Ryanair
Ryanair at a glance
Ryanair is Europe's largest airline by passengers, fleet and flights, an Irish ultra-low-cost carrier that turned rock-bottom fares and unapologetic cost discipline into a continent-spanning machine. In its financial year to March 2026 it carried 208.4 million passengers and posted a record 2.26 billion euro net profit.
Led since 1994 by Michael O'Leary, whose contract now runs to 2032, Ryanair flies only Boeing 737s across more than 235 airports, mostly secondary fields where costs are lowest. Its next chapter rests on 300 Boeing 737 MAX 10s arriving from 2027, each seating 228 passengers with 20% lower fuel burn per seat.
Fleet
Ryanair flies one aircraft type by design: the Boeing 737. A single fleet keeps training, maintenance and spares brutally simple, which is the core of its cost advantage.
| Aircraft | Role | Fleet Size |
|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-800 | Short-haul workhorse | ~400 |
| Boeing 737 MAX 8 | Higher-density Gamechanger, 197 seats | ~200 |
| Boeing 737 MAX 10 | Growth aircraft from 2027, 228 seats | 300 ordered |
Hub & route network
There is deliberately no hub: Ryanair flies point-to-point across more than 235 airports from over 90 bases, with Dublin as its home and largest single base. The network shifts constantly toward whichever airports and governments offer the lowest costs, and away from those that raise taxes, a lever the airline pulls publicly and often.Alliance & partnerships
Ryanair belongs to no alliance and operates no codeshares, selling almost exclusively through its own website and app; a 2025 agreement with Booking Holdings ended years of litigation over third-party sales.Group structure
Ryanair Holdings spans Ryanair DAC plus Malta Air, Buzz, Lauda Europe and Ryanair UK, all flying under the same brand and model. The group carried 208 million passengers in the year to March 2026, more than any other airline in the world outside the US.Full specifications
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Frequently asked questions
208.4 million in the financial year ending March 2026, more than any other airline outside the United States and the most in Europe.
A single type slashes training, maintenance and spare-parts costs, a cornerstone of the low-cost model Ryanair pioneered in Europe.
No. Ryanair operates alone, with no alliance membership or codeshares, selling almost entirely through its own channels.