Ryanair

Not to be confused with Ryan Air Services or Rayani Air. For other similarly named air carriers, see Ryan Airlines.
Ryanair
IATA ICAO Callsign
FR RYR RYANAIR
Founded 28 November 1984[1]
Commenced operations 8 July 1985
Operating bases
Fleet size 326
Destinations 192
Company slogan
  • Low Fares Made Simple
  • 30 Years of Low Fares
  • Always Getting Better
Headquarters Dublin Airport, Ireland
Key people
Revenue Increase €5.654 billion (2015)
Operating income Increase €1.042 billion (2015)
Net income Increase €866.7 million (2015)
Total assets Increase €12.185 billion (2015)
Total equity Increase €4.035 billion (2015)
Employees 9,501 (2014)
Website www.ryanair.com
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Ryanair Ltd. (ISEQ: RYA, LSE: RYA, NASDAQ: RYAAY) is an Irish low-cost airline headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland, with its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted Airports. In 2013, Ryanair was both the largest European airline by scheduled passengers carried, and the busiest international airline by passenger numbers.[4]

Ryanair operates over 300 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with a single 737-700 maintained on the roster as a backup plane and for crew training.[5] The airline has been characterised by its rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the aviation industry in Europe in 1997 and the success of its low-cost business model. Ryanair's route network serves 32 countries in Europe, Africa (Morocco), and the Middle East (Israel).[6]

History

ATR-42 in 1991

Since its establishment in 1984,[1] 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 9,500 members of staff (as of 2013) 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 €3,013 million in 2010. Similarly net profits have increased from €48 million to €339 million over the same period.[7]

Early years

Ryanair was founded in 1984 as "Danren Enterprises"[1] 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.[8] The airline was shortly thereafter renamed "Ryanair"[1] and began operations in 1985 with a 15-seat Embraer Bandeirante turboprop aircraft, flying between Waterford and Gatwick Airport[9] with the aim of breaking the duopoly on London-Ireland flights at that time, held by British Airways and Aer Lingus.[10]

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante in 1988

In 1986, the company added a second route – flying Dublin–Luton 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, to protect Aer Lingus, but Britain, under Margaret Thatcher's deregulating Conservative government, approved the service. With two routes and two planes, the fledgling airline carried 82,000 passengers in one year.

In 1986 the directors of Ryanair took an 85% stake in London European Airways, from 1987 this provided a connection with the Luton Ryanair service onward to Amsterdam and Brussels.[11] In 1988 London European operated as Ryanair Europe and later began to operate charter services.[12][13] Ryanair passenger numbers continued to increase, but the airline generally ran at a loss and, by 1991, was in need of restructuring including the closure of Ryanair Europe/London European. Michael O'Leary was charged with the task of making the airline profitable. O'Leary quickly decided that the key to profitability was low fares, quick turn-around times for aircraft, "no frills" and no business class, as well as operating a single model of aircraft.[14] In 1989, a Short Sandringham was operated with Ryanair sponsorship titles but never flew revenue-generating services for the airline.[15]

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.[16]

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.[17] 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), Beauvais–Tillé and Charleroi near Brussels.[18] In 1998, flush with new capital, the airline placed a massive US$2 billion order for 45 new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft.[19]

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

2000s

Boeing 737-800 in the old livery

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 directly 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 737-800 aircraft from Boeing at what was believed to be a substantial discount, to be delivered over eight years from 2002 to 2010.[20] 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.[21]

Ryanair cabin with advertising on overhead lockers and safety cards on seatbacks

In April 2003, Ryanair acquired its ailing competitor Buzz from KLM.[22]

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.[23] 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 for Ryanair.[24]

The rapid addition of new routes and new bases has enabled 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.[25]

For the six months ending 30 September 2006 passenger traffic grew by more than a fifth to 22.1 million passengers and revenues rose by a third to €1.256 billion.[26]

