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#1 Dublin, number one, five years, and the most confused question at every Ryanair assessment is 'which airline am I applying to', because the answer is not always Ryanair. Here is what the group airlines are and why the name on the contract changes things.
The group
Ryanair Holdings runs several airlines with the same aircraft, the same livery and the same product: Ryanair DAC (the Irish one), Ryanair UK (post Brexit, for the UK bases), Malta Air (many of the European bases outside Ireland and the UK, registered in Malta), Buzz (the Polish operation, registered in Poland, with bases in Poland and elsewhere), and Lauda Europe (the Austrian one, A320s, Vienna and some other bases). From the passenger seat they are all Ryanair. From the payslip they are not.
Why it matters
The airline on your contract decides the employment law you work under, the tax you pay, the social security system, and the union situation. A Malta Air contract at a Spanish base is a Maltese employment relationship with local tax arrangements. A Buzz contract at a Polish base is Polish. Ryanair DAC at Dublin is Irish. The pay structures are similar in shape (basic, sector pay, commission) with different numbers and different protections.
Which one you are joining
The base decides it. Dublin, Cork, Shannon: Ryanair DAC. UK bases: Ryanair UK. Most continental bases: Malta Air. Poland and some others: Buzz. Vienna and the Lauda bases: Lauda Europe on the A320. The recruiter will tell you which if you ask, and the contract will say it on page one.
The agency layer on top
Separately from the group airline, many new crew are hired through an agency (Crewlink, Workforce) with a contract that converts to a direct contract with the relevant group airline later. So a new joiner at a Spanish base might be a Crewlink contractor working for Malta Air. Two questions to ask at the assessment: which airline, and which contract.
What is the same everywhere
The aircraft, the training, the procedures, the roster pattern, the product, the sales, the culture. A Ryanair day is a Ryanair day at every base under every name.
What actually differs in practice
Tax and social contributions, which change the net for the same gross. The union: Irish and UK bases have unions with recognition agreements; the Malta Air and Buzz bases have a more mixed picture. Pension arrangements. The exact conversion terms from agency to direct.
Advice
Ask which airline, ask which contract, and get both in writing before the course. Do not assume 'Ryanair' means the Irish company. And if you have a choice of base, consider the employment jurisdiction as well as the city, because the difference in net and protection between an Irish and a Maltese contract on the same pay is real.
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#2 Bergamo, Malta Air contract, converted from Crewlink at 14 months. Every word here is right and it is the thread I wish existed when I signed. The Italian tax arrangements on a Maltese contract are a conversation with an accountant, not a guess.
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#3 Dublin DAC, and the union point is the one to underline. Fórsa at the Irish bases is a real thing. At some continental bases the picture is thinner. Same airline, different protection.
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#4 Just finished training and I was allocated to a continental base on a Malta Air contract, which nobody mentioned until the base allocation. Ask before, as Liam says. I did not.
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#5 @connordub that is exactly why I wrote it. Half of every course finds out at allocation. Good luck at the base, the flying is the same.
