Ryanair good enough for UK's prime minister

When airline industry historians try and pinpoint the moment when the European low-cost sector finally came of age, they may well pick the time when British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew back from holiday in Italy with Ryanair, writes Colin Baker.
The Blair family flew back to London Stansted from Rome Ciampino last Saturday - something of a publicity coup for Ryanair, although the 25 minute delay for extra security checks will not have gone down so well with the carrier's operations team.
One slight difference from the usual Ryanair experience was that Blair was apparently met on the airstrip by a limousine, something of a step up from the Stansted Express train service that is the more usual route into central London.
It was not revealed how much the Blairs paid for their tickets, although it is likely to be substantially less than the  estimated ｣16,000 per trip cost of the Queen's BAe 146 that  has been used previously.
The Ryanair flight comes at a time when Blair is struggling in the opinion polls. It remains to be seen whether George Bush uses Southwest for his next trip down to his Texas ranch.