Irish low cost crossed the symbolic threshold of 100 million passengers, at 106.4 million. An increase of 18% compared to the previous year.
In a press release, Ryanair explains that the delivery of 41 new Boeing 737s last year facilitated its expansion across a network made up of ever more main airports.
Thus in 2015/2016, Ryanair opened 7 bases: Belfast, Berlin, Corfu, Gothenburg, Ibiza, Milan and Santiago de Compostela. And it does not intend to stop there since with the 52 deliveries expected this year (which will bring the fleet to 380 aircraft) it intends to open bases in Bucharest, Hamburg, Nuremberg, Prague, Sofia, Timisoara and Vilnius. Enough, if all goes well, to see its traffic increase by 9% to 116 million passengers.
Ryanair literally exploded the counters last year. Its net profit jumped 43% to 1.2 billion euros and its turnover swelled by almost a billion in one year to reach 6.5 billion.
Remember that Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline, whose head office is located, like Aer Lingus, in Ireland in Dublin. The company was founded in 1985 by Liam Lonergan, Christopher Ryan, Tony Ryan.
Ryanair also has a strong presence in Belgium, where it serves more than 50 destinations from Charleroi Brussels South Airport, its first continental base. Ryanair is part of the group of non-IATA certified airlines.
Ryanair’s main competitors in Europe are Air Berlin, EasyJet, Germanwings, Hapag-Lloyd Express, Norwegian, Transavia.com, Vueling and Wizz Air.
In order to save on aircraft maintenance and operating costs, the Ryanair fleet is made up of a single aircraft model: the Boeing 737-800. However, ATR 42, BAC1-11 and Boeing 737-200 type aircraft were also used for short and medium haul flights. In 2011, Michael O’Leary claimed that the fleet was large enough to have a second type of aircraft. Since its creation, the company has received nearly 400 new Boeing 737-800s, 59 of which have been resold. The 300th Boeing 737-800 was delivered in February 2011.
The average age of Ryanair’s fleet is 6.8 years as of April 4, 2016. The oldest aircraft was delivered on December 2, 2002 and the most recent on March 31, 2016. Boeing announced in March 2013 that it was in negotiations with the company for the purchase of 175 B737s, for a total amount of $15.6 billion.
In November 2015, Ryanair presented its new cabins planned for January 2016. The Boeing 737-800 with Sky Interior, including LED ambient lighting, redesigned partitions and larger baggage storage. New seats installed, called « slimline » (Ultra-thin) with more legroom. The capacity of the B. 737-8. remaining 189 seats. All aircraft delivered between 2016 and 2023 (including the Boeing 737 Max 200) will have this interior. This change is part of the ‘Always Getting Better’ program.
