Abstract
In 1985, Ryanair was established with a share capital of £1 and 25 employees, using a 15-seater Bandeirante aircraft. One year later, Ryanair added two new BAE748 aircraft to its fleet, and carried 82,000 passengers during 1986. In 1987, three BAC1-11 aircraft on wet lease from TAROM join the fleet, enabling Ryanair to have 15 scheduled routes in its network and carry no less than 322,000 passengers, almost 4 times as many as in 1986.
By 1990, Ryanair dropped its Business Class product and closed the Frequent Flyer Club, but re-launched as Europe's first low fares airline, offering lowest fares in every market and moving to a single aircraft fleet type and scrapping free drinks and on board meals. At the same time, Ryanair managed to push its lowest fares even lower, from £99 to just £59. In 1991 and 1992 Ryanair struggled, but 1993 saw more than one million passengers carried in a year for the first time. Then in 1995, Ryanair celebrates its 10th birthday with a big party in Lansdowne Rugby Club, and its fleet reaches 11 aircraft, now all of them being Boeing 737s. In the following 5 years, Ryanair continues its growth, reaching 1,262 employees and over 7 million passengers carried in a year at the end of 2000.
