Ryanair’s new growth deal with London Stansted Airport: mutual love-in?

On 16-Sep-2013, Ryanair announced a 10 year agreement with Manchester Airport Group (MAG), the new owner of Stansted Airport, to add more than 50% to its 2012 traffic base of 13.2 million passengers and carry more than 20 million passengers per annum at the airport.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary sounded very happy with the change of management at Stansted, where tariff increases under the previous owner led to a 27% fall in total passenger numbers from 2007 to 2012: "This agreement… proves how UK airports can flourish when released from the dead hand of the BAA monopoly and is the first dramatic initiative by MAG to reverse 7 years of decline".

In this report, we examine the relationship between Ryanair, which is Stansted's largest airline, and Stansted, which is Ryanair's largest airport. In a separate report, we will look at recent indications by Ryanair that it wants to be more customer friendly and consider how this fits in with its passenger growth targets.