Ryanair Case Study Case \"Dogfight

Ryanair Case Study

Case

"Dogfight over Europe":

Ryanair Case study and internal overview of strengths and weaknesses

"Dogfight over Europe":

Ryanair case study and internal overview of strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Ryanair is a relatively small, tightly-managed airline. This will allow the company to dispense high-quality customer service with a great deal of customized attention. This new airline will focus upon a specific route, which will not dilute the focus of the emerging corporation during its early years. Its philosophy stresses the need to start small, rather than to expand too quickly. The Ryans have a personal base of investment capital from which to draw. As a family, they have a coherent philosophy as an organization. They also have previous personal experience in the aviation industry and in finance. They understand the unique economic structure of the airline industry from the ground up. The company has been testing the market's waters for some time. The company began with a relatively small, 14-seat turboprop plan and only after developing a way to provide high-quality service did it seek to expand.

Ryanair is expanding during a unique period of British history, as the airlines are being deregulated. Thus it can be a 'first mover' in terms of offering its services and creating a unique brand for itself as a low-cost, high-quality airline with a focus on Anglo-Irish travel. The flights it provides are inexpensive, emphasize a reasonably high-capacity route, and also offer 'no brainer' booking services that do not require advance reservations. Since many tourists do not plan their journeys long ahead of time, when comparing flights they are likely to select, the fact that Ryanair offers a simple, single fare of £98 for a ticket with no restrictions would be highly attractive. Additionally, the speed offered by the flight, and the regularity of service could draw both tourists and business travelers for whom saving time is of premium importance. The fact that the Ryan family is building their business slowly and focusing primarily on a single route is likely to be of great advantage in terms of creating a strong and secure customer base through high-quality service.

Weaknesses

As an upstart company, Ryanair is competing against two of the most stalwart examples of the British aviation industry, that of British Air and Aer Lingus. Also, it may have to fight some of the currently-existing trends in airfare: ae of round-trip travelers have opted to use rail and sea ferries rather than aircrafts, which are priced around £55.21 per round-trip journey. On one hand, the fact that the journey takes nine hours by rail and ferry and one hour by air would seem to be an argument in favor of Ryanair, given the considerable time savings offered by its flights. However, this could be an indication that travelers on the route are budget-conscious enough that they will opt for the least expensive mode of transportation, even if Rynanair's prices are superior to those of its competitors.