There is much in the origional post that rings true .... Aer Lingus has made profits recently but has in no way realised it's full potential i.e. older aircraft and uninspiring I.F.E. I am sure that it also suffers like many national airlines from a political input that stiffles enterprise and dynamism.
Ryanair on the otherhand have had a period of inventive expansion that appears to know no bounds ... I use FR regularly and despite its detracters, I think that it is an excellant service in that it does exactly what it advertises ... It gets you from A to B safely, on time and cheaply with not much else.
The question of monopoly is a valid one but only if we look at Ireland independantly and not as a country within the European Union. The same goes for all the other member states. Ryanair may be Irish registerred but it has over 30 bases around Europe and would be very well positioned to act as an economical feeder to a long haul operation ex. Dublin. Particularly if MOL's flair and vision are allowed to bear influence.
I have heard all of the stories concerning his man management approach, his lack of people skills and his confrontational stance ... all of which I am sure are true but no-one can deny his business acumen in this industry. A lot of people now have jobs that didn't and a lot of people fly around Europe that never used to.
The one major obstruction to this plan (assuming some political accomodation can be found ... big assumption I know !!) is the complete lack of a suitable airport to house this idea, now or in any realistic near future .... shame really.
I. Duke