Ryanair Holdings plc

Ryanair DAC is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family of airlines and has Ryanair UK, Buzz, Lauda Europe, and Malta Air as sister airlines. It is Ireland’s biggest airline and in 2016 became Europe’s largest budget airline by scheduled passengers flown, carrying more international passengers than any other airline.

Ryanair Group operates more than 500 planes. The airline has been characterized by its rapid expansion, a result of the deregulation of the aviation industry in Europe in 1997 and the success of its low-cost business model. Ryanair’s route network serves over 40 countries in Europe, North Africa (Morocco), and the Middle East (Israel and Jordan).

The company has at times been criticised for its refusal to issue invoices for the VAT-exempt services it provides (airfares), poor working conditions, heavy use of extra charges, bad customer service, and tendency to intentionally generate controversy in order to gain free publicity.