I would quibble with the word 'frequently' in the phrase "British Airways fares are frequently better value than those of Ryanair". Perhaps the word 'sometimes' would have been better. I fly from Glasgow to London fairly often and never since RYR started up the PIK-STN service have I found BA, bmi or for that matter EZY prices any less.
True, for me PIK-STN is an ideal service living as I do near PIK and the mother-in-law living fairly close to STN (hmmm, thinking about it that way, RYR are b'stards
) but comparing just the airfares I can't remember the last time I paid more than thirty quid per skull on RYR for a return journey. Fifty quid seems to be the cheapest bmi or BA fare that you can possibly get which isn't bad and might just be worth it in certain instances but getting that fare is a lot more difficult than getting a RYR special.
I think the AUC are not great fans of RYR so perhaps the report is somewhat biased in its tone. Yes, BA can be cheaper but when it comes to low fares, it really isn't in the same league.