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O’Leary pays tribute to Ryanair’s founder  RYANAIR
boss Michael O’Leary has led tributes to the airline’s Ryanair
founder Tony Ryan who died last week after a long illness.
Dr Ryan died at his home in Celbridge in Co. Kildare aged 71.
Over 30 years he not only built Ryanair into Europe’s largest no-frills
airline but dominated the world of aircraft leasing through Guinness Peat
Aviation.
The Ryan family said they were proud of his many achievements and the
“spirit of entrepreneurship which created enterprise and opportunity
for many people in this country and abroad and, most especially, we are
proud to have been his loving and loved family”.
Mr O’Leary — who was hand-picked by Dr Ryan to run the airline
said the lives of millions of people had been transformed by his pioneering
attitude to competition and low-fare air travel in Europe.
He said: “It was a privilege to work for him and to learn from him.
I will miss his guidance, encouragement and friendship. We are all determined
that Ryanair will continue to carry his name with pride and distinction.”
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said Dr Ryan’s contribution to the development
of aviation in Ireland and globally was immense.
Born in Tipperary and the son of a train driver Dr Ryan began his career
with Aer Lingus as a dispatch boy at Dublin Airport.
After working in New York and London he headed the department responsible
for leasing the airline’s spare planes.
After leaving Aer Lingus he set-up Guinness Peat Aviation which at its
peak was one of the largest aircraft leasing companies in the world.
But it was through Ryanair that he made his estimated ?1.2billion fortune.
The airline started life in 1985 with a 15-seat plane flying from Waterford
to London.
Within a couple of years the fledgling Ryanair was losing millions and
on the verge of collapse.
Against advice he kept the airline going and Ryanair was turned into Europe’s
first low-fares carrier flying 42million people last year.
In recent years Dr Ryan and his sons have been attempting to replicate
the success of Ryanair elsewhere with investment in airlines in Asia,
the US and Mexico.
He also invested large sums in bloodstock farms in the US and bought a
vineyard in France. |
