Episode 2 airing Monday 23 March 2026 at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
Turbulence – The Story of Ryanair is a two-part series telling Ryanair’s forty-year climb from a single route airline to an aviation giant across Europe. Featuring members of the Ryanair family, former cabin crew and staff, and expert commentators, the series lifts the lid on the extraordinary story of the airline brand we all love to hate.
Part two of this two-part documentary series tracks Ryanair as it becomes the loudest story in global aviation, now led by fire-cracker CEO Michael O’Leary, who uses sharp accounting and sharper elbows to navigate the airline through endless battles.
Through brazen advertising, savvy deal-making, and bombastic noise-making, Ryanair has become more notorious for its friction than its fares. Michael’s laser focus on efficiency seeps through every bolt of the business. The airline is transformed from being on the brink of failure to a profit machine.
Featuring contributors including former Aer Lingus Chairman Colm Barrington, former owner of Aer Arann Pádraig Ó Céidigh, Ryanair’s former Head of Social Media Michael Corcoran, journalist and author Matt Cooper, broadcaster Ivan Yates, and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern among others, this series explores the impact of Ryanair on a changing Ireland and – in the face of unpredictable crises like 9/11, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis – considers what is in store for the future of air travel.
