Sir, – I was surprised and disappointed to read a claim that Ryanair was started in the UK ("It's official – Ryanair deserves the credit for European integration", Opinion & Analysis, May 25th).
All the more so when I saw that the writer, Kenny Jacob, is chief marketing officer of the airline.
I can assure Mr Jacob that Ryanair started in Ireland in 1984. It was founded by my very good friend and ex colleague, the late Tony Ryan. Indeed it still has its headquarters in Swords, near Dublin Airport, and its chief executive Michael O’Leary is Irish.
In the early days, airlines could only operate flights from and to their home state, so their growth was very limited.
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However, with the development of the EU, any airline in the EU may operate anywhere in its area.
So Ryanair was able to expand substantially.
Because of its population, the UK is a huge market, so it was obvious that Ryanair’s expansion would be mainly in the UK.
Hence I suppose many people now think it is British.
However I am surprised that its own chief marketing officer thinks the UK is where his airline started. – Yours, etc,
WILLIAM MURPHY,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.