 2006, it was revealed as the subject of more complaints than any other airline in the EU.^[3]

Contents 1 Financials and history 1.1 Financial overview 1.2 Early years 1.3 1997 - 1999 1.4 2000 1.5 2001 1.6 2002 1.7 2003 1.8 2004 1.9 2005 1.10 2006 1.10.1 Aer Lingus takeover bid 1.11 2007 1.12 Space Travel Plans 2 Criticisms and complaints 2.1 Public Relations 2.2 Actions on internet 2.3 Customer service 2.4 Disabled passengers 2.5 Airports 2.6 Union issues 2.7 Subsidies 2.8 Disguising fares as surcharges 2.9 Baggage allowances 2.10 Dispatches programme 2.11 Early 2006 cancellations 2.12 Polls 3 Accidents and incidents 4 Competitors 5 Destinations 6 Fleet 7 Selected shareholders 8 See also 9 Notes 10 Further reading 11 External links

[edit] Financials and history

[edit] Financial overview

Ryanair has grown massively 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. In an industry where the survival rate is 1 in 10 and where even the giants such as American Airlines and Delta struggle to keep in the black, Ryanair's success has confounded many industry analysts. However, it has been consistent with the growth of other no-frills airlines, such as Southwest and JetBlue, since the terrorist attacks in the United States of America on 11 September 2001.

[edit] Early years

Ryanair was founded in 1985 by Christy Ryan (after whom the company is named), Liam Lonergan (owner of an Irish tour operator named Club Travel), and noted Irish businessman Tony Ryan, founder of Guinness Peat Aviation. Christy Ryan was from Waterford and it was his idea to start an air service between Waterford and London.^[4] The airline began with a 15 seat Embraer turboprop aircraft flying between Waterford and London Gatwick with the aim of breaking the duopoly on London-Ireland flights at that time held by British Airways and Aer Lingus.

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 learnt 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, keen to attract new airlines, which offered lower landing and handling charges than larger established international airports. O'Leary as Chief Executive adopted a hands-on style of management, for example his publicity stunts in helping out with baggage handling on Ryanair flights at Dublin airport.

He is said to have a pugnacious and aggressive management style, using a flat management hierarchy. By 1995, after the consistent pursuit of its low-cost business model, Ryanair celebrated its 10th birthday by carrying 2.25 million passengers.

[edit] 1997 - 1999

EU deregulation of the air industry in Europe in 1997 gave carriers from one EU country the right to operate scheduled services between other EU states, and represented a major opportunity for Ryanair. After a successful flotation on the Dublin Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ Stock exchanges, the airline launched services to Stockholm, Oslo (Sandefjord Airport, Torp, 110 km south of Oslo), Paris and Charleroi near Brussels. Flush with new capital, the airline placed a massive $2 billion order for 45 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft in 1998.

[edit] 2000

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.

[edit] 2001

Ryanair launched a new hub of operation in Charleroi Brussels South 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.

[edit] 2002

In 2002 Ryanair launched 26 new routes and established a hub in Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, its European expansion firmly on track.

[edit] 2003

In 2003, Ryanair announced the order of a further 100 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft from Boeing, 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 apace 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.

[edit] 2004

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.

[edit] 2005

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, 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. Some slight delays in Boeing airline deliveries in late 2005 (ordered in 2001) were caused by production disruptions arising from a Boeing machinists' strike.

[edit] 2006

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^[5] 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^[6]

[edit] Aer Lingus takeover bid

On 5 October 2006 Ryanair launched a €1.48bn (£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.

Aer Lingus floated on the Irish Stock Exchange on 2 October 2006 followed 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.^[7] On the same day Aer Lingus rejected Ryanair's takeover bid, saying the bid was contradictory.^[8] 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".

[edit] 2007

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.^[9]

[edit] Space Travel Plans

In March 2007 rumours surfaced on the Internet that Ryanair were planning to take on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, by offering space travel to the ordinary public.

Ryanair placed an announcement on its website on April 1st stating that its "plans" to launch flights to the moon were an April fools joke.

[edit] Criticisms and complaints

Ryanair has been heavily criticised throughout the low-cost part of its history for many of its practices.

