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RyanAir
*** Shopping-Tip: RyanAir
:''For the unrelated
United States American charter/cargo airline, see
Ryan International Airlines.''
{{Infobox frame}}
{{Airline infobox |
airline=Ryanair|
logo=Ryanairlogo.png|
logo_size=200px|
IATA=FR|
ICAO=RYR|
callsign=Ryanair|
company_name=Ryanair Holdings plc|
founded=1985|
headquarters=
Dublin,
Republic of Ireland Ireland|
key_people=
Michael O'Leary (Ryanair) Michael O'Leary (
CEO),
Michael Cawley (
CFO)|
hubs=|
focus_cities=
London Stansted AirportDublin International AirportCiampino AirportFrankfurt-Hahn AirportCork International AirportLiverpool AirportPrestwick AirportLondon Luton AirportGirona AirportStockholm-Skavsta AirportShannon International AirportCharleroi Brussels SouthOrio al Serio AirportNottingham East Midlands AirportGalileo Galilei Airport|
frequent_flyer=|
lounge=Travel extra|
alliance=
European Low Fares Airline Association ELFAA|
fleet_size=100|
destinations=95|
website=http://www.ryanair.com|
}}
{{End frame}}
'''Ryanair''' ({{ise|RYA}} {{lse|RYA}} {{nasdaq|RYAAY}}) is an
airline based in
Ireland. It is
Europe's largest
low-cost carrier, operating 270 low-fare routes to 21 European countries. Over the years it has evolved into the world's most profitable airline [http://web.archive.org/web/20040203173244/http%3A//www.ryanair.com/press/2004/jan/gen-en-280104.html], running at remarkable margins by relentlessly driving down costs. Ryanair has been characterised by rapid and continuing expansion, enabled by the
deregulation of the air industry in Europe in
1997.
Ryanair is one of Europe's most controversial companies, praised and criticised in equal measure [http://www.rte.ie/comments/ryanair.html]. Its supporters praise its commitment to exceptionally low fares, its radical management, its populism, and its willingness to challenge what Ryanair calls the 'establishment' within the airline industry (similar to its American counterpart,
Southwest Airlines). Critics, meanwhile, have attacked its
trade union policies [http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2003/12/inbrief/eu0312204n.html], and have charged that it practises deceptive
advertising [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3088311.stm].
History
Early years
Ryanair was founded in
1985 by Irish businessman
Tony Ryan. The airline began with a 15 seat
turboprop aircraft flying between
Waterford and
Gatwick 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 Airport London Luton in competition to the
British Airways BA/
Aer Lingus duopoly for the first time. With two routes and two planes, they carried 82,000 passengers in one year.
image:ryanair.b737.750pix.jpg thumb|left|250px|Ryanair Boeing 737-200
Passenger numbers continued to increase, but the airline generally ran at a loss, and by
1991 was in need of restructuring.
Michael O'Leary (Ryanair) 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 a quick turn-around time, no frills, and no business class, as well as operating only one model of aircraft.
{{Spoken |Ryanair.ogg|2005-06-27}}
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, flexible and reliable service. Flights were scheduled into smaller airports, closer and more convenient for customers. He adopted a hands-on style of management, becoming well known for the fact that despite being Chief Executive, he regularly helped 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 whose ethos is to provide a low cost, reliable and competitive service. By
1995, thanks to the consistent pursuit of this business model, Ryanair celebrated its 10th birthday by carrying 2.25 million passengers. It had become the largest carrier on all its routes.
Deregulation and flotation
After
EU deregulation of the air industry in Europe in
1997, Ryanair was ready to take on the continent. After a highly successful flotation of Ryanair on the
ISEQ Dublin Stock Exchange and the
NASDAQ NASDAQ Stock exchanges, the airline launched services to
Stockholm,
Oslo(Torp airport, 110 km south of Oslo),
Paris and
Charleroi near
Brussels. Flush with new capital, the airline placed a massive
US dollar US$2
billion order for 45 new
Boeing 737-800 series aircraft in
1998. The airline was voted Airline of the Year by the Irish Transport Users Committee and voted Best Managed National Airline by ''International Aviation Week'' magazine.
The airline launched its website in
2000, with on line booking 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 95% of the total.
