Halpalentoyhtiöt ja taloudellinen

Ryanair itsekin voi erittäin hyvin - se on tutkimuksen mukaan "maailman kannattavin lentoyhtiö".

Irish no-frills carrier, Ryanair, is the most profitable airline in the world, according to a survey from aviation magazine, Air Transport World.

The survey found that Ryanair's profit margins are well ahead of its European low-cost rivals, including EasyJet, and are higher than US airline, Southwest, the carrier that pioneered the low-cost model.

Last year, Ryanair posted an operating profit of E369 million and a net profit of E307 million compared to Southwest's E643 million operating profit and E429 million net.

However, the Irish airline carried 33.4 million passengers on 107 aircraft while Southwest carried 88.5 million people on 453 aircraft giving the Irish firm a huge lead on a profit per passenger and a profit per aircraft basis.

One Ryanair aircraft contributes E4 million to profits while one of Southwest's planes adds just E1.65 million to its bottom line, the survey found.

Ryanair's nearest European challenger, Britain's EasyJet, saw a contribution of just E0.75 million per aircraft to profits last year.