Ryanair is the number 1 airline in Europe, connecting 216 destinations in 37 countries, welcoming over 130 million customers per year on 2,400 flights daily from 85 airports. In 2017 it became the first European airline to carry more than 1 billion travellers. Ryanair is an Irish airline with headquarters in Dublin and but also has a big operations hub at London Stansted. Ryanair shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Ryanair was founded in 1985 by the Ryan family with an investment of £1million from their father, chairman and CEO of Guinness Peat Aviation, Tony.  With staff of just 25 and a single aircraft Ryanair took to the skies, soon competing with the likes of British Airways and Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus.

By 1990, despite revenues of IR £40m it was losing around IR £7 million a year and had run up losses totalling IR £19 million. In 1992 the company “came within hours of financial collapse,” as reported by the Observer. The characterful Michael O’Leary, a former accountant for Ryanair took over as CEO end-1993, part of his terms being a share of half of future profits. The company’s return to profitability is accredited to O’Leary’s astute financial management.

While the prior CEO had sought to partner with a US airline interested in Europe, O’Leary opted to keep a tight control on costs. Instead he concentrated on simple point-to-point flights. Profit margins were small at just 92p per passenger, forcing Ryanair to generate the majority of money from duty-free sales. In O’Leary’s first year (1993-1994) Ryanair posted its first profit; IR £1.7 million on revenues of IR £75 million.

In May 1997 the airline sold shares on the Dublin stock market. Within four months of the offering Ryanair shares had doubled. A few years later, in 1998, the airline also floated shares on the London Stock Exchange, since becoming the more liquid option for trading.

In January 2000 Ryanair.com was launched, leaving behind competitor Aer Lingus which didn’t facilitate online booking. The site soon logged 14 million impressions per month and sold of 50,000 tickets per week. It sold in excess of $130 million worth of tickets online in the first year. This runaway success left many investors asking; should I buy Ryanair shares?

The low-fare airline offers short haul routes between the UK, Ireland, Continental Europe, Morocco and Israel. In addition it offers many other ancillary services including in flight sales of food, beverages and merchandise, non-flight scheduled services and online services. More recently Ryanair has added hotel booking, car hire and event tickets to its online offering.

The company operates an impressive fleet of 450 Boeing 737s and a team of over 14,500 aviation professionals, with plans to grow this even further. It is recognised for its rapid growth and highly successful business model. The focus on keeping costs low has been at the heart of Ryanair’s success. If the recent success of the airline has left you asking ‘should I buy Ryanair shares’, ensure you thoroughly research the industry; airline shares are notoriously volatile.