Ryanair marks 40 years since its first-ever flight

Sarah Slater

Tuesday, July 8th, 2025, marks 40 years since the first Ryanair flight.

The flight took off from Waterford Airport bound for London Gatwick on Monday, July 8th, 1985.

The plane was a 15-seat Brazilian-made Bandeirante aircraft. Bookings in the first week exceeded the expected level by 40 per cent, but over the next several years, the airline’s losses mounted before fortunes eventually turned around.

In a last ditch effort to stave off closure the airline halved fares across the Irish Sea.

The airline carried 5,000 people in its first year and now passengers embark their flights every 13 minutes.

Sean Power of Harvey Travel on Gladstone Street in Waterford told WLRFM that local people were delighted to see the new service in operation.

"It was unbelievable. Instead of having to travel to Dublin, when the roads were totally different from what they are now, people were absolutely delighted to see a service out of Waterford,” Mr Power said.

"People were also apprehensive about what type of aircraft it was and how long the flight would take. But when people heard there were lots of bookings, it drove even more people to book."

Mr Power explained that the flight was especially convenient for the local business community.

"We were able to make contact with people in the UK and talk to them about inbound traffic into Waterford, building a package of a flight into Waterford and a hotel in the surrounding area," he explained.

Three years earlier, in 1982, Waterford’s new multi-million airport was granted a licence for international flights by the then Department of Transport and Power sanctioned a licence for international flights.

Earlier this year, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary cast doubt on the airline returning to Waterford when he said that “local lunatics who are determined to get a government grant to build a jet runway”.

However, he then went on to clarify that the airline may operate "one or two flights a day" to London if there was an extended runway and a low-cost base.

The Department of Transport requested a second business case in relation to government support for an extended runway.