Ryanair Marketing Strategy

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Ryanair airlines low fare concept was conceived by three Irish businessmen in 1984 who wanted to break up the duopoly of the major airlines between Ireland and England. The strategy was simple in nature; offer lower prices than any competitor on the same route. Ryanair began operations in 1985 with a single 15 seat turboprop aircraft operating one route between Waterford, Ireland to London, England. The fare was only €99 ($138), less than 50% of the two competitors at the time. Ryanair carried 5000 passengers during the first year. In 2012, the airline carried more than 79 million passengers. Ryanair has demonstrated consistent growth and profit with the exception of 1991 and 2001(Ryanair, 2013). Ryanair was founded with the intent of breaking up the air travel duopoly held by British Airways and Aer Lingus at the time (Ryanair, 2013). There isn’t a doubt that the goal was accomplished and continues to evolve. However, a new competitor has entered the market and threatens their “lowest fare anywhere” motto. EasyJet, founded in 1995 (Spotlight falls on, 2013) has emerged as another low cost carrier (Wensveen, 2011) and is keeping competition fierce as they try to exceed Ryanair customer service by providing “speedy boarding”, more flexible fares, guaranteed seats and better food service (Low cost airlines, 2013). In my opinion, the marketing strategy used by Ryanair is working very well. In 2012, an increase of more than 13% in profit was announced by the airline (Ryanair, 2013). Ryanair is Europe’s leading low cost carrier and continues growth in the number of passengers, routes, and aircraft. An in-depth review of how Ryanair utilizes the four P’s of product, price, promotion and place (Wensveen, 2011) will yield a b... ... middle of paper ... ...te was opened in January 2000. Since that time, virtually all ticket counters have been closed and the internet accounts for a majority of the ticket sales. Ticket purchases made by any means other than the internet website incur additional fees to cover costs (Ryanair, 2013). Works Cited Wensveen, J. G. (2011). Air transportation. (7th edition). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company. Ryanair. (n. d.). About us. (n. d.). Retrieved from http://www.ryanair.com MSN Money (2013 November 16). Spotlight falls on easyJet profits. Retrieved from http://money.uk.msn.com/news/spotlight-falls-on-easyjet-profits Thomas, N. (2013 November 16). Low-cost airlines have come a long way. But who will win the battle? Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10454522/Low-cost-airlines-have-come-a-long-way.-But-who-will-win-the-battle.html

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