I didn't even think I was that passionate about the connecting flight debate! A few more points to add against the idea - a lot of the money made flying to small peripheral airports is through 'marketing costs', etc. not through passenger numbers. The first flight out of these airports will be towards late morning, possibly the afternoon, as a based aircraft has out to fly to the airport first reducing connection oportunities if it ever became an actual service offering. Ryanair open themselves up to a lot more EU regulations regarding delays/re-routing, etc. Ryanair already have self-connecting passengers but suffer no risk in carrying them. Ryanair is all about efficency, offering connecting flights, even a few, doesn't fit into that, that's why it's a complete shift in it's business model.