GLOBAL POSITIONING

Ryanair has the purest form of low cost airline in Europe. Ryanair boasts many No.1’s:
• No.1 for passenger traffic- over 23m for 2004 - overtaking Easyjet.
• No.1 for passenger growth- 50% + this year
• No.1 for European routes (149) and bases (11)
• No.1 for customer service delivery- punctuality, flight completion and fewest lost baggage



So as we can see from the above representation Ryanair is the most radical low cost airline, it
differs from the closest competitor on the graph (i.e. Easyjet) because it uses secondary airports
to lower its cost base whereas Easyjet does not. Virgin Express is nearly stuck in the middle; it
still offers seat allocations… Aer Lingus is an interesting case as it has been gradually getting
closer to the low cost model on its short haul flights. Ryanair comes out as the purest low cost
carrier.
Also in appendix is a comparison of Ryanair against other LCC and traditional carriers based on
some key operational measures. (Revenue, employee/passenger, revenue/employee…).