Case Studies: Sas Airline & Ryanair

How did the deregulation of air transportation in Europe foster
entrepreneurial behavior and innovation
in the European airline industry over the last twenty years?
Case studies: SAS Airline & Ryanair
Master Thesis in Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Business Contexts
Spring 2007
Supervisor: Håkan Bohman
Entrepreneurship Master Program
Authors:
Gilles Helterlin and Nuno Ramalho

Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to all who have contributed to the realization of this
Master Thesis. A warm thank to our supervisor, Håkan Bohman from USBE (Umeå School of
Business), for his guidance, his precious help and his advises during the last months.
To Mr. Lundvall, from LFV (Luftfartsverket), Mr. Valinger from Scandinavian Airline and
Mr. Wilsberg from SAS Braathens, Jessica Eriksson and Thomas Pettersson from USBE, thank you
for your availability, willingness in answering our questions and for their so precious collaboration
with interviews, comments and suggestions.
Thank you also Sweden for the wonderful moments we have spent here. We will never
forget your nature (your elks), your cold winter (-30°C), your long nights in winter and your short
nights in late spring!! It has been a great experience and adventure up there in Northern Sweden!!
We will miss you…
Finally we would like to thank particularly the Studentexpedition for its kindness, without
forgetting our family and friends (from Sweden, France, Portugal and Greece) for their everlasting
daily support, especially during hard moments.
Many thanks to all of you!
Umeå, 24 June 2007
Gilles HELTERLIN
Nuno BERBERAN
Abstract
The dynamics of business contexts influence the way firms act in their industry. These
changes can have effects in several areas within a company. Entrepreneurship and Innovation are
two areas that are affected when a change in firm’s environment occurs, like Schumpeter, Shane
and Drucker point. Changes in the deregulatory framework are a specific...