From its humble beginnings in 1984, Ryanair was serving just a single route between Southern Ireland and London Gatwick Airport. After encountering financial difficulties in the early years, Ryanair opted to concentrate on low fares, a single aircraft type, and utilize secondary airports for lower fares, resulting in the company's success. The airline has since grown to be one of
. In particular, the company recorded a passenger count of 182 million in the year 2023, whereas its closest rival Lufthansa Group registered a passenger number of 123 million in the same year.
As Ryanair grew as a company, so too did its workforce. In 2011,
the airline had a workforce of 8,560 individuals, and by 2024, this number had grown to 27,076 individuals.
The majority of the personnel employed by the company were comprised of cabin crew members. In that year, Ryanair also employed a total of 7,049 pilots, who flew to a total of approximately 229 destinations of the company.
Financial status before and after the coronavirus pandemic
Ryanair was able to attract a growing number of customers with its low-cost business model, and passenger figures overall increased between fiscal years 2012 and 2024. The coronavirus epidemic heavily affected the company, leading to
a significant decrease in passenger numbers and airline operations. In the financial year ended March 2021, the total passenger numbers dramatically dropped to 27.5 million passengers from 148.6 million registered in the previous year. Similarly,
a negative operating income of 839.4 million euros was recorded by Ryanair during that fiscal year. This has been the first negative income registered since 2011. However, Ryanair has recovered from the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic faster than many airlines in Europe. In 2023/2024 fiscal year, the company registered more than two billion euros in operation income.
Ryanair's pathway to the net-zero emission
Ryanair has developed a strategy to achieve the net-zero aviation targets set in the Paris Agreement. In order to attain the decarbonization objectives, the company intends to increase its usage of sustainable aviation fuel and enhance its technological and operational capabilities. During the fiscal year 2024, the company generated a total of 154.4 million metric tons of
CO2 equivalent through jet fuel consumption.
The airline’s biggest emissions generated by the scope 1 operations which were emissions from direct energy usage from air operations such as burning fuel for machinery and vehicles. By 2050, the airline intends to cut down on 34 percent of carbon dioxide emissions with the increased use of SAF. At present, Ryanair has multi-year SAF agreements with the Finnish energy company,
Neste.
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