Yes, I did it in Kazakhstan several times too. Then you had to exchange your baggage tag for your bag when you picked it up.

Some right dodgy old planes there back in the day.

Preparing to meet RyanAir on the battlefield
 

But it was at least cheap. The Russians had issued us some student IDs, so weonlypaid the equivalent of 8 DM / 4 EUR for a four hour flight. 25 of these flights would cover one boarding pass printout at Ryanair.

Never happening as long as the war on liquids continues.

Why? The front line in the war on liquids is with hand luggage which you already carry yourself, or at least I have to, since my last servant died.

It would require a huge change in the airport security process.

Checked bags would need to be security screened, then passengers and carryon security screened after dropping bags and before boarding, with no further mixing of passengers with checked bags.

Well, they could seal the bags after screening and check the seals at the gate. In case the seal is broken, they could charge a 200 EUR rescreening fee. That's a nice additional stream of ancillary revenues.

You just need bigger scanners, like some airports do already - i.e TLV or BOM.
Otherwise the process is the same as with hand baggage. Once you're airside, what could happen that couldn't happen now?

Do you think Ruinair's going to pay for the refitting?

I love RyanAir. They also never hassled me about my drastically oversized carry ons when I was backpacking (2 or 3 flights with a friend, each of us had bags exceeding carry on size). If you don't follow their rules you'll have a terrible time though.

Oh, and it's worth it to pay extra for their priority seats. Lets you avoid the scramble getting on the plane plus extra leg room.

a contradiction.

Yeah, possibly. I'm just saying I did not have an issue, but I was also chancing it. I probably wouldn't do the same in the future.

Ryanair was my main airline to travel with some years ago and I saw most of Europe on flights under 20 GBP. Id go with my then girlfriend as many weekends as possible after work on a Friday to where ever they had a special offer on (Booked about 5 weeks in advance). We'd then get back on the Sunday (or even early Monday) in time for work in London the next week. Id say I must have flown at least 40 times with ryanair and have never had a problem. Like others have said, you just need to stick to their rules and you'll be fine. One time, before the online boarding card printing days, my father ran out of petrol on the way to the airport and by the time we got to the airport there was only 15 mins before departure and our desk had closed, with no-one in sight from ryanair. We found a ryanair representative who we begged to help us, which he did and we were wisked through security and got on the plane at the last minute. Doors closed behind us and we took off ontime. I for one can't fault ryanair...you get what you pay for.

Often you get much more than you pay for.
Ive done

DUBLIN for a penny ew
DUSSELDORF for a tenner ew, likewise GIRONA, ALICANTE and MURCIA.
MILAN for £3, PARIS for a fiver and the ALGARVE for £15 ew
I think the most we have paid is £105 rtn to Gran Canaria.

At those prices, Id sit on broken glass and let the cabin crew poke me with sticks for the duration of the flight if they wanted

Agreed! It is cheaper and faster than a train or bus in many instances. If an airline like RyanAir existed in the US I'd be flying every weekend.

Broken glass seating and poking are not included; you'll have to pay for these extras.