Continental Europe
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 advantage of the downturn in plane orders after the slump in air travel following the September 2001 terrorist attacks) to be delivered over eight years from
2002 to
2010. 100 of these aircraft will have been delivered by the end of 2005. In
2002 Ryanair launched 26 new routes and established a base 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 from
Boeing, and in February a third continental base was opened at
Orio al Serio Airport Milan-Bergamo in
Italy.
In April Ryanair acquired its ailing competitor
Buzz (airline) Buzz from
KLM, at a knock-down price. Expansion continued apace with the launch of a base at
Skavsta Airport 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
Ciampino Airport Rome (Ciampino) and
Girona Airport Barcelona (Girona), increasing the total to 11 hubs.
Recent history
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
Euro € 3.3 million in the second quarter of 2004 was the airline's first recorded loss for 15 years, indicating turbulent times in the low fares market. However, the
enlargement of the European Union in 2004 is expected to lead to more new routes as Ryanair and other budget airlines tap the markets of the
EU accession countries. Since the accession countries joined the EU on
1 May 2004, Ryanair has opened new routes to six of the ten new EU member states.
In February
2005 Ryanair announced an order for 70 further Boeing 737-800 aircraft with an option for a further 70. This is expected to allow Ryanair to increase passenger numbers from the 34 million expected in
2005 to 70 million in
2011 and creating 2,500 new jobs. Some of these aircraft would be deployed at Ryanair's 12 European bases, others to 10 new bases they intend to establish over the next seven years. 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.
Growth and expansion
Image:Ryanair_passengers.png right|Ryanair passenger numbers
Ryanair has grown massively since its creation in
1985, from a small airline flying the short hop to
London from
Ireland into one of Europe's largest carriers. The driver of the growth has been Ryanair's
CEO,
Michael O'Leary (Ryanair) Michael O'Leary. After taking the rapidly growing airline public in
1997 he used the money raised to expand the airline into a pan-European carrier.
Revenue Revenues have risen from
euro € 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 Air Lines 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 Airlines Southwest and
JetBlue, since the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Ryanair's passenger numbers have grown by up to 25% every year for the best part 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 did.
Criticisms and complaints
Ryanair has been heavily criticised throughout the low-cost part of its history for many of its practices. 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. This attitude has extended to refusing to board a passenger in a wheelchair, and charging a fee of £18 for loading wheelchairs onto planes for disabled passengers. This has now been ruled unlawful [http://www.drc-gb.org/newsroom/newsdetails.asp?id=618§ion=1]
Critics have accused Ryanair of poor treatment of customers whose flights have been cancelled [http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/ryan.htm]. The airline has been known to refuse to provide accommodation or meal vouchers when flights are cancelled or delayed; this is illegal since
February 17,
2005 [http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004R0261:EN:HTML] .
Ryanair is often accused of flying to airports which, while cheap, are too far away from the cities they say they are serving. For example, the airline used to advertise a service to "
Copenhagen",
Denmark which actually flew to
Malmö, in
Sweden. This service is now advertised as
Malmö. Legal actions forced name changes on routes previously referred to as "
Airport Weeze Düsseldorf (Niederrhein)" and "St. Etienne (Lyons)", but in other cases court actions have upheld the designated name of the route — this was the case for
Frankfurt Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Hahn, over 100
kilometre km from central Frankfurt. In February 2005, the same issue made headlines after an advertisement published in Norway's ''Aftenposten'' featured flights from Oslo to ''London Prestwick'', an airport that doesn't exist with that name;
Prestwick Airport is in
Scotland, 400 miles from London [http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2006/02/09/a_wee_trip_to_london.html#more][http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/09/nryan09.xml]. The company claimed that the advertisement was a typing error.
image:ryanair.b737-200.ei-cnv.bristol.arp.jpg thumb|right|250px|Ryanair Boeing 737-200 landing
Also criticised are what are seen as vitriolic attacks on opponents, notably former Irish Minister for Transport
Mary O'Rourke (1997-2002), who 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 (now largely restructured). (The break-up of Aer Rianta remains a high profile demand for Michael O'Leary. It is due to be implemented during 2005 under the State Airports Act 2004).
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 [http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=49] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3456423.stm].
