The sky's the limit - Ireland's surprising grip on global aviation

Irish Post

02-05-2025

IRELAND quietly appears to have taken over the global aviation sector.
For a small island perched on the edge of Europe, we've somehow become a global powerhouse in the skies - not with a national airline waving a flag, but through a mix of sharp suits, budget seats and bold personalities.
First up: aircraft leasing. Most people have no idea that over half of the world's commercial planes are owned and leased by companies headquartered in Ireland.
In fact, most people are probably surprised that aircraft are leased at all, and not owned by individual airlines. But there it is: Dublin is to planes what Zurich is to private banking—a quiet but crucial hub.
The roots go back to Tony Ryan, the Aer Lingus man turned Guinness Peat Aviation founder, turned Ryanair co-founder.
His business model helped birth the multibillion-euro aircraft leasing industry that Ireland now dominates. Not to mention his foresight in employing a gentleman called Michael O'Leary.
Then there's Willie Walsh—a man who went from Aer Lingus pilot to head honcho of British Airways, then CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), and now serves as Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Not bad for a lad from Dublin. Oh, and his successor at BA? Another Irishman - Sean Doyle, from Cork.
Britannia may rule the waves, but the skies above Heathrow owe a lot to Irish business acumen.
And so we move on to Michael O'Leary.
Love him or loathe him, the Ryanair boss has redefined what it means to fly in Europe.
Dirt-cheap tickets, fast turnarounds, and an unapologetic business model that's left legacy airlines scrambling to keep up.
He's loud, he's brash, he's maddening - and he's made Ryanair into one of the most profitable airlines on the continent.
Speaking of Irishmen making waves abroad, Alan Joyce, born in Dublin, led Qantas, Australia's flag carrier, as CEO from 2008 until his resignation in September 2023.
But how did this all happen? Maybe it's because we're an island—we've always wanted to get off it — from James Joyce to Edna O'Brien, and from the people in Donegal who went to Scotland to become 'tattie howkers' to the men from all over Ireland who helped to rebuild Britain after World War II.
With no real tradition of maritime prowess (not unless you count the Rosslare ferry), the skies became our sea. Maybe we skipped boats and went straight to planes.
There's also something in the Irish spirit - the wanderlust.
We're a nation of emigrants and explorers, with families spread from Boston to Brisbane.
We've always looked outward. Maybe the Vikings rubbed off on us more than we realized - not with longships, but with a sense of boldness, of heading into the unknown.
That same instinct now fuels boardrooms and budgets at 30,000 feet.
So while we might not build the planes, and we don't fly a massive national airline, we manage, lease, crew, and run an outsized portion of global aviation. Not bad for a country with more cows than people.
Ireland: land of saints, scholars—and sky-high ambition.
See More: Aer Lingus, Airlines, Aviation, Ireland, Ryanair