[edit] Public Relations

Ryanair does not employ an advertising agency, instead producing all its advertising material in-house. Michael O'Leary often states that the airline goes to extremes to make a point, an approach which has resulted in Ryanair's advertising occasionally being considered offensive [3].^[10]

In a number of incidents it has responded stubbornly to relatively trivial matters, often to make a point about the constant need to avoid adding "frills" to its service. Ryanair regularly makes vitriolic attacks on opponents.^[11] In one such notable incident, former Irish Minister for Transport Mary O'Rourke (1997–2002), was personally ridiculed in a series of controversial newspaper advertisements when she refused to break up the state monopoly which then ran Irish airports, Aer Rianta. (The break-up of Aer Rianta remains a high-profile demand for Michael O'Leary. Under the State Airports Act 2004, Aer Rianta has been renamed Dublin Airport Authority, although as of April 2006 Cork and Shannon airports had not yet been given autonomy pending resolution of a dispute over debt transfers).

In 2002 Ryanair reneged on a promise of free flights given as a prize to the airline's one millionth passenger, Jane O'Keeffe. She received the prize in 1988, and had been using it for several flights every year, but the airline refused to carry her free of charge on a flight in 2002. The woman eventually went to court and won an award of €67,500.^[12] [4]

[edit] Actions on internet

In 2004, a website, Ryanair Campaign, appeared that seeks to publicise Ryanair's alleged ill treatment of its passengers, but Ryanair's lawyers have come down upon it heavily. In August 2006, Ryanair succeed in an appeal to Nominet to gain control of the domain name that the Ryanair Campaign website was using, on the grounds that it consisted only of the Ryanair trademark plus suffix. The decision did not relate to the content of the site. The owners then moved the site to http://www.ryanaircampaign.org/. A similar attempt by Ryanair to gain control of the new domain name was denied by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Complaints have also been registered with the Advertising Standards Authority over a Ryanair '5 Million seat Free Flights' advert that was deemed to be misleading and a breach of the ASA CAP Code.

[edit] Customer service

Critics have accused Ryanair of poor treatment of customers whose flights have been cancelled. The airline formerly refused to provide accommodation or meal vouchers when flights were cancelled or delayed, a practice which became illegal within the EU on February 17, 2005 [5]. Ryanair also refuses to refund taxes and fees when passengers cancel their tickets. Recently they revised their practice on this subject by introducing an administration fee of £14 per ticket for handling refunds, a fee which exceeds the amount the passengers may be eligible for. Norwegian consumer authorities have fined Ryanair £43,000 for this practice.

Having complained about having to compensate customers for cancelled or delayed flights Ryanair is now suing the UK government for compensation for losses it claims it incurred through cancelled or delayed flights over the recent (August 2006) security alerts.^[13]

In common with other airlines, Ryanair also sometimes makes changes to its flight times at relatively short notice. However, several factors make this particularly problematic in the case of low-cost carriers in general and Ryanair in particular:

• the company notifies affected passengers by email rather than by telephone, so there is sometimes a delay before the passenger learns of the change (passengers on holiday may not have regular access to email);
• because Ryanair does not provide connecting flights, many passengers make their own connections by booking separate tickets. If the Ryanair flight time change makes the connection impossible, the passenger loses the cost of the connecting flight unless this is covered by travel insurance;
• the only way for a passenger to contact Ryanair is through a premium rate phone line. An Early Day Motion in the British Parliament which was 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.^[14]

Ryanair staff are notorious for behaving rudely to passengers. There have been several incidents.^[15][16][17]

[edit] Disabled passengers

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.^[18] 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^[19] at that time. A court ruling in 2004 judged that the responsibility should be shared by the airline and the airport owners;^[20] Ryanair responded by adding a surcharge of £ 0.50 to all its flight costs. In 2005, the airline was criticised for ejecting nine blind and partially sighted passengers from a flight at Stansted, because the group meant the plane would be carrying more than the four disabled passengers permitted by the airline's safety regulations.^[21] In 2006 Ryanair apologised after refusing to provide an eldery injured passenger .^[22][23] and a sick cancer sufferer^[24] with a wheelchair in separate incidents.

[edit] Airports

Ryanair commonly flies to regional airports which, while cheap, are usually very far away from the cities they claim to serve. For example, the airline used to advertise a service to Malmö-Sturup Airport, in Sweden, as "Copenhagen", Denmark (65 km away). When traveling to "Oslo", passengers are flown to Torp Airport, 130 km outside of the Oslo city limits. Ryanair still flies to airports it describes as "Barcelona (Reus)" and "Barcelona (Girona)" - both cities are 100km from Barcelona. The cost of a transfer to Barcelona from these airports often pushes the prices up considerably. See Ryanair vs Easyjet Price Comparison for more on this.

