Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings plc is an Irish low-cost airline group and has Ryanair UK, Buzz, and Malta Air as sister airlines. Ryanair is one of the largest airlines in Europe and operates just over 2400 flights daily. In 2017, Ryanair became the first European airline to have carried 1 billion customers.

Ryanair operates as an airline transport company. The Company provides flights, baggage assistance, hotel accommodation, travel insurance, and other related services. Ryanair serves customers in Europe.

Ryanair has gone a long way toward making air travel a commodity in the United Kingdom. Operating on the Southwest Airlines formula, Ryanair often causes traffic to double or triple on the routes it enters. 

The Ryanair logo is a yellow harp on a blue background. Blue symbolises reliability, strength of spirit, national unity, and nobility. But the harp has been considered the symbol of Ireland since the XIII century. To date, the yellow harp on the blue background is the emblem of the country. The illustration shows an elegant figure of a flying man, whose wings are directed upwards, which symbolises freedom of flight, comfort and safety.

Thus, the Ryanair logo is designed to show that the airline puts the safety of its customers first.

The company was founded by the Ryan family in 1985, operating with a total of 25 staff members. The first cabin crew were selected taking into consideration below-average heights; the crew needed to be able to work in the tiny aircraft. The airline also started the first price war in Europe, having flights that are less than half the price of those with British Airways or Aer Lingus.

 Ryanair is constantly battling it out against Lufthansa Group.

The Group connects over 240 destinations in 40 countries. Ryanair has a team of over 16,000 highly skilled aviation professionals delivering Europe’s No.1 on-time performance and an industry-leading 35-year safety record. Ryanair is Europe’s greenest, cleanest airline group and customers switching to fly Ryanair can reduce their CO2 emissions by up to 50% compared to the other Big 4 European major airlines. 

As of October 2026, Ryanair's fleet size is 647 aeroplanes. In February 2026, the airline received the last of its 210 Boeing 737-8200 'Gamechanger' jets. Each of these planes seats 4% more passengers than the older 737-800, uses 16% less fuel and produces 40% less noise.

The next step is the Boeing 737 MAX 10. Ryanair expects to take delivery of 300 of them by 2034. Compared with the current 737 NG fleet, the MAX 10 will carry 20% more passengers, burn 20% less fuel and be 50% quieter.

The highlights that make Ryanair a great airline: 
Flights are very cheap: If you book your journey early enough, you will most certainly find flights for under £50 return.

The global winner when it comes to punctuality: In 2018, Ryanair managed to deliver 88% of all their flights on an on-time schedule. 

Lots of flights to lots of different destinations: Ryanair operates more than 2.400 flights daily and, at the same time, connects to nearly 40 different countries. 

You get what you pay for: if you booked a weekend trip from London Stansted to Barcelona El Prat for £45 return, then that is what you will get. You will get cheap flights there and back, but you will not be served with golden cutlery.

Rob Burgess, editor of frequent flyer website headforpoints.com, said: “I would agree. No one has done more to transform European aviation than Ryanair. When I was a student, even a flight from London to Paris was unaffordable. My father had never flown in his life. In February 2020, I flew to Porto on Ryanair for £5 one way, all-inclusive. Budget aviation has done as much as the EU to encourage people to live, work and explore outside their home country.”