Ryanair Unveils New Euro Routes

Low-cost airline Ryanair yesterday unveiled 50 new European routes from six UK airports – including three from Birmingham – in what it claimed as its biggest ever Continental expansion.

The airline will offer services, mainly to Italy, France and Spain, from Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Stansted, Manchester and Newquay. It will also fly to three new airports in France and Romania.

From April Dublin-based Ryanair will launch thrice-weekly services from Birmingham to Barcelona, Marseille and Pisa.

Ryanair’s deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said: "Only Ryanair guarantees the lowest fares and today’s new routes are great news for Birmingham’s passengers who have put up with BMI and British Airways’ high fare stranglehold too long.

"We look forward to generating pounds 50 million in savings for passengers who vote with their feet for Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares and best punctuality next year."

Ryanair will also fly to four new routes from Manchester Airport from April.

They are Barcelona, Bremen in northern Germany, Marseille and Milan.

Sean Coyle, Ryanair’s director of scheduled revenue, said: "Ryanair is, and will continue to be, the largest airline in the North West, delivering four million passengers through Blackpool, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester in 2008."

Mr Coyle said the new routes – with the airline’s existing services between Manchester and Shannon and Dublin – will deliver 600,000 passengers to and from Manchester next year, sustaining 600 local jobs and generating spend of pounds 50 million. He said passenger numbers from Manchester grew from 250,000 four years ago to a predicted 1.2 million within five years.

(c) 2007 Birmingham Post; Birmingham (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.