Ryanair always like to make a big song and dance about almost everything - but why did it wait six months after launching its first mobile app before unveiling it officially?
CEO Michael O'Leary was in London today to announce the launch of the app, an iPhone service which allows users to make and manage bookings, access timetables and promotions, and also secure car rental products via the carrier's deal with Hertz.
Ryanair's all-important and dizzying array of ancillary products (priority boarding, checked bags, etc) are also available to those booking flights.
Unusually for a carrier, Ryanair is charging customers to download the app - Euro 3.
But while O'Leary was eager today to highlight how pleased the company is to be launching its "latest passenger initiative", Ryanair Cheap Flights, as the app is officially called, has actually been around for almost six months.
The first and so far only iteration of the app was accepted by Apple and put into the appstore on 13 March this year, meaning it has been in the marketplace and seemingly under the radar without a single review and only a handful of star ratings (overall score 4+) ever since.
This is probably why Ryanair felt it could "launch" the app this week without any questions as to why it has taken so long to get the product into the hands of passengers.
When asked about the discrepancy, the carrier's spinners in Dublin (Edelman) insisted the app had "only been available as of today".
They eventually responded again (after being pointed to the release date on iTunes), in classic Ryanair style:
"Ryanair has been too busy lowering fares for our summer schedule to launch the app – today was the first chance we got."
NB:Ryanair aircraft image via Shutterstock.