In some cases the names were eventually changed by legal action (e.g. "Düsseldorf (Niederrhein)" and "St. Étienne (Lyon)"), but in other cases courts have upheld the designated name — this was the case for Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, over 140 km from central Frankfurt, or San Javier Airport (Alicante sur), in Region of Murcia, over 100 km from Alicante city.

In February 2005 Ryanair published an advertisement in Norway's Aftenposten erroneously featuring flights from Oslo to London Prestwick: Prestwick Airport is near Glasgow, 600 km from London.^[25][26] The company said that the advertisement was a typing error.

[edit] Union issues

Ryanair has come under fire from unions representing workers in the airline industry for refusing to recognise trade unions and allegedly providing poor working conditions (for example, staff are banned from charging their own mobile phones at work to reduce the company's electricity bill).^[27]

Ryanair has attempted to pressure employees not to unionise, according to the Ryan Be Fair website,^[28] set up and run by employees to improve working conditions.

Ryanair does not recognise the Irish Airline Pilots' Association (IALPA), although it is the largest pilots' union in Ireland.^[29]

On 25 January 2005 the Irish Labour Court guaranteed an investigation into allegations of victimisation of staff who wished to join a trade union.^[30]

In July 2006, an Irish High Court judge found that Ryanair had bullied pilots to force them to agree to new contracts, and that some Ryanair managers had given false evidence in court [6].

[edit] Subsidies

Ryanair receives subsidies from some European airports, a situation which has been investigated by the European Commission. The EC believes that subsidies from state-owned airports are potentially in breach of European Union competition rules unless they follow strict guidelines.

In February 2004 the European Commission ruled that Charleroi airport gave Ryanair illegal subsidies and ordered the airline to repay roughly €4 million of subsidies. Walloon authorities who offered the subsidies were considering appealing against the ruling because of the roughly €45 million that the airline route brings to the area every year.

[edit] Disguising fares as surcharges

The UK newspaper The Guardian has alleged that the insurance fee which Ryanair charges each passenger (charged on every passenger booking together with other additional travel taxes and charges) is unreasonably high.^[31]

The insurance surcharge amounted to more than 10% of Ryanair's average fare, the newspaper estimated.

Ryanair declined to disclose its exact outlay on insurance. The Guardian estimates that in the year to March 2005 passengers would have paid £87 million in surcharges. EasyJet, which has a similarly sized fleet, paid £19 million for 2005 disaster insurance.

Ryanair introduced insurance surcharge in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to cover a spike in the cost of insuring aeroplanes. The charge was initially £1.85 but has since increased by 70% to £3.15 (May 2006). Experts claim that during the period the cost of cover has actually fallen to relatively normal rates.

Rivals easyJet spokesman claimed that "Ryanair's insurance charges appear to be far higher than they actually incur (…) Either this is poor cost management on Ryanair's behalf or it's a fuel surcharge in disguise."

Ryanair retaliated by pointing out that, even with taxes included, their average fare is well below easyJet. Ryanair spokesman Peter Sherrard said easyJet "charged each passenger last year £14 more per ticket than Ryanair thereby overcharging their passengers by £413 million".

Also, campaigners for the disabled accused Ryanair of profiteering from another part of "taxes and charges" tab – the £0.33 wheelchair levy.^[32] The levy is used to cover the cost of transporting disabled passengers onto its planes. Ryanair is the only major airline operating in Britain to impose such charges.

The UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph estimates that in 12 months up to May 2006 Ryanair received nearly £12 million through the levy. The governmental body Disability Rights Commission (DRC), which analysed the 2004 Stansted airport practice data, said that the levy should be no more than 2p – the company would still have collected £700,000 this way.

The Telegraph quoted Michael O'Leary defending Ryanair's position: "We estimate it costs £25 [per person] to transport disabled passengers at Stansted, and we carry 1.5 million such passengers every year."

British Airways said it had absorbed cost to transport disabled travellers into its ticket prices. EasyJet estimated that services for the disabled added no more than 10p to the price of a ticket.

