cavokblues
Wasn't it Stelios that a couple of years ago in his fight with easyJet maangement over aircraft orders touted that 200 planes was the ideal size for an airline. Ryanair is certainly splitting into that sized airlines operationally if not sales/marketing wise. You also have Ryanair's unique problem that the IAA is insisting that all crew on irish registered ac should tax to Ireland and the trouble Ryanair had over this that was partial in the march to unions, and solved by adding AOC's in other juridictions. Add to that how Ryanair mgmt have utilized it to offer differnt t&c's over its airlines. And that another irishman Walsh leapfrogged O'Leary and became the head of an airline group probably also irked him. Pack that up with goodwill by the Maltese government and a want to display their name around, some resentment against Ryanair as such in some countries and inpass in the german market with Lauda, and Ryanair having pickled the Buzz name for years, you could see a continued growth through more new names. Didn't the board once tell O'Leary that if he wanted to go transatlantic he couldn't do it in a way that disturbed Ryanair core.