Summary
- Ryanair has celebrated the 39th anniversary of its first flight with a sale, with prices starting at €19.85 ($21.52).
- The airline’s growth rapidly accelerated in the 1990s when it introduced the Boeing 737.
- Now, Ryanair has become the largest airline in Europe in terms of weekly departures.
Ryanair, the Irish low-cost carrier with subsidiaries across Europe, has launched a special flight sale to mark the 39th anniversary of its first-ever flight. The first trip occurred between Waterford Airport (WAT) and London Gatwick Airport (LGW) on July 8, 1985. The prices for the anniversary flights start at €19.85 ($21.52).
Flying turboprops
While Ryanair has now grown to become one of the largest European airline groups, the low-cost carrier had a humble beginning, flying turboprops, including such small aircraft as the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante or the Hawker Siddeley HS 748.
In an archived broadcast, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Irish public service broadcaster, showed pictures and videos from onboard the Irish airline’s first flight from WAT to LGW in 1985. According to the broadcast, a party of VIPs, including the mayor of Waterford, boarded the first flight, the airport’s first international flight.
“It was hoped that the new route will make the southeast of Ireland more attractive to business and industry.”
Ryanair tried to compete against incumbent airlines with lower prices. The RTÉ footage detailed that the Irish carrier’s first route was priced at £198 ($272.60) for a return flight, compared to the price of £210 ($289.10) offered by other airlines flying between Dublin and London.
Soon enough, Ryanair joined the party and began flying the HS 748 between Dublin Airport (DUB) and London Luton Airport (LTN), offering tickets even cheaper than on the WAT–LGW route, severely undercutting the main airlines flying to London, including Aer Lingus and British Airways.
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Massive growth
Its growth accelerated when it began introducing the Boeing 737 aircraft, starting with the 737-200, which it acquired from various other operators. The 737s began service in 1994, coinciding with Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s outspoken chief executive officer (CEO), beginning his tenure as boss of the Irish airline. He previously worked as a director within the company.
Between 1995 and 1999, Ryanair grew from carrying just over 1 million passengers to around 5 million travelers, ending 1999 with €295.8 million ($320.7 million) in revenue and an adjusted profit for the financial year of €57.8 million ($62.6 million).
Photo: Bradley Caslin | Shutterstock
FY1999 was a monumental year for the Irish airline. On March 19, 1999, Ryanair took delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 Next Generation (NG) aircraft, which over the years, has become the backbone of its fleet.
Ch-aviation data indicates that now, Ryanair has 395 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, having retired 329 of them, including its very first 737-800, registered as EI-CSA. The aircraft, now registered as N916BR, was converted into a freighter.
Nevertheless, by 2005, Ryanair was carrying 27 million passengers annually, ending FY2005 with €1.3 billion in revenue ($1.4 billion) and an adjusted profit after tax of €268 million ($290.6 million). One of the driving factors of Ryanair’s growth? This quote from the airline’s FY2003 report summed it up:
“Boeing has granted Ryanair certain price concessions with regard to the 737-800 aircraft. These will take the form of credit memoranda to the group for the amount of such concessions, which Ryanair may apply toward the purchase of goods and services from Boeing or toward certain payments, other than advance payments, in respect of the purchase of the aircraft under the 2002 Boeing Contract [when Ryanair initially ordered 100 Boeing 737-800 aircraft – ed. note].”
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Largest European airline
Data from the aviation analytics company Cirium showed that among airlines that have departing flights from Europe, Ryanair dominates the continent, and by a large margin. In July, the Irish low-cost carrier, excluding its subsidiary in the UK with a separate air operator’s certificate (AOC), had the largest number of weekly departures, 23,501, amounting to 4.4 million weekly seats.
|
Airline |
Weekly departures (July 2024) |
Weekly seats (July 2024) |
|
Ryanair (exlucding UK-based AOC, Ryanair UK) |
23,501 |
4.4 million |
|
easyJet |
12,805 |
2.3 million |
|
Lufthansa |
8,062 |
1.3 million |
Photo: Nicolas Economou | Shutterstock
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