For retirees like us, Ryanair has been our ticket to the sun, allowing us to travel and expand our horizons. Since its establishment in 1984, Ryanair has evolved from a small airline, operating short-haul flights from Waterford to London Gatwick, to become Europe’s largest carrier.

They have revolutionised air travel in many ways, not all for the good. I remember before their arrival turning up at check-in desks with our two big cases full to the brim, ready to cope with all eventualities. Ryanair quickly sorted that one out!

Early days, staff were very abrasive, and hand luggage caused all kinds of problems. Later, your 10kg bag had to fit into a contraption at the boarding gate, and staff would regularly weigh bags to certify that they were within the required limits.

Today, everything has been monetised. Even before you board your flight, you are encouraged to join and avail yourself of Ryanair Prime.  Prime members get free reserved seats, free travel insurance and access to 12 member-only seat sales, one each month. Prime members can save €560 per annum, and all this for just €79 per annum!  Then, from the moment you book your flight, you are encouraged to spend more money on Priority Boarding, securing your seat, flight insurance, airport transfer, car rental, etc., etc.

However, despite the early growing pains and having to listen to their abrasive CEO, who is even a greater pain, they did what it said on the tin. They got you to your destination from your local airport with minimum fuss or frills. I always marvel at fellow travellers who moan and grumble at the shortcomings of the carrier because they knew exactly what they were signing up for before they ever booked their flights. Another not insignificant reason for my allegiance to Ryanair as our carrier of choice has much to do with the anachronistic concept of ‘the old school tie’. One of my classmates in Secondary School was none other than Michael Cawley, who, for many years, was Deputy Chief Executive of Ryanair. He couldn’t hurl or play football, but in time, he became a great accountant!

I remember one wet Saturday evening in November, sitting in one of the restaurants in Shannon Airport, having gone through security. Kate and I were having a drink before boarding our flight. We were on our way to Lanzarote for a week’s break when, right on cue, an announcement was made that our Ryanair flight would be delayed due to a technical issue with a door on the plane. We were chatting away when a pilot and his first officer asked if they could sit at our table. The pilot was a large, brash American, and his co-pilot was French. We exchanged pleasantries and continued with our conversation.  However, it was increasingly difficult to avoid overhearing the pilot as he venomously and vigorously attacked his employer, who was uncaring, untrustworthy, willing to cut corners, expecting him to work ungodly hours and follow crazy schedules. He would much prefer to work for Wells Fargo or DHL or some other cargo carrier than work for that insufferable bastard, Michael O’Leary of Ryanair! We couldn’t help but listen as he continued to berate and belittle his employer. Finally, our flight was called, and we began to gather up our bags, and he asked us where we were headed. We told him we were headed to Porta del Carmen, and he said he hoped we would have a relaxing flight.   Furthermore, he informed us that he would be our captain on the flight!

Ryanair’s pricing policy is a total mystery to me. They tell us that those who book early get the lowest fares, but this is patently untrue. I know of no other product to hand whose price fluctuates from hour to hour depending on a secret, unbreakable algorithm. I know of no other transport company that can have 300 people on the same flight and no two of them have paid the same price for their ticket. It’s truly bonkers!

Experience a Ryanair flight delay and every piece of consumer protection law which has been meticulously pored over in the hallowed halls of Brussels and Strasbourg is stretched to breaking point. I have been delayed in the stairwell of any number of airports, twiddling my thumbs and avoiding eye contact with the hordes of disgruntled fellow travellers who know to the minute when compensation kicks in and Michael O’Leary will personally have to pay out. Then, with a familiar beep, a message flashes up on your Ryanair App to inform you that you are now entitled to €4 to be spent in all the Cafés and Burgerking outlets, which, coincidentally, are all on the other side of Passport Control. And because it’s now near midnight in Las Palmas, they’re all now closed anyway!  Sometimes that message doesn’t appear until you are home, snuggled up in bed following a five-hour delay to your flight.

Look, it makes perfect sense to me: if some careless baggage handler messes with the cargo hold door and it won’t close properly at 10 o’clock on a Summer’s evening in Nice or Malaga, and the pilot will not take off until the fault is rectified, airport authorities are duty-bound to send for an engineer. Now, at 10 o’clock, most self-respecting engineers are at home or in the pub if it’s a Friday night, and they are not going to come all the way back to the airport for half an hour’s overtime, are they? No, mark my words, that minor little problem will take at least four hours to rectify to everyone’s satisfaction. This rule of thumb, of course, applies to all carriers and not just Ryanair.

And it’s futile to give out or moan or threaten or make a resolution never to fly with Ryanair again. In my long experience, despite the odd hiccup, they’re the best in the business!