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[27] and claimed that promotional materials, in particular a photograph of a stewardess sleeping, had been faked by Dispatches.[28]

On 5 October 2006, Ryanair launched a €1.48 billion (£1 billion; $1.9 billion) 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.[29] On 2 October 2006, Aer Lingus rejected Ryanair's takeover bid, saying it was contradictory.[30]

In August 2006, the company started 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.[31]

Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, stated in April 2007 that Ryanair planned to launch a new long-haul airline around 2009.[32] 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. 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 2014, this has contributed a delay to the airline's launch. It is said that the name of the new airline will be RyanAtlantic and it will sell tickets through the Ryanair website under an alliance agreement.[33] In February 2010, O'Leary said the launch would be delayed until 2014, at the earliest, because of the shortage of suitable, cheap aircraft.[34][35]

In October 2008, Ryanair withdrew operations from a base in Europe for the first time when it closed its base in Valencia, Spain.[36] Ryanair estimated the closure cost 750 jobs.[37]

On 1 December 2008, Ryanair launched a second takeover bid of Aer Lingus, offering an all-cash offer of €748 million (£619 mil; US$950 million). 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.[38][39][40] The Aer Lingus board rejected the offer and advised its shareholders to take no action.[41] 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.[42] 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.[43]

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 that 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.[44]

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 on line. This became reality in October 2009.[45]

In June 2009, Ryanair reported their first annual loss, with a loss posted of €169 million for the financial year ending 31 March.[46]

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 and 2016, and simply returning cash to shareholders.[47] 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.[48] In December 2009, Ryanair confirmed 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.[49]

2010s

A Boeing 737-800 at Moss Airport, Rygge

As of February 2010, Ryanair had an average fare of €32. Ryanair stood by the fact that its average fare was less than half than that 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.[50] In a company statement released on 22 April 2010, Ryanair described the regulations as 'unfair'.[51] On 29 April 2010, Ryanair cancelled of all of its routes from Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport after talks about decreasing taxes with the airport's management failed. The 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.[52]

In August 2010, Ryanair held a press conference in Plovdiv and announced its first ever Bulgarian destination connecting Plovdiv with London Stansted. The service was planned to start in November 2010 with two flights weekly.[53]

In late 2010, Ryanair began withdrawing all their routes from their smallest base, Belfast City, and Shannon due to rises in airport fees.[54]

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.[55]

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

In June 2011, Ryanair and COMAC signed an agreement to co-operate on the development of the C-919, a Boeing 737 competitor.[56]

Ryanair cut capacity by grounding 80 aircraft between November 2011 and April 2012 due to the high cost of fuel and continuing weak economic conditions.[57]

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.

On 25 October 2013, Ryanair unveiled what it called a series of "customer service improvements" over the next six months. These included lower fees for reprinting boarding passes, free changes of minor errors on bookings within 24 hours, and a second small carry on bag. Ryanair said it was making these changes due to customer feedback.[58]

On 27 January 2014, Ryanair moved into their new €20m, 100,000 sq ft Dublin Head Office in Airside Business Park, having outgrown their previous office based within Dublin Airport.[59] The building was officially opened on Thursday 3 April 2014 by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and the Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisin Quinn.

On 8 September 2014, Ryanair agreed to purchase up to 200 Boeing 737 MAX 8s (100 confirmed and 100 options) for over $22 billion.[60]

The airline confirmed plans to open an operating base at Milan Malpensa Airport from December 2015, initially with one aircraft.[61]

On 9th March, 2016, Ryanair launched a corporate jet charter service, offering a Boeing 737-700 for corporate or group hire.[62][63]

Corporate affairs

The current head office of Ryanair is in the Airside Business Park in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland.[64] David Daly, a developer, built the facility prior to Ryanair's 2012 purchase.[65] The building has 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of space,[66] and the airline paid €11 million euros to occupy the building. John Mulligan of the Irish Independent wrote that "It is thought that" Ryanair would refurbish the building for another €9 million.[65] At the end of 2013 the airline had scheduled to move to the new building.[66] The airline planned to occupy half of the building space and to sublease the other half.[67]

