While still seen by some of its passengers as an "Irish" airline, Ryanair is now very much a global giant.
According to market statistics, the airline is currently the second-largest carrier in the world, based on market capitalisation.
Ironically, it is Southwest Airlines, the low-cost operator Ryanair modelled itself on, that is keeping Ryanair off the top spot.
Ryanair is currently valued at $6.9 billion (€5.2 billion), whereas South West is valued at $11 billion. At $6.9 billion, Ryanair is well ahead of British Airways ($5.6 billion), Lufthansa ($5.3 billion) and Air France ($5.1 billion).
If you want to be parochial, none of its competitors in Ireland even come close to its scale. Most aviation experts, for example, value Aer Lingus at between €500 million and €800 million.
Even British carriers flying routes into Ireland, like easyJet, come nowhere near the size of the modern Ryanair.
For example, easyJet at the end of January had a market capitalisation of $1.6 billion.
The reason Ryanair can boast such a high valuation is because its margins are the envy of the aviation world.
If you just take revenue alone, Ryanair is hardly a global player at all.
It doesn't even make the top ten in revenue terms. Lufthansa with its staggering $24.1 billion in turnover dwarfs Ryanair but, because of its higher cost base and lower margins, the German airline has a lower valuation.
While in terms of passenger numbers Ryanair trails far behind the big US carriers, even its fleet size puts it up with the major players. For example, it now has the world's second-largest all-737 fleet, behind Southwest Airlines.
Ryanair now has 12 bases and 209 routes covering 93 destinations across 19 European countries.
It is a long way from the modest beginnings of the airline in 1985. Its first flight consisted of a 15-seater turbo prop going from Waterford to London Gatwick. As the airline itself states: "Now that plane wouldn't be big enough to carry the management team around."
Emmet Oliver