[edit] Baggage allowances

Ryanair was the first airline in 2006 to impose a charge for checking in baggage, taking many passengers by surprise. Since then, other airlines have followed suit, with Aer Lingus adopting the same price structure as Ryanair. In February 2007 British Airways stated it is beginning to impose a £120/€180 charge on any bags checked in after the first, underscoring how expensive baggage management is for airlines.

Ryanair operates a baggage policy that it claims reflects the true costs of flying on those that cause them, allowing it it to lower the fares for travellers without baggage, as well as fly more efficiently; as of 1st March 2007 [7], there is a charge of £5.00 /€6.00 per item of checked in baggage each way (or £10.00 /€12.00 roundtrip) provided this is included with the original booking made on the Ryanair website. If the booking is made by telephone or added as an amendment subsequently by telephone or at the airport in person the charge doubles to £10.00 /€12.00 per piece for checked-in baggage. Ryanair's list of baggage charges [8]

There is no free allowance for checked bags at all on Ryanair, while most other European budget airlines allow 1 free checked bag. The total paid allowance for all checked baggage is just 15kg per passenger, regardless of the number of bags paid for, no single bag can exceed this 15kg limit, any unused baggage allowance cannot be transferred to other passengers, even when travelling on the same booking reference.

As Ryanair does not allow passengers to share baggage allowances, the example of a couple travelling with two checked bags, the first 20kg and the second 10kg would pay a 5kg excess baggage charge of £27.50 / €40.00 (at £5.50/€8.00/ per kilo). This policy is rigorously enforced by the company at most of its airports, it is a regular scene to witness Ryanair customers stripping their personal effects from bags in an effort to meet these rules.

Ryanair’s carry-on cabin hand baggage allowance is a single item of 10kg, which remarkably is a fairly generous weight limit compared to some airlines, [9] and the precise maximum dimensions specified are 55cm x 40cm x 20cm. Additional personal handbags are not permitted. These limits, size and weight are stringently applied, using electronic scales and measuring frames, at London Stansted they are enforced by BAA PLC (British Airports Authority) staff with respect to Ryanair passengers as distinct from other airlines. Mathew Parris, a Times newspaper journalist, recounts his own experience [10]

[edit] Dispatches programme

On February 13, 2006, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary as part of its Dispatches series, "Ryanair caught napping". Two undercover reporters obtained jobs as cabin crew based at Ryanair's operations at London Stansted Airport and secretly recorded the training programme, and cabin crew procedures. The documentary criticised Ryanair's training policies, security procedures, aircraft hygiene, and highlighted poor staff morale. It filmed Ryanair cabin crew sleeping on the job; using aftershave to cover the smell of vomit in the aisle rather than cleaning it up; ignoring warning alerts on the emergency slide; encouraging staff to falsify references for airport security passes; and asking staff not to recheck passengers' passports before they board flights. Staff in training were falsely told that any Boeing 737-200 (no longer in service with Ryanair) impact would result in the death of the passenger sitting in seat 1A, and that they should not pass this information on to the passenger. [11]

Ryanair denied the allegations and published its correspondence with Dispatches on its website.^[33] It claims to have forwarded all 20 allegations to the UK and Irish aviation authorities, both of whom agreed that there was no substance to them. [12] 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. [13] 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. [14] Following the documentary, Ryanair launched new services and a free flights offer.^[34]

[edit] Early 2006 cancellations

In the first quarter of 2006, a substantial number of Ryanair flights were cancelled, with passengers receiving refunds or being rebooked. Ryanair's explanation was that these cancellations were the result of late aircraft deliveries due to the Boeing machinists' strike.^[35] However, other sources such as pilot forums [15] suggest that some of the cancellations were due to pilots reaching their annual 900-hour duty time limits earlier than anticipated, since the airline's duty-time year runs from April 1 to March 31. Whatever the cause, a number of other carriers operated wet-lease services for Ryanair during the first three months of 2006. One of these, Eirjet, was involved in an incident on March 29 (see below).

[edit] Polls

Ryanair was voted the "least favourite airline" in a 2006 poll by TripAdvisor.^[36][37][38] One reason cited relative to other airlines was unfriendly staff.

