Ryanair are still filling their 'planes, but I know quite a lot of people who, when you mention Ryanair, say 'never again' and roll off a story about their staff. Ryanair's new cuddly image will take time to sink in but in a nutshell, easyJet have played a blinder over the last few years and I think for Ryanair to have SUCH a 'road to Damascus' change, there must have been something that alarmed them.
In the last year, I have flown on easyJet, flyBe, Ryanair, Norwegian, British Airways and Scandinavian. The airlines with the fullest flights? easyJet, Ryanair and BA. I get that a snap shot isn't really scientific, but it looks like in the UK, the low cost airlines have grown the market overall. It helps that we are an island.
Additionally, the three airlines have quite clearly defined markets. You can say that Ryanair is ASDA, easyJet is Tesco and BA is Waitrose and people would understand that.
Five years time? I can see easyJet introducing inflight meals and connecting flights.
Ryanair will buy Norwegian to remove a competitor and get access to US market.