Ryanair in expansion mode, to create new base and add 10 new routes |
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Fri, 16 Sep 2005 11:20
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LONDON: Budget airline Ryanair is expanding and setting up its 15th European base at Nottingham East Midlands. The Irish carrier will base two new Boeing 737-800 aircraft and add 10 news routes to its existing five routes from the airport from March next year.
The new routes are Berlin, Derry, Nimes, Carcassonne, Nantes, Limoges, Dinard, Lodz, Bergerac and Wroclaw, while it already operates to Dublin, Shannon, Murcia, Barcelona and Rome. Ryanair's chief executive officer Michael O'Leary said the new routes will handle 1.2 million passengers a year and the new base will generate some 1,200 jobs in the East Midlands area. The airline has already announced that it is adding a new base at Cork in November.
Ryanair will now have the broadest network in Europe with 15 bases in seven countries.
The airline's officials said direct flights from the city to Liverpool and Nottingham will cost as little as 5.99 pounds. The new routes will also boost tourism in Londonderry. While the Liverpool route will start from 9 February next year, the Nottingham East Midlands route will become operational on 7 March.
Ryanair was at one time considering withdrawing its services from Derry because of the delay in the plans to extend the runway in the light of opposition from local residents in Donneybrewer Road area. However, the British and Irish governments had come out with a 10 million-pound package to extend the runway and the airline cancelled it plans to pull out.
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