Ryanair’s Strategy – for better or for worse?

Ryanair has been around since 1985, but only recently did I realize how dominant they were in the airline market. Let us consider the following table:

Ryanair carries more international passengers than any other airline as a result of their competitive business strategy. Unfamiliar with Ryanair’s business strategy?

Ryanair’s Main Strength

Many believe that the largest contributor to Ryanair’s success is the fact that it offers extremely low costs. I must agree, but only because they have led to differentiation of Ryanair from other airlines. By being the first in the airline industry to offer such low prices, Ryanair has created familiarity with consumers that desire low prices over comfortable flights. Other airlines, like Air Canada, cannot emulate Ryanair’s success because they are not recognized as airlines that deliver the lowest prices possible, and to invest so much into their brand name is particularly risky.

Ending Thoughts, Questions

The economic climate, in the past 3 years, have been far less than desirable, leading people to turn to low prices. If the the global economy strengthens, it should follow that people would conspicuously spend – a situation where Ryanair’s ‘cheap’ image might be more harmful than advantageous. Only time will tell.