Ryanair is Europe's most valuable airline with a market capitalisation of $4.54 billion, bigger than that of long-standing leader Lufthansa, according to a report released today.
Lufthansa, worth $4.51 billion, ranked far ahead of third-placed British Airways ($2.78 billion) and Air France ($2.62 billion).
Irish budget carrier Ryanair is a much smaller company than those big carriers, with modest revenues and fewer aircraft, but it is funded entirely by equity, whereas British Airways, for example, is predominantly debt-financed.
Ryanair is also growing very quickly, pushing on with expansion plans despite the severe damage to global aviation traffic from the September 11th attacks.
Ireland's national carrier, Aer Lingus, is fairly valueless, according to analysts.