Previously the head office was on the property of Dublin Airport, in proximity to the Aer Lingus head office.[68] Darley Investments built the facility in 1992. Ryanair later purchased Darley and had a 30-year lease of the head office facility from the Department of Transport of Ireland. For twelve years, the company paid no rent even though it was supposed to pay €244,000 per year. After twelve years and prior to 2008, it paid less than half of the €244,000.[65]

Business trends

The key trends for Ryanair over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 March):[69][70]

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total operating revenue (€m) 2,988.1 3,629.5 4,390.2 4,884.0 5,036.7 5,654.0
Operating income (€m) 402.1 488.2 683.2 718.2 658.6 1,042.9
Profit before taxation (€m) 341.0 420.9 633.0 650.9 591.4 982.4
Profit after taxation (€m) 305.3 374.6 560.4 569.3 522.8 866.7
Number of employees (average) 7,032[71] 8,063[71] 8,438 9,059 9,501 TBA
Revenue passengers booked (m) 66.5 72.1 75.8 79.3 81.7 90.6
Booked passenger load factor (%) 82 83 82 82 83 88
Year end aircraft fleet 272[71] 294[71] 305 297 308

Criticism

Former 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.[72] The treatment of employees has changed considerably since then and new employees no longer get shares in the company. However, Ryanair still refuses to recognise 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 being fired for handing out a union form to a cabin crew member while on duty.[73] In 2012 the Ryanair Pilot Group (RPG) was formed, but to date has not been successful in its aim to represent the pilots flying for Ryanair as a collective bargaining unit.

Contracts offered to Ryanair staff are at times unusual and made complicated when compared to other airlines; for example, by forcing pilots to pay tens of thousands of euro for training, then establish limited companies in Ireland and working for Ryanair through an agency,[74] or by forcing ground staff in Spain to open bank accounts in Gibraltar in which to receive their wages.[75]

In May 2014 Ryanair's office in Marseille was raided by French police investigating complaints that the company was failing to follow French employment law. Ryanair has protested about the raid.[76]

In May 2015 the Mayor of Copenhagen announced a boycott of Ryanair. This came in the wake of protests from Danish unions regarding employment conditions.[77] After a court trial confirmed the unions' right to strike, Ryanair moved its bases out of Denmark.[78]

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.[79]

Ryanair has been described by the consumer magazine Holiday Which? as being the worst offender for charging for optional extras.[80] As part of the low-cost business model, the airline charges fees, which can be related to alternative services such as using airport check-in facilities instead of the online service fee and paying by credit card. 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.[81] Ryanair argues that it charges for a large number of optional extras 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.[82] 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 €70/£70 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.[83] Although this fee is waived on "Free", "€1" and "€5" promotional fares, it has been criticised as being a non-optional extra charge, although it is included in the headline fare.[84]

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 security checks during the short turnaround times.[85] It was reported in various media that Ryanair wanted to order their aircraft without window shades;[85] 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,[86] redesigning the aircraft to allow standing passengers travelling in "vertical seats", charging passengers for using the toilet,[87] charging extra for overweight passengers,[88] and asking passengers to carry their checked-in luggage to the plane.[89]

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".[90]

Old Ryanair logo, used until 2013
Ryanair logo from 2013 to mid-2015, where a new logo with a white background was introduced

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.[91][92]

The airline has repeatedly come under heavy criticism 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.[93] 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,[94] at that time. A court ruling in 2004 judged that the responsibility should be shared by the airline and the airport owners;[95] Ryanair responded by adding a surcharge of £0.50 to all its flight prices. In July 2012, a 69-year-old woman, Frances Duff, who has a colostomy, was refused permission to bring her medical kit on board, despite having a letter from her doctor explaining the need for her to carry this with her, and was asked by Ryanair boarding staff to lift up her shirt in front of fellow passengers, to prove that she had a colostomy bag. Duff had previously attempted to contact Ryanair on three occasions to inquire about their policy on travellers colostomy bags, but each time no-one had answered the phone after half an hour.[96] On 4 April 2011, Ryanair began adding 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.[97]