[edit] Accidents and incidents

• The Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating Ryanair Flight 296 from Dublin to London Stansted caught fire shortly after landing on February 27, 2002. Subsequent investigations found that although the aircraft was fully evacuated within 90 seconds, the air crew struggled to open the emergency doors, and some passengers were initially evacuated towards the fire. The UK Air Accident Investigation Board recommended changes to training procedures for air-crew to allow better handling of similar situations in future. [16]

• Ryanair Flight 685 from Stockholm's Västerås airport to London Stansted on September 1, 2002 was delayed by several hours after a Swedish man of Arabic origin was detained after attempting to board the aircraft with a loaded gun. Subsequent media reports suggested that the man was going to hijack the aircraft and fly it into the United States Embassy in London;^[39] however, no confirmation of these allegations was found in the following police investigation and trial. [17].

• On March 29, 2006, an Eirjet A320 plane on wet lease to Ryanair, flying from Liverpool to City of Derry Airport, mistakenly landed at the nearby Ballykelly Army Camp Airport some 8 km away.^[40] A Ryanair spokesperson stated "This incident arose as a result of an error by the Eirjet pilot. The pilot was cleared by Air Traffic Control in City of Derry for a visual approach and mistook the nearby Ballykelly for City of Derry."^[41]

• On 12 April 2006 a Ryanair flight from Paris to Dublin was diverted to Prestwick Airport in Scotland under instruction from the UK Department for Transport, after a note was passed to cabin crew claiming a bomb was on board. The Boeing 737 was escorted by RAF Tornado fighter jets to landing, and the airport was closed temporarily. Despite the suspicion of a bomb being on board, security forces apparently prevented the passengers from leaving the plane for several hours.^[42]

• There have been at least four cases of mishandled hazardous landing approches by Ryanair pilots between July 2004 and June 2006 and in February 2007 the Irish transport minister demanded a report on the final incident. Ryanair has been criticised for demanding turnaround times of 25 minutes, putting pilots under severe pressure. ^{[43] [44]}.

[edit] Competitors

Among Ryanair's main low-cost competitors are easyJet, Monarch Airlines, bmibaby, Air Berlin, Germanwings, Transavia, Jet2, SkyEurope, Vueling, Wizz Air, Flybe, Thomsonfly and TUIfly. In 2004 approximately 60 new low-cost airlines were formed. Despite traditionally being a full-service airline, Aer Lingus moved to a low-fares strategy from 2002, leading to much more intense competition with Ryanair on Irish routes.

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.^[45]

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.

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 being the reason for its scrapping the Newcastle-Gothenburg ferry service in October 2006.^[46] 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).

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Ryanair destinations

Ryanair serves 362 routes between 130 airports in 20 European countries. Its main hub is London Stansted Airport, with 88 routes. Ryanair has other hubs throughout Europe, at Dublin (its headquarters, despite not being the largest), Charleroi Brussels South, Cork, Frankfurt-Hahn, Girona, London Luton, Liverpool, Milan Orio al Serio, Pisa, Nottingham East Midlands, Glasgow Prestwick, Rome Ciampino, Shannon, Stockholm Skavsta and has announced three new hubs at Marseille Provence, Madrid Barajas and Bremen (from 1 April 2007)

Most regional airports from which Ryanair operates are located very far from the city centres than their main airports, with Frankfurt-Hahn perhaps the most notorious example, 140 km west of Frankfurt. There are however rare exceptions: Gothenburg City Airport is 11 km closer to Gothenburg than the main Landvetter Airport, and Ciampino Airport is 17 km closer to Rome than the main Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, although the latter is better connected.

The airline's first new routes outside Europe began in October 2006 when Ryanair planned to begin flying from Frankfurt-Hahn to Marrakech and Fez, both in Morocco. These non-European routes were meant to be further complemented from November 2006 when Ryanair flights were to begin from Marseille to Fez, Marrakech and Oujda (all in Morocco). But, all of these flights (to France and Morocco) were cancelled until further notice on November 17, 2006. Flights were booked for these routes even though an Open Skies agreement was not secured with the EU. Thus, many customers who booked these flights months ahead were forced to cancel or seek a refund. Customers were also forced to call a premium cost customer service telephone line costing more than if they wanted to re-book their flights.