The airline was criticised for the age of its previous elderly fleet of Boeing 737-200 aircraft, which were only recently retired. They were bought second hand from
Lufthansa and
Britannia Airways who had purchased them in the early
1980s. Industry observers believed that Ryanair had pushed them beyond their usable service life, however Ryanair argued that the planes were always well maintained. Ryanair retired its last Boeing 737-200 from service in late 2005.
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 a breach of European Union competition rules. 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.
Walloons 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.
Ryanair has also come under fire from unions representing workers in the airline industry for refusing to recognise trade unions, and allegations of poor working conditions. Staff are banned from charging their own mobile phones at work to reduce the company's electricity bill [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/4471833.stm], even though the cost savings by such measures are insignificant. However it could be perceived that the measure was made for publicity, saving thousands of pounds from advertising.
Several successful actions have been brought against the company: On
25 January 2005 the Irish Labour Court guaranteed an investigation into allegations of victimisation of staff who wished to join a trade union [http://www.ryan-be-fair.org/news/ialpa.htm]. In March of the same year, a Belgian court ruled that two sacked Belgian cabin staff who had been working out of the airport of Charleroi were entitled to protection under Belgian law, not Irish law as Ryanair had claimed [http://www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/354].
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, hugely angering disabled rights groups [http://www.drc-gb.org/newsroom/newsdetails.asp?print=true&id=773§ion=1]. However, the airline argued that this provision was the responsibility of the airport authority stating that wheelchairs were provided by 87 of the 93 Ryanair destination airports. A court ruling in 2004 judged that the responsibility should be shared by the airline and the airport owners [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4112791.stm]; Ryanair responded by adding a surcharge of
Pound Sterling GBP 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. [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article319157.ece]
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, 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 £43,098. [http://www.rte.ie/news/2002/0228/ryanair.html] [http://www.ananova.com/business/story/sm_611142.html]
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, claiming that this fee exceeds the amount the passengers may be eligible for. Norwegian consumer authorities have fined Ryanair £43,000 for this practice [http://forbruker.no/reise/article1216910.ece].
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 flight crew based at Ryanair's operations at London Stansted Airport and secretly recorded the training programme, and flight crew procedures. The documentary criticised Ryanair's training policies, security procedures, aircraft hygiene, and highlighted poor staff morale. It filmed Ryanair 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 re-check 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 rely on these passengers for assistance during an emergency. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/promos/dispatches/02.%20Original%20letter%20from%20Dispatches%20to%20Ryanair%20%5B2006-01-12%5D.pdf]
Ryanair denied the allegations and published its correspondence with Dispatches on their website. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/inpage.php?partner=DISPATCHES] 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. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/promos/dispatches/12.%20Ryanair%20Statement%20for%20Channel%204%20Dispatches%20Programme%20%5B2006-02-09%5D.pdf] 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. [http://www.ryanair.com/site/promos/dispatches/14.%20Dispatches'%20misleading%20advertisement%20in%20media%20%5B2006-02-13%5D.pdf] Much of the subsequent coverage of the programme in the media considered that the documentary was overblown and failed to make substantial claims against the airline, with some going so far as to label the attempted exposé as a vindication for Ryanair. [http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/business/Full_Story/did-sg0X5zaq4lRsssg7OWirIStPSk.asp] In typical fashion, Ryanair used the publicity caused by the documentary to launch new services and a free flights offer. [http://business.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=233162006]
Ryanair has also been criticised for its overworking of crews and pilots [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,742552,00.html]. Michael O'Leary claimed in 1992 [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,742552,00.html] that Ryanair pilots work on average 830 hours a year, and that the maximum legally acceptable is 900. Ryanair has attempted to pressurize employees not to unionize, as claimed by the Ryan Be Fair website [http://www.ryan-be-fair.org/news/current_situation.htm], 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 [http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2000/10/22/story853138.asp].
Accidents and incidents
Ryanair Flight 296 (
Boeing 737-800) from
Dublin Airport Dublin to
London Stansted Airport London Stansted caught fire shortly after landing on
February 27,
2002. Subsequent investigations found that the air crew struggled to open the emergency doors, and some passengers were 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.
