Ryanair: from an Embraer Bandeirante to a European giant

You may never have flown, but you've certainly heard of the Ryanair, a pioneering airline in the ultra-low-cost segment born in Ireland. 

The airline is known for having lower fares than its competitors. On the other hand, Ryanair charges for extra services on its flights, such as baggage handling and even extra seat space, something that can be found free of charge on traditional European airlines. 

 

The beginning of Ryanair: share capital of £1 and an Embraer Bandeirante

Founded in 1985 by Christopher Ryan, Liam Lonergan and Tony Ryan, Ryanair was born with a share capital of £1, an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (EI-BPI), capable of transporting up to 15 engers and 25 employees.

For the start of operations with Bandeirante, Ryanair carried out a selection of cabin crew with an unusual request. One of the vacancy requirements was not to be taller than 1 meter and 58 centimeters, as the aircraft cabin was 1,60 meters tall  

The company's inaugural flight took place in July 1985, between the small Irish regional airport of Waterford (WAT), to London Gatwick (LGW), being the only route of the company until then that focused on business flights, similar to that of air bridge in Brazil. 

The following year, the company expanded its fleet with the addition of two Avro HS748 turboprop aircraft, a plane that could carry 46 engers, enabling the inauguration of other routes. Furthermore, in the first five years, Ryanair operated a fleet of six BAC 1-11s, the company's first jet model, as well as the ATR 42. 

 

Follow the brief evolution of the fleet:

Contrary to what many imagine, Ryanair's first operations had business class and free food on board to face tough competition from Aer Lingus and British Airways, companies that had more modern aircraft and more destinations, reasons that did not make Ryanair such an attractive company. 

 

The renaissance that worked and the beginning of the Boeing 737 era

With the unfavorable financial balance and in search of reaching new customers, Ryanair executives reformulated the entire philosophy adopted by the company until then. The airline restructured its business and started to operate in the low-cost segment, with lower fares, the end of business class and abolishing free food on board. 

With Southwest Airlines as a mirror, Ryanair abandoned the strategy of focusing on the business public and became the first airline de ultra-low cost in Europe. With that, the beginning of the 90's was marked by the reformulation of the fleet, little did the company know the success that awaited it.

As well as the American Southwest, which operated only the Boeing 737, Ryanair followed the same path, introducing the Boeing 737-200 from 1994 onwards, then one of the most consolidated partnerships of Boeing on the European continent was born. 

 

New fleet, new bases 

With 11 Boeing 737s in 1995, Ryanair also started to invest in new bases in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and Brussels. To handle all this progress, the company now has more than 1.000 employees and in the early 2000s, it expanded the presence of the Boeing 737, with a billionaire order from the NG family for the modernization of its fleet, at the time . 

Rapidly expanding and transporting more than one million engers per month, Ryanair achieved in 2005 the feat of suring British Airways in the number of engers transported in a single month, ending the year with 30 million people transported. The company also took advantage of the good moment to expand its fleet, which already had more than 100 aircraft of the Boeing 737-800 NG model alone. 

In the first decade of the 2000s, Ryanair added new bases across the European continent, with emphasis on the cities of Oslo, Barcelona EL Prat, Tenerife, Gran Canaria. In 2010 alone, Ryanair already operated 940 routes and had 41 bases, being one of the airlines with the highest profit in Europe, and with one detail: selling tickets with an average price of € 39 euros. 

 

Ryanair's strong presence in Europe 

Present in 40 countries and operating in 230 airports and more than 2.500 daily flights, you will hardly see an airport in all of Europe that is not served by the airline.

On the map below, the airports highlighted in yellow are the company's bases, while the airports in blue represent the destinations operated by the company. In other words: wherever you are in Europe, you will probably have an airport served by Ryanair. 

 

One group, five companies 

Given the success of the business model, Ryanair has become not only one of the largest operators in all of Europe, but also has one of the largest fleets in the entire European continent.  

With more than 470 aircraft in activity, of which around 250 are operating under the Ryanair brand, the Group has expanded its business with the creation and acquisition of subsidiaries to expand its presence in Europe and other continents, such as Africa.  

Having the Boeing 737-800 as the main aircraft, the group also started to operate the A320 family after the acquisition of the Austrian Laudamotion, founded by the former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda. 

Currently, the Ryan Group includes the companies Lauda Europe, Malta Air, Buzz e RyanairUK, all companies follow similar low-cost models.

 

Tickets under €10 euros? With Ryanair it's possible! 

Pioneer in Europe with the marketing model of lower tickets, Ryanair is currently known for having non-reclining seats, absence of pockets in the seats. As a result, the company charges additional fees for checking in luggage, purchasing seats with more space and started charging for printing the boarding . 

On the other hand, if you are looking for cheap tickets to different European destinations, Ryanair is the best option, however, don't expect the pampering offered by other airlines.  

 

Eight Curiosities: Ryanair is a good-natured company and you will hardly have a safety card in your collection.

• If one day you decide to learn a little more about Ryanair's history on the company's website, we recommend that you visit the part of the executives who work for the company. There, it is possible not only to know the function of each executive, but also a curiosity in a humorous way. 

• To the frustration of safety card collectors, you will hardly be able to have a copy in your collection, as the company sticks safety instructions behind each seat. If you might consider getting a safety card from them one day, consider getting an airplane seat as a decor item. 

• If you're flying, don't be surprised to hear ads selling scratchcards. Yea! Ryanair sells lottery tickets on its flights, but you only buy them if you want them. 
• Although Ryanair has one of the largest fleets in Europe with almost 500 aircraft, the company's fleet is considered quite young. With an average age of 9,1 years, the trend is for the Ryanair fleet to continue even younger, the company has an order for more than 210 new Boeing 737 MAX “Gamechanger”, with the incredible capacity to transport up to 197 engers. 

  
  

  

• As a low-cost airline, you may wonder if the operational side of the company is something irrelevant in of investments, something the company prides itself on. In its entire history, Ryanair has never had a fatal accident. 
• Yes! Ryanair insists on how much it is a company that is concerned with the environmental footprint with fleet renewal, the company reinforces its commitment by adopting some actions, among them is to eliminate the use of plastics by 2025 and increase the use of sustainable fuel in its operations.  
• Boeing 737-700 lonely: With a significant number of Boeing 737-800s in its operations, and now with the addition of the 737 MAX, Ryanair has only one Boeing 737-700 unit in its entire fleet. The aircraft has been part of the company since 2015 and curiously was the only aircraft of the -700 variant to be part of the giant. 

• Ryanair's current CEO, Michael O'Leary is one of the most iconic executives in the world of aviation. Without good humor, O'Leary is practically the main spokesperson for the company. 

  
  

  

Carrying 154 million engers a year and over 2.400 daily flights, Ryanair is without a doubt one of Europe's largest operators. For fiscal 2025, the company projects to exceed more than 200 million people a year. 

 

And you, would you like to have something similar to Ryanair in Brazil?