Reference no: EM133154412
Ryanair-The Low Fares Airline
In 2010, Ryanair had 44 bases and 1,200 plus routes across 27 countries, connecting 160 destinations. It operated a fleet of 256 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft with firm orders for a further 64 aircraft to be delivered over the following two years. It employed 8,100 plus people and had carried almost 67 million passengers in 2010, expecting to carry approximately 73.5 million passengers for fiscal 2011.
Ryanair was founded in 1985 by the Tony Ryan family to provide scheduled passenger services between Ireland and United Kingdom, as an alternative to then state monopoly airline Aer Lingus. Initially, Ryanair was full service conventional airline, with two classes of seating, leasing three different types of aircraft. Despite growth in passenger volumes, by the end of 1990, the company had flown through much turbulence, disposing of five chief executives and accumulating losses of 20 million pound. Its fight to survive in the early 1990s saw the airline transform itself to become Europe's first low-fare, no-frills carrier, built on the model of Southwest Airlines, the successful Texas-based operator. A new management team, led by Michael O'Leary, then a reluctant recruit was appointed. Ryanair, floated in Dublin Stock Exchange in 1997, is quoted on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges and on NASDAQ, where it was admitted to the NASDAQ -100 in 2002.
This case was written by Eleanor O'Higgins, University College Dublin (2011).
Questions:
- Main challenge(s) facing the company
- External environmental analysis
- Internal capabilities analysis
- Analysis of their current business-level strategies - What are they? Are they effective?
- Analysis of their current corporate-level strategy - What is it? Is it effective?