Relationship Marketing Ryanair

After researching and went through many articles which were published on the Ryanair Airline in Europe. To me, the online resources are more utilized as book resources which can be dated back to 20th century or more. The article 's which I read gives different facts and the information on marketing strategies which were used by the Ryanair Airline. Many of the contents are related to the work which I learned from this course on Airlines, and Airline Management and Marketing. The Ryanair Airline is known for its ' low airfare and consistent profitability and rapid growth. I think, the main goal for the Ryanair Airline is to provide low airfares for their customers and give high level of service, most of Ryanair passengers get excellent

Ryanair, originally an Irish low-cost airline and established by the Ryan family in the year of 1984 starting off with only 25 members of staff. Replicating the American Southwest airline business model and then officially relaunched in the year 1990. It has vastly grown from being a single-aircraft family operation into one of the world’s top leading airlines. Now Ryanair has reached 11,458 employees. The airline carries over 131 million passengers per annum on over 2,000 flights daily, from 86 different routes, flying to more than 205 destinations in 33 countries.

According to Ryanair official website, Ryanair operates with an ultra low cost carrier strategy that is lowest fares

Ryanair spends very little on advertising. They do not subcontract advertising facilities. Ryanair uses a very common form of advertisements, mostly black and white print ad in a newspaper, with the focal message of "lowest fare". Even the company’s logo is very simple and straight forward which reads ‘Ryanair; the low fares airline’ in blue and white. However customer attention is captured through stimulating images or unpleasant comparison to other airlines.

Prior to 1991, Ryanair had suffered from continuous losses from 1985 to 1989. The first reason that put it into this situation was that it tried to position itself as a low fare airline with the first rate services. It tried to keep low and unrestricted fare, while keep focusing on the best customer service and relationship. This mixed model was proven inefficiency. The low price could lure number of

Ryanair, Europe's first and largest low fares' airline started in 1985 and was set up the Ryan family with a share capital of just £1, and a staff of 25. Over the past few years the company has shown tremendous growth and now operates more than 1400 flights every day from 44 bases and around 1100 low fare routes across 27 countries which connect 160 destinations. The company now has approximately 73.5 million passengers in the current fiscal year.

Set up in the year 1985 at a capital of 1 pound with a staff strength of 25, Ryanair is today the World’s favourite and most commonly used airline which operates more than 1,400 flights per day from 44 bases and 1100+ low fare routes across 27 countries, connecting 160 destinations. Ryanair operates a fleet of 250 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft and is expected to increase it by another 64 in 2 years. Ryanair currently has staff strength of more than 8,000 people. Its passenger base has been increasing

As the Economist states, “Ryanair brands itself as Europe's only "ultra-low-cost airline"” (The Economist, 2017). In order to attain this level, Ryanair reduce their costs as, for example no drinks are offered during the flight, planes land in peripheral airports (which cost less) or the space between the seats are minimal in order to install more of them and therefore take on more passengers. As a result, Ryanair flights are significantly cheaper than others, so they are very competitive, and this leads to a war price in the flight industry. Ryanair’s message was clear: we will stop at nothing to give you the lowest fares. However the extent to which these customer services are reduced still needs to remain ethical. As a result of such little customer attending, only 22% of their travellers are corporate travellers (The Economist, 2017). Such conditions do not make this company attracting for businessmen, who need to arrive straight away to their arrival destination, and who can afford higher priced flights. The company needs to keep a certain standard of customer service, and this has been an issue faced by Ryanair. However it depends if the customer is willing to spare money for such a low customer service. The low fares were well known, but such was the ruthlessness of the check-in staff. Many customers began to believe that Ryanair rather focused on making extra profits rather than on their customer. Indeed, passengers were charged absurdly high fares to print their tickets within the airports. As a response, the company began to become “nicer” (The Economist,

Ryanair positioned itself as a low cost airline, which delivered services equivalent to that of British Airways and Aer Lingus. In terms of service quality, they positioned themselves in the same category as the aforementioned airlines, but at the same time, charging a relatively low price when compared to British Airways and Aer Lingus. Their strategy was to deliver first rate/ good quality customer services and offer meals and amenities comparable to that of British Airways and Aer Lingus. The second strategy was to charge a single fare ticket of I£98 on it Dublin-London service, which was very low when compared to British Airways and Aer Lingus’s rate of I£208 or I£99 if booked in advance.

Ryanair was one of the first low cost carriers that arrived in the European market. The EU integration policies ensured that it got a massive boost in the ways it could enlarge in the market. There were a lot of destinations available due to the high number of urban places in the EU and the regulations that allowed the free movement of people.

The airline industry has long been striking profitable deals with airports to keep certain routes open. Ryanair's business strategy is made up of four guiding principles: employ a single type of plane, constantly review overheads, turn aircrafts around quickly and abandon point’s schemes.

Ryan air’s success can be attributed to a few factors. First would be its ‘Ever-decreasing costs’ mantra, providing low cost, low fares and no frills carrier strategy while achieving operating efficiency and satisfying its customers which gives it a competitive advantage and cost leadership. It targets price sensitive customers and offers them the cheapest short haul service among all its competitors in the market. Ryanair gives much focus on keeping costs low and is constantly examining every area of its operation to implement cost reductions. The initiatives taken to keep costs low include:

This is because Ryanair’s actively engages in fuel hedging and had exposed Ryanair to the risks of exchange rate since the price of fuel is uncertain and fluctuating. For an example, Ryanair is purchasing future fuel supplies as set price to minimize losses should prices increases. It is able to pass on fuel increases to passengers and has made commitment in its charter not to impose a fuel surcharge on any fare. This problem will affect Ryanair because higher oil prices will refuse to offer lower charges in

Ryanair has been one of the Britain’s best low cost airlines for around 25 years since being established in 1985 by the Ryan family. Ryanair have always aimed to show their customers their statistics and monthly reports;

In 1971, Southwest Airlines revolutionised air travel with its low fares and strong focus on customer service. Ryanair used Southwest’s innovative business model and have become very successful. Today it operates across 26 countries and carries more international passengers than any other airline in the world (73 million passengers in 2010/11) On the other hand, unlike Southwest Airlines, Ryanair did not consider focusing on customer service. They have a very poor reputation in this area (Euromonitor International, March 2009). Even though