Ryanair Ltd. (ISEQ: RYA, LSE: RYA, NASDAQ: RYAAY) is an Irish low-cost airline. Its headquarters is located at Dublin Airport with its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted Airports.
Ryanair operates over 290 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline has been characterised by rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the aviation industry in Europe in 1997 and the success of its low-cost business model.
Since its establishment in 1985, Ryanair has grown from a small airline flying a short hop from Waterford to London into one of Europe's largest carriers. After the rapidly growing airline went public in 1997, the money raised was used to expand the airline into a pan-European carrier. Revenues have risen from €231 million in 1998, to €1843 million in 2003 and €3013 million in 2010. Similarly net profits have increased from €48 million to €339 million over the same period.
Ryanair was founded in 1985 by Christopher Ryan, Liam Lonergan (owner of Irish travel agent Club Travel) and Irish businessman Tony Ryan (after whom the company is named), founder of Guinness Peat Aviation.[dead link] The airline began with a 14-seat Embraer Bandeirante turboprop aircraft, flying between Waterford and Gatwick Airport with the aim of breaking the duopoly on London-Ireland flights at that time, held by British Airways and Aer Lingus.