In the past it was RYR who kept away from major airports and opened up the provincial airports. They trumpeted, often correctly, that with short taxi times, low ATC congestion = no delays, fast baggage collection times, good enough public transport that the pax got to their destination faster than via the major hub. easyjet often chose the major hub. RYR kept out of their way. Then, a few years ago, e.g. MAN, MAD, FCO et al RYR followed ez into some of those major hubs. You're have to analyse the routes to see how much head to head there was, but by venturing into expensive major hubs, and following the orange ball, RYR seemed to be adjusting its model. In 2000 ez was AMS's 2nd largest user after KLM, even though they didn't have a base there; they had many movements in/out and wanted desperately to have a base. They cancelled the idea of a base in 2001. AMS's resistance, and other logistics to scheduling changed their mind. The growth of the airline, and a change of heart in AMS, has now opened up the opportunity. For RYR it is a major change, although I thought MAD was also a major shift in strategy and certainly FCO. Latino attitudes and Irish ones don't mix. I can see MOL tearing his hair out soon. CPH proved a major hub too far. We'll see about AMS. Both those northern countries have a tinge of Latino in their culture.