Another day, another giant publicity coup for Ryanair. The company is well used, at this stage, to concentrated spurts of media attention but this time there really was something for everybody: the punters got their one million free flights, the analysts gained reassurance about the company's performance, and Ryanair's many detractors had their noses rubbed in an ambitious customer charter.

Not bad for one press briefing which Ryanair's commercial director, Mr Michael Cawley insisted on beginning bang on time in light of a punctuality undertakings contained in the charter.

It is not difficult to work out why Ryanair might choose the beginning of autumn to launch its latest PR blitz. The run-up to Christmas traditionally provides lean fodder in the airline business, making now the time to get the passengers in, no matter the price.

NCB analyst, Mr Shane Matthews says that a similar initiative last year, where flights were offered at €9.99, inclusive of taxes, succeeded in filling 79 per cent of Ryanair's seats. Yesterday's announcement will, he believes, push this well into the 80s, possibly at a lower price for the company.

The real beauty in the Ryanair model is that giving away a cool one million seats is unlikely to come close to denting the bottom line.

Mr John Mattimoe of Merrion Stockbrokers points out that the company is in the volume business, thus raising the importance of the ancillary revenue that passengers might generate while on board. Marginal revenue, in other words, is the name of the game.

Merrion is forecasting a net income of €34 million for Ryanair in the third quarter and Mr Mattimoe said yesterday that he would be maintaining that. Mr Matthews will also stick with existing forecasts.

As for the customer charter, analysts said that the announcement was significant, with one welcoming the airline's decision to "finally stand up for itself" on the customer service front.

The company has come in for a number of hits in the area in recent months, including damaging allegations over the treatment of wheelchair-bound passengers.

It is hardly coincidental that a customer charter, which Mr Cawley said himself merely reflected existing policy, would be produced in response.

However, there is also the small matter of Ryanair advertising the position of head of communications a few weeks ago. If hired, this individual will be the first to handle the company's communications strategy from an internal standpoint.

Does it all suggest that Ryanair is finally taking criticism seriously, or could it finally be feeling the pain of increased competition in the low-fares arena?

Analysts dismiss the second theory, arguing that Ryanair is still on its own in its market, despite the apparent posturing of players such as Easyjet, which yesterday said that it was close to buying 120 new jets, rivalling the 100 planes Ryanair said it was buying earlier this year.

Unless Easyjet starts to fly to lesser-known, cheaper airports, however, it is hard to see how the high-profile airline will manage to match Ryanair's cost base.

After all, things have to be fairly lean, and fairly sound, before you can give away one million flights and still receive the plaudits of the investment community.

As for the passengers - the ones who keep it all going - the heavy traffic on Ryanair's website all morning and afternoon yesterday suggested that they too were happy at the latest news.

And if their bags get lost while on their free flights, they can always raise the small matter of the customer charter.