In revealing its new MyRyanair platform to disrupt the travel industry, Ryanair has revealed its vision to be the Amazon of air travel, a digital business that just happens to have an airline attached to it.

This morning (12 May), Ryanair launched MyRyanair, the airline’s push to transform the aviation industry by becoming a digital travel company with customer-focused technology and cutting-edge user experience (UX) design.

The MyRyanair platform is the next step in the digital disruption within Ryanair itself, which began with the hiring of 200 tech workers two years ago and continued with the issuing of iPads to 3,500 pilots.

Taking 36,000 developer hours to build, the new MyRyanair platform, developed with software engineering firm Comtrade, centres on a platform that speeds up the booking process by more than 20pc.

‘In the future, I see Ryanair as a digital travel leader that happens to have an airline attached to it’

– JOHN HURLEY, RYANAIR

The application is geared to provide Ryanair’s 106m annual passengers with new digitally disruptive services, such as the ability to link with other passengers to share taxis or receive restaurant tips.

Ryanair digital transformation plan takes flight

The airline is plotting a strategy to grow its passenger numbers to 180m a year by 2024.

The new platform, focused on speed, can fill four Boeing 737s every minute at peak boarding times.

“In the future, I see Ryanair as a digital travel leader that happens to have an airline attached to it,” said Ryanair CTO John Hurley.

“We want to use technology to personalise the user experience for our increasingly tech-savvy customer base and MyRyanair is very strategic and central to that vision.

“The scale of MyRyanair is phenomenal. It is built to handle the details of 106m people and, as we grow, MyRyanair’s capabilities will grow with it. Our partnership with Comtrade was fundamental to turning MyRyanair from a vision into a reality. With the team’s expertise, innovation and unwavering professionalism, Comtrade has helped Ryanair lay the foundations for the future.”

‘Ryanair is a forward-thinking company with a clear understanding of the digital world and the role it wants to play in it’

– DEJAN ĆUŠIĆ, COMTRADE

The application was developed over a tight deadline of nine months, with Comtrade providing Ryanair with a complete scrum team of engineers to produce MyRyanair using Agile methodologies.

In total, Comtrade invested 36,000 developer hours – the equivalent of 18 business years – into the project.

From three weeks into the project until launch, MyRyanair underwent constant testing and scrutiny from customers and senior management.

“Ryanair is a forward-thinking company with a clear understanding of the digital world and the role it wants to play in it,” explained Dejan Ćušić, solutions and services business director for Ireland and UK at Comtrade.

“The team recognised the changing needs of the airline’s customer base and MyRyanair is the perfect solution; establishing Ryanair as a cutting-edge trailblazer with the customer experience at its heart.

“With Ryanair’s vision and our world-class engineers, we have created something truly special that will enhance the travel experiences of millions of people every year,” Ćušić said.