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Ryan air has a reputation for hard landings, watching this video at the 2:22 mark and reading the subsequent comments (along with personal experience) suggests many people find the landing with Ryan air much less-smooth in general than other airlines such as Easyjet.

What is the reason for this, is it a difference in the software (i.e auto-land) or some difference between Boeing and Airbus that makes Boeing's harder to land smoothly?

Some entertaining comments from the video:

A smooth landing costs extra, like everything else on this plane.

Ryanair - "We pay for maintenance so we will use maintenance"

That music was to celebrate that the landing gear hadn't been completely destroyed.

NB: Their only entry in the Accidents and Incidents section of Wikipedia is for a non-fatal bird strike incident, so I'm not suggesting they are a dangerous airline to fly with.

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closed as primarily opinion-based by Juan Jimenez, GdD, Sanchises, Manu H, xxavier Jun 27 at 13:26

Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

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    $\begingroup$ Primarily opinion-based, voting to close. $\endgroup$ – Juan Jimenez Jun 27 at 11:57
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    $\begingroup$ Without data, there’s nothing to discuss. Could be anything from perceived customer base experience to real operations into on average shorter airfields requiring higher level of stopping performance (feels harder, but is simply better stopping)... $\endgroup$ – Cpt Reynolds Jun 27 at 12:13
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    $\begingroup$ "this video" appears to show either a stall at about 5 feet or a marked reduction in power. Aside from inclement weather (a possible wind gradient issue), and perhaps a shorter runway, yes, it could have been done better. $\endgroup$ – Robert DiGiovanni Jun 27 at 12:43
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    $\begingroup$ There is no evidence to support your assertion that Ryanair has a reputation for hard landings, you've extrapolated it from a single video. $\endgroup$ – GdD Jun 27 at 12:56
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    $\begingroup$ "So whether there is an objective difference between Boeing and Airbus in difficulty of landing is an opinion?" Your question asserts that there is such a difference, and you then ask why. This is not the same as asking whether there is such a difference. Furthermore, this is a "Skeptics.SE" kind of question. While this does not make it off-topic here, I think it's not unreasonable to hold the OP to the same standards, which requires a notable claim (see their faq) for the question to be on-topic. $\endgroup$ – Sanchises Jun 27 at 13:03
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First of all, you are probably talking about a firm landing, not a hard landing as e.g. explained in this answer.

There is no evidence that Ryanair flights actually land more firmly than other airlines. Passengers are typically not very good at judging landings. Also note that a firm landing is not a bad landing, it is in fact safer because it reduces required runway length!

Firm landings cannot be explained by auto-land software because the auto-land is only very rarely used (typically only when the conditions do not permit a CAT I ILS approach any more). More than 99% of all landings are hand flown.

A possible reason for a firmer touchdown feeling for Ryanair flights compare to easyJet is the shorter landing gear of the Boeing 737 (used by Ryanair) compared to the Airbus A320 (used by easyJet).

A more general reason for budget airlines touching down more firmly than other airlines is that they tend to use other airports with shorter runways, like e.g. Rome Ciampino (LIRA) instead of Rome Fiumicino (LIRF). A shorter runway means you have less room for error and cannot afford losing valuable runway to make a smooth touchdown.

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