Ryanair, Morocco and the Secret Behind Europe’s Airline Success

More than 200 million passengers transported last year, a highly comprehensive network with more than 220 destinations, and a net profit of 1.6 billion euros in the latest financial year… In less than four decades, Ryanair has become Europe’s largest airline. Its growth can be explained by several factors. Its prices are highly attractive: 46 euros on average for a ticket. It has a record load factor of 96%, a feat no other airline has managed to achieve. The Irish low-cost carrier operates a unified fleet—Boeing 737s—which enables it to limit maintenance costs. It is investing in the purchase of several new, more energy-efficient aircraft.

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The pursuit of revenue streams beyond airline ticket sales is also one of Ryanair’s strengths. Last year, 4.7 billion euros, or one-third of the money earned by the airline over the year, came from ancillary revenues. This includes priority boarding, seat selection, insurance, baggage fees, and even car rentals, as well as all sales of drinks, gifts, lottery games, and other perfumes made on board the aircraft. “The Irish have transformed their planes into slot machines more than ever,” summarizes La Dernière Heure. “As soon as we have finished taking off and can unfasten our seat belts, we have to rush around with our trolleys,” explains Elsa (a pseudonym), a flight attendant for the airline. “We have to sell, sell, and sell.”

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The airline closely monitors the work of every cabin crew member. “Each of us has a phone with a payment terminal that records all our sales and the targets we have to meet,” explains Luis Carvalho, a cabin manager in Charleroi. “A positive smiley indicates that you are doing well in your sales; if it is negative, it means we are not selling enough.” He adds: “The target changes from one flight to another, and even on the same destination, it can vary depending on the day of the week, the time of day, or simply the sales made by colleagues in previous days.” According to him, sales expectations also depend on the type of passengers. “They are, for example, higher on a flight to Morocco than on one to Romania. From Charleroi, cabin crew members are expected to achieve their best figures on flights to Israel (flights currently suspended), with more than 5 euros’ worth of products sold per passenger.”

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“This may seem like little, but if you multiply that figure by 200 passengers on a plane, you get the daily revenue of a good restaurant. And when you know that Ryanair operates 3 500 flights a day, it becomes very interesting,” says Didier Lebbe, a permanent CNE representative. He asks: “But is it the purpose of an airline to turn itself into a Horeca establishment or a lottery-game organizer?”