Assessment of Ryanair's Launch Strategy

1. Assessment of Ryanair's launch strategy

Ryanair is an airline company that was founded in 1985 by Cathal and Declan Ryan. Tony Ryan, the

father of the two brothers, invested a million Irish pounds in their effort to launch an airline. This initial

service was intended to prove the ability to operate a scheduled airline successfully. Ryanair (RA)

distinguished itself from flag carriers like Aer Lingus (AL) and British Airways (BL) in two different

ways. The first one is that its employees would focus intently on delivering first-rate customer service.

The second point is that the company would charge a simple, single fare ticket with no restrictions. Both

differ from strategies of the competitors. RA would also offer meals and amenities comparable to what

AL and BA provided.

The managers of RA knew that the flights of AL and BA were most of the time 60-70% full. About

three-quarter of a million round-trip travellers opted to use rail and sea ferries rather than aircraft. The

price of rail-and-ferry tickets fell as low as £ 55. The flight ticket prices of AL and BA were both around

£208. RA offered a simple and single fare with no restriction. For the Dublin-London service it publicized

a fare of I£98. In our opinion this was a very smart launch strategy, because RA could reach a new target

group. People had the opportunity to travel more flexible, because there were no restrictions anymore and

they still get the same service they were used to get.

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