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Ryanair Strategy

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Ryanair has thrived since the early 90’s due to a number of factors were luck was on their side but also through innovative and creative ideas. Ryanair’s strategy was to become the first European budget airline. Ryanair made key strategic decisions regarding the long term direction of the company and the scope of their activities while considering the external environment in order to achieve strategic fit.

The first strategic move in order to become a successful low-cost airline was to recruit Michael O’Leary in 1992. O’Leary introduced many changes to Ryanair by implementing a strategy similar to that one of Southwest airlines from the USA.
First of all, O’Leary aimed to increase the number of cheap flights on Ryanair’s offer. The next step was to decrease the age of Ryanair’s aircrafts from 7 to 2.4 years. Thus, Ryanair was able to save costs as the new aircrafts produced 50% less emissions, 45% less fuel burn and 45% lower noise emissions per seat.
This way Ryanair was able to offer cheaper prices than the competitors, but at the same time still be environmentally friendly. Another source of competitive advantage is the strong branding. Ryanair was claimed to be the largest travel website in Europe and the fifth most recognized brand on Google (case, p. XX). The exceptional branding was a great opportunity for Ryanair to enter the e-commerce market where it receives revenue from advertising car rentals and hotels.

Ryanair’s most important stakeholder is their customers who choose to fly with them. Michael O’Leary stated “Ryanair promises four things: low fares, a good on-time record, few cancellations and few lost bags”. (Lyall; 2009) External surveys have a different perception of Ryanair but with proven success of repeat business it is clear that Ryanair has distinguished what their critical success factors are: cheap air fares, punctuality, few

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