Case Study Of Ryanair

Ryanair set precedence when it modeled itself after the U.S. low cost air carrier

Southwest. Ryanair’s main focus is on serving the large leisure market between Ireland and the

UK, however, they experienced rapid growth and expanded to approximately 50 secondary airports over a variety of countries. The airline’s main areas of operations are in Dublin and

Stansted, however, their use of secondary airports expands their territory, making them the largest low-cost carrier in Europe. The purpose of this case study is to determine if congestion and capacity are issues at any of Ryanair’s secondary airports. Furthermore, the cause and effect, what generates demand, the historical growth trend, Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) predicted growth

However, Ryanair mostly bypasses these issues because the secondary airports they selected to operate out of have little to no congestion and a surplus of capacity (Gellar, Folan & Shain,

2013).

RYANAIR CASE STUDY

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The issue of over-congestion and limited capacity is not a new topic. This is why

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, refuses to operate in our out of primary airports. The secondary airports offer his airline sustainability of its low cost model and simplicity when it comes to check-in, takeoff and landing (“The impact,” 2003). Because the congestion at these secondary airports is minimal, Ryanair flights are always expected to take off and land on time.

Their aircraft do not have to wait in long takeoff lines to get their passengers from one destination to the next (Gossling & Upham, 2012).

Secondary airports are not usually situated in major metropolitan areas. This, however, is not a drawback for Ryanair, as these airports can then offer more capacity to the low fare carriers that operate out of them. This is one of the primary reasons that Ryanair is able to negotiate low operating costs, landing charges and passenger and luggage fees, which in turns enables

These new aircraft will help Ryanair’s point-to-point destinations accommodate all predicted growth. Ryanair also plans to push forward with opening new point- to-point operating destinations at secondary airports in Russia and the Middle East. The airline’s

RYANAIR CASE STUDY solution for congestion and capacity is to continue operating out of their secondary airports and

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not enter into any contracts to operate at primary airports, like London Heathrow, even though there is a demand from consumers and the airports for this to happen (O’Halloran, 2015).

Ryanair’s successes can attribute greatly to their business model. This case study has shown that, though congestion and limited capacity issues are prevalent issues at today’s primary airports, Ryanair is able to bypass those concerns by choosing to operate out of secondary airports. Ryanair meets their consumer demands be expanding, both their aircraft fleet and the airports in which they operate. The airline’s growth is predicted to continue, even though Brexit has financially disturbed the markets. Ryanair will need to take action to offset Brexit, but for the time being, capacity and congestion will not be factors that stop the airline from continual success and