On this day in 1985, Ryanair, founded by Tipperary-man Tony Ryan, along with his sons and business-partners, operated its first commercial flight from Waterford to London Gatwick.
Today, the company that was setup by the Limerick Junction-born Ryan is one of the largest airlines in the world carrying over 150 million passengers a year.
Tony Ryan was born on 2 February 1936 in a railway cottage in Limerick Junction before moving to Thurles with his family around 1945. He joined Aer Lingus as a dispatcher at Shannon airport where he was reputed to be a dependable, easygoing worker. After marrying Mairead Ryan from Thurles in 1958, he worked at Heathrow airport, London (1959), and as duty manager at Cork airport (1962). Promotions to deputy station manager in O'Hare airport, Chicago, USA (1966), and station manager at JFK airport, New York (1968), kindled his hard-edged ambition. In 1972 a homesick wife and a wish to raise his three sons in Ireland prompted his transfer to Dublin, where he filled a chance vacancy in aircraft leasing.
In 1985 he founded a low-cost airline, named Ryanair, to challenge the cartel operating between Britain and Ireland, particularly on the crucial Dublin–London market. The ensuing price war doubled the previously stagnant number of air travellers between Britain and Ireland during 1986–9 and moved both governments to deregulate the air routes between their countries in 1988.
As Ryanair director (1995) and chairman (1996), Ryan was embarrassed by Michael O'Leary's overzealous enforcement of low-fare service standards. Ryan resigned as chairman of Ryanair in January 1997, by which time his relationship with O'Leary had soured over Ryanair's gleefully brusque treatment of its customers.
Tony Ryan died on 3 October 2007. He is buried on the grounds of Lyons Demesne, his 600-acre estate, in Kildare.
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