Ryanair also announced it would begin flying 10 other routes from Marseille and that it would make Marseille its 16th operational base, with 2 Boeing 737-800 to be based there. But as of Novermber 16, 2006, Ryanair has posponed service to Marseille indefinitely. New flights to Morocco News Release

Of all Ryanair's routes, the Dublin-London city pair remains both the busiest and the most profitable. This is largely due to the number of Irish people who live in the UK, the amount of business between the two cities, and increasingly the number of Irish who use the route to make connecting flights to other points in Europe. In terms of air passenger traffic, London-Dublin is the busiest international city pair in the world after Hong Kong-Taipei.^{[citation needed]}

Ryanair also flies to nine cities in Poland (Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Łódź, Kraków, Poznań, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Warsaw, Wrocław), and has been a significant facilitator of Polish workforce migration to Ireland (over 200,000 Poles as of 2006) and the UK.

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.^[47] 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 [18].

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 currently investigating the actions of the Italian Government in assigning PSO routes and thus restricting competition.

In September 2006 it announced new routes including the airline's first to Malta and also to the Canary Islands, which will be among the airline's longest routes.

From the 23rd of April 2007 Ryanair will be serving a second destination in Croatia. Besides Pula which it connects with London and Dublin, Ryanair will be connecting Zadar in northern Dalmatia with London, initially three times a week.

On November 22, 2006 Ryanair started services from its new hub at Madrid Barajas International Airport, with 3 airplanes and 14 new routes. This marks a new era for Ryanair, being the biggest airport served by the airline.

In November 2006, Ryanair started flying to Rimini, Italy, and to Warsaw, Poland.

In March 2007, Ryanair introduced new route between Maribor, Slovenia, and London.

Ryanair wanted to open its secondary hub at Belgrade Airport, but Serbian autorities denied license, because, as they stated, that would destroy Serbian's national carrier Jat Airways.

Expansion Plans for 2007: Ryanair should announce four more hubs and inaugurate new routes to Russia, Estonia, Israel and Turkey.

[edit] Fleet

The Ryanair fleet consists of the following aircraft:^[48][49]

Aircraft	Number in fleet	Seats	Notes
Boeing 737-800	133	189	148 on order*

^{* With options on a further 137.}

^{As of December 2006 the Ryanair fleet average age was 2.7 years[50]}

• Various Liveries:

Standard new livery: EI-DCB [19]

Standard old livery: EI-CSN [20]

Dreamliner Scheme: EI-DCL [21]

Cable and Wireless: EI-CSC [22]

Pride of Scotland: EI-DAO [23]

Nein Zum Lufthansa Kerosinezuschlag: EI-DAD [24]

Say NO for BA fuel Levy: EI-CTB [25]

Arrivederci Alitalia: EI-CSZ [26]

Bye Bye Sky Europe: EI-DLF [27]

Nykoping: EI-CSV [28]

Catalunya: EI-CSW [29]

Zegnamy PLL LOT: EI-DLG [30]

[edit] Selected shareholders

• Michael O'Leary (Chief Executive)
• Kyran McLaughlin
• David Bonderman (Chairman of Board)
• Emmanuel Faber
• Michael Horgan
• Klaus Kirchberger
• Ray MacSharry
• James R. Osborne
• Paolo Pietrogrande
• Tony Ryan (Founder)
• Donald Hacker
• Edward Wilson (Director of Personnel and In-flight)
• Howard Millar (Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO)
• Tommy Bread

[edit] See also

• Michael O'Leary
• Aviation and the environment
• Ryanair Flight 296
• List of airlines
• List of Irish companies
• List of low-cost airlines
• Low-cost carrier

[edit] Notes

[edit] Further reading

• Creaton, Siobhan (2004). Ryanair: How a Small Irish Airline Conquered Europe. ISBN 1-85410-992-8. 
• Calder, Simon (2002). No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low Cost Revolution in the Skies. ISBN 1-85227-932-X. 
• Guardian Unlimited. Ryanair ... the low-fare airline with the sky-high insurance levy. Retrieved on May 29, 2006.
• Telegraph. Disabled groups attack 33p Ryanair levy. Retrieved on May 29, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Ryanair
• Ryanair's interactive destination map
• Ryanair Fleet
• Ryanair Fleet Age
• Ryanair web page at Flightattitude.com
• Skytrax: Ryanair - passenger opinions forum
• Ryanair passenger opinions (in Dutch)
• The financial operations of Ryanair
• Ryan-Be-Fair a site "giving Ryanair employees a collective voice"
• Photos of Ryanair aircraft
• Ryanair Campaign a site critical of Ryanair's customer service
• Unofficial Ryanair forum
• Ryanair vs Easyjet Price Comparison
• Ryanair Virtual Airline, approved by Ryanair.

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