Ryanair Flight 685 from
Stockholm's Västerås airport to London Stansted in
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 [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukresponse/story/0,11017,784385,00.html]; however, no confirmation of these allegations was found in the following police investigation and trial [http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=73153].
March 29th 2006 Ryanair Flight 9884, 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 5 miles away, the jet was grounded pending investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the UK. [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2006/0330/84433106HM1RYANAIRDERRY.html]. 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."
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4859716.stm BBC Article "Probe into 'wrong runway' error"]
Competitors
Among Ryanair's main low-cost competitors are
easyJet,
Air Berlin,
Germanwings and
Transavia. In 2004 approximately 60 new low-cost airlines were formed. Despite traditionally being a full-service airline,
Aer Lingus began to adopt a low-fares strategy in 2002, leading to much more intense competition with Ryanair on Irish routes – Ryanair's most profitable.
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 does fly from
Belfast International Airport Aldergrove in Northern Ireland, but Ryanair does not operate there. Airlines which attempt to compete directly with Ryanair are treated harshly, with Ryanair reducing fares to ridiculous levels and in the case of MyTravelLite on the Birmingham to Dublin route, Ryanair set up competing flights on some of MyTravelLites routes until they pulled out.
Destinations
Image:Ryanairdestinations.png thumb|400px|Destinations of Ryanair, hubs indicated in red
{{see|Ryanair destinations}}
Ryanair currently serves 301 routes between 114 airports in 22 European countries. Its main hub is
London Stansted Airport, with 88 routes. Ryanair has other bases throughout Europe, at
Charleroi Brussels South,
Cork International Airport Cork,
Dublin Airport Dublin,
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Frankfurt-Hahn,
Girona-Costa Brava Airport Girona,
London Luton Airport London Luton,
Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool,
Orio al Serio Airport Milan Orio al Serio,
Pisa Galileo Galilei Airport Pisa,
Nottingham East Midlands Airport Nottingham East Midlands,
Glasgow Prestwick International Airport Glasgow Prestwick,
Ciampino Airport Rome Ciampino,
Shannon Airport Shannon and
Stockholm Skavsta Airport Stockholm Skavsta.
Most smaller airports Ryanair operates to are located farther from the city centres than their main airports, with
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Frankfurt-Hahn perhaps the most notorious example, 110km west of
Frankfurt. There are however exceptions:
Gothenburg City Airport is 11 km closer to
Gothenburg than the main
Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport Landvetter Airport, and
Ciampino Airport is 17km closer to
Rome than the main
Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, although the latter is better connected.
Of all Ryanair's routes, the Dublin-London route 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 and money traded between the two cities – and increasingly the number of Irish who use the route to make connecting flights to other places in Europe. The London-Dublin route is the busiest international route in the world after Hong Kong-Taipei.
[http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/dests.php?flash=yes Ryanair's interactive destination map]
Fleet
The Ryanair fleet consists of the following aircraft (at January 2006):
All Boeing 737-200 aircraft have now been retired by Ryanair
*102
Boeing 737-800 (further 230 on order-23 scheduled)
Ryanair currently has firm orders for an additional 230 Boeing 737-800 aircraft by
2010, with options on a further 193.
On
13 June 2005, Ryanair confirmed a $286 million order for 5
Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which is a conversion of five existing options from an order in
2002. The newly ordered aircraft will be delivered in spring 2007 (ref: Air International, July 2005). ryanair received their 100th boeing 737 in march 2006[http://www.http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/news.php?yr=06&month=mar&story=gen-en-070306.com ]
In March 2006, Ryanair fleet average age is 2.3 years old.
External links
-
Ryanair
-
Ryanair Fleet Age
-
Ryanair Fleet Detail
-
Ryanair Passenger Opinions
-
The financial operations of Ryanair
-
Ryan-Be-Fair
-
Photos of Ryanair aircraft
See also
{{Commons|Ryanair}}
*
Ryanair Flight 296
*
List of airlines
*
List of Irish companies
*
List of low-cost airlines
*
Low-cost carrier
References
*''Ryanair: How a Small Irish Airline Conquered Europe'' by
Siobhan Creaton, first printed May
2004 - ISBN 1854109928.
*''No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low Cost Revolution in the Skies'' by Simon Calder, first printed June
2002 - ISBN 185227932X
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