Ryanair did not offer customers the possibility of contacting them by email or webform, only through a premium rate phone line, by fax or by post; however it does now have a webform contact option. 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.[98] Ryanair offers a basic rate telephone number for post-booking enquiries in the United Kingdom, which chose to omit the exemption for passenger transport services when enacting Article 21 of Directive 2011/83/EU on Consumer Rights under Regulation 41 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Payments) Regulations 2013.[99]

Improved customer service and attracting families

On 17 June 2014, Ryanair announced a new campaign to re-invent itself as a more family-friendly airline. Speaking at the company's 2014 AGM, chief executive Michael O'Leary put it more bluntly, saying the airline needed to "stop unnecessarily pissing people off". Ryanair says up to 20% of its 81 million customers are travelling as families and it wants to raise that figure. Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair's chief marketing officer, said: "Families are a big deal for us. It's a group of customers that we want to get closer to."[100]

Publicity

Controversial advertising

Ryanair's advertising and the antics of Michael O'Leary, such as causing deliberate court controversy to generate free publicity for the airline,[101] have led to a number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and occasionally court action being taken against the airline.[102][103][104][105]

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".[106] 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".[107]

'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.[102]

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."[108]

In 2007 Ryanair used an advertisement for its new Belfast route which showed Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness (Northern Ireland deputy First Minister and a former senior commander of the IRA) standing alongside party president Gerry Adams with a speech bubble which said "Ryanair fares are so low even the British Army flew home".[109][110][111] Ulster Unionists reacted angrily to the advertisement, while the Advertising Standards Authority said it did not believe the ad would cause widespread offence.[112]

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. 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".[113]

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?".[114]

Misleading advertising

Although it usually does not serve the primary airport of major European cities, Ryanair has been criticised 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", "Brussels South", "Milan Bergamo" 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.[115]

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.[116][117]

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".[118]

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.[119]

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".[120] 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 destinations experienced sunshine for as little as three hours per day and temperatures between 0 and 14 °C.[121]

Criticism of surcharges

In February 2011 a Ryanair passenger, Miro Garcia, brought a claim against Ryanair for unfair surcharges, claiming that the €40 (£30) 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 (£30) 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".[122] 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.[123]

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.[124] EU legislation has already been drafted against surcharges for methods of payment.[125]

Fuel incidents

On 26 July 2012 three Ryanair aircraft inbound to Madrid–Barajas Airport diverted to Valencia Airport due to severe thunderstorms in the Madrid area. All three aircraft declared an emergency (Mayday) when the calculated usable fuel on landing at Valencia Airport was less than final reserve (30 minutes of flight) after having been held in the air for 50 to 69 minutes.[126] The Irish Aviation Authority investigated the incidents and came to a number of conclusions, including:

  1. "The aircraft in all three cases departed for Madrid with fuel in excess of Flight Plan requirements";
  2. "The Crew diverted to Valencia with fuel in excess of the minimum diversion fuel depicted on the Flight Plan";
  3. "Diverting with fuel close to minimum diversion fuel in the circumstances presented on the evening in question was likely to present challenges for the crew. Initial holding was to the Southwest of Madrid which increased the diversion time to the alternate";
  4. "The Crew declared an Emergency in accordance with EU-OPS when the calculated usable fuel for landing at Valencia was less than final reserve";
  5. "The Met conditions in Madrid were more significant than anticipated by the Crew when reviewing the Met Forecast. Consequently the additional fuel carried was influenced by the forecast";
  6. "Operations into a busy airport such as Madrid in Thunderstorm conditions with the associated traffic levels can add significant delays to all traffic";
  7. "Air Traffic Control in Valencia was under significant pressure with the number of diversions arriving in their airspace."[127]

