Ryanair Announces Major Expansion at Manchester

Irish low-cost carrier RYANAIR is to launch flights from Manchester to Alicante, Faro, Madrid and Tenerife from 14APR11 as well as increasing frequencies on its Dublin route from four to six flights daily. The carrier will compete directly with easyJet, Jet2.com and Monarch Airlines on the routes to Alicante, Faro and Tenerife but will be the sole operator to Madrid. It has also announced its first ever route from Humberside Airport in Lincolnshire with a twice weekly rotation to Alicante from 12APR11 (the regional facility is also operated by Manchester Airport Group).

Ryanair had a strained relationship with the management at Manchester Airport in the past but Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary confirmed to The HUB that they have now “kissed and made-up” and that the carrier is happy to expand its schedule in the future. “The new management team at Manchester has recognised that the airport has lost out to rivals in the past,” he said, “and if all goes well we could connect Manchester to our other bases in Spain and the western Mediterranean in the future.”

A full interview with Michael O’Leary providing more details on Ryanair’s expansion at Manchester, why the airline will freeze its growth in 2013 and 2014 and how the economic recession has actually helped the carrier, will appear in this week’s edition of The HUB.

Source: The HUB