"The
low fares airline".
Irish airline which was the first to bring the
Southwest Airlines business model to
Europe, the basic idea being that air
passengers don't always want a
meal or a free
newspaper, they just want a
seat. Cutting down on
ancillary services means they can offer much cheaper fares.
However, some would say they have taken this philosophy to an extreme, eliminating all semblences of customer service in order to remain profitable. For example, passengers whose planes have been delayed have found that Ryanair do not offer the basic information services you would expect in such a case. They simply do not have the staff to cope with any out-of-the-ordinary situation.
Europe now has many other budget airlines which compete with Ryanair, including EasyJet and British Airways' spinoff Go.
Ryanair have a web site at http://www.ryanair.com/, where you can buy tickets online.