The Irish Aviation Authority made a number of recommendations, including that Ryanair should "review their fuel policy and consider issuing guidance to Crew with respect to fuel when operating into busy airports with mixed aircraft operators and types particularly in poor weather conditions when diversions are likely."[127] The IAA also recommended that the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency "review delays into Madrid to consider if additional fuel should be recommended or required to be carried in normal operations particularly where the southerly Runways are in operation."[127]

Among the causes of the incident, the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission concludes that "the company's fuel savings policy, though it complies with the minimum legal requirements, tends to minimise the amount of fuel with which its aircraft operate and leaves none for contingencies below the legal minimums. This contributed to the amount of fuel used being improperly planned and to the amount of fuel onboard dropping below the required final fuel reserve."[128]

In an interview with the Dutch investigative journalism programme KRO Reporter, four anonymous Ryanair pilots claimed they are being pressured to carry as little fuel as possible on board to cut costs.[129][130] Ryanair and its CEO Michael O'Leary denied the allegations and sued KRO.[131][132] On 16 April 2014, the Dutch Court decided that KRO had provided sufficient evidence in two television episodes of Mayday, Mayday broadcast in 2012 and 2013 to back their claims in respect of Ryanair's fuel policy and "fear culture". It also found that Ryanair had been given a right of reply in response to the claims. The broadcast of the programmes was found to be in the public interest. Ryanair were ordered to pay the legal costs of the case.[133]

Competitors

Ryanair has several 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.[134] Ryanair is a member of ELFAA (European Low Fares Airline Association).[135]

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.[136]

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 later withdrew its Gatwick-Cork, Gatwick-Shannon, Gatwick-Knock and Luton-Shannon routes.[137]

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.[138] 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 began operations from Modlin Airport, Ryanair began 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.[139]

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.[140] 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. According to the research held in October 2013 Ryanair is the cheapest low-cost airline in Europe in basic price without fees but is the fourth cheapest when fees are included.[141][142]

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 base is at London-Stansted in the United Kingdom with 43 aircraft followed by its home base at Dublin.[143] Ryanair operates over 70 bases across Europe and North Africa, some of which only base a single aircraft. Several non-base airports serve more flights and/or destinations than certain base airports.

Ryanair traditionally prefers to fly to smaller or secondary airports usually outside major cities to help the company benefit from lower landing fees and quick turn-around times to reduce costs. For example, Ryanair does not fly to the main Düsseldorf airport. Instead, it flies to Weeze, 70 km from Düsseldorf. Ryanair has even referred to Bratislava Airport in Slovakia as "Bratislava Vienna" despite Vienna being the capital of Austria. In some cases, secondary airports are not distant from the city they serve, 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 Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona El Prat, Brussels Zaventem, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London-Gatwick, Madrid Barajas, Manchester, Marseille and Rome-Fiumicino. Some of these cities do not have a viable secondary airport that Ryanair could use as an alternative.[115] In more recent months/years, Ryanair has grown more at primary airports as it looks to attract more business passengers. For Summer 2014, the airline opened bases in Athens, Lisbon and the primary airports of Brussels and Rome for the first time.

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.[144][145] 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). Currently, its biggest country market is Italy, containing fourteen bases, as well as a total of nine other non-base airports.

Ryanair's largest competitor is EasyJet which has a far greater focus on larger or primary airports such as Amsterdam and Paris-Charles de Gaulle, heavily targeting business passengers. Ryanair also serves sun and beach destinations with bases in the Canary Islands, Cyprus, the Greek Islands and Malta amongst others. In August 2014, the airline unveiled ambitious plans to establish a major hub in Israel to service a broad range of European routes.[146] In December 2014 Ryanair announced plans to open its 72nd base in 2015 in the Azores.[147]

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.[148] 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.[149]

Cork Airport

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.[150] 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.[151] In 2009, Ryanair was reported to have adopted 'harsh' negotiating with Shannon Airport, threatening to close 75% of its operations there from April 2010.[152] 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.

Outside Europe

On various occasions Ryanair has stated its wishes to expand its routes beyond European airports to the United States, Russia and the Middle East. In August 2014, CEO Michael O'Leary foreshadowed the development of a Ryanair Israel, servicing cities across Europe.[146]

Ryanair has also helped with the launch of low-cost airlines: VivaAerobús (Mexico) and VivaColombia (Colombia).[153] In 2016, it will help to develop a new low-cost airline in Costa Rica, named VivaCan.[154][155][156]

Fleet

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 taxiing at Manchester Airport.
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 departs Bristol Airport (2014)

Ryanair claims to operate the newest, greenest, and quietest fleet of aircraft in Europe.[157][158] As of March 2014, the average age of the Ryanair fleet was around 5.5 years.[69] When Boeing builds an aircraft for Ryanair, it is allocated the customer code AS, which appears in their aircraft designation as a suffix, such as 737-8AS.

Ryanair's fleet reached 200 aircraft for the first time on 5 September 2009.[157][159] All aircraft in the Ryanair fleet have been retrofitted with performance enhancing winglets and the more recent deliveries have them fitted as standard.[160]

The company also owns three Learjet 45, based at London Stansted Airport and Bergamo Airport but registered in the Isle of Man as M-ABEU, M-ABGV and M-ABJA, which are mainly used for the quick transportation of maintenance personnel and small aircraft parts around the network.[161]

On 13 March 2013, Ryanair signed an order for 175 new Boeing 737-800s at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. In the same press conference, Michael O'Leary said Ryanair were still evaluating the possibility of the Boeing 737 MAX, and stated their huge order in March was for the Boeing 737 Next Generation rather than the 737 MAX as they needed aircraft before the 737 MAX would enter service.

On 30 April 2014, Ryanair confirmed that they have ordered 5 more aircraft to add to their fleet, 4 of them to be delivered in 2015 and the last one to be delivered in February 2016, to bring the number of aircraft on order to 180.[162]

Ryanair also showed interest in other aircraft, including the Comac C919, when they signed a design agreement with Comac in 2011 to help produce a rival jet to Boeing's offerings. At the Paris Airshow in 2013, Michael O'Leary stated that Comac could build a larger version of the C919 aircraft that would hold up to 200 passengers.[163]

On 8 September 2014, Ryanair made a commitment to order 100 new Boeing 737 MAX 200s (plus options for an additional 100) for delivery from 2019.[60]

On 1 December 2014, the airline finalized their order for up to 200 Boeing 737 MAX 200s. The order includes 100 firm, and 100 purchase rights. This makes Ryanair the launch customer of the Boeing 737 MAX 200.[164]

As of March 2014 around 83% of the Ryanair fleet (246 of 297 aircraft) were owned by the company, with the balance being leased.[69] As of January 2016, Ryanair's fleet consists of the following aircraft:[5]

Ryanair Fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Options Passengers Notes
Boeing 737-700 1 — — 60/149 [165] In an all-business configuration as a corporate charter service, mainly for sports clubs during the winter.

Upconverted to 149 seats in summer as a training/backup aircraft on UK-Ireland Routes. [166]

Boeing 737-800 325 135[167] — 189[168] Deliveries 2014–2018.
Older aircraft will be returned to lessors.
Largest operator of the Boeing 737-800.
Boeing 737 MAX 200 — 100[167] 100 197 Launch customer.
Total 326 235 100

Past fleet

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

Ryanair Past Fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired
Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante 1985 1989
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 1986 1989
BAC One-Eleven 1987 1994
ATR 42-300 1989 1991
Boeing 737-200 1994 2005
Boeing 737-300 2003 2004

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

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