Ryanair Hits the Back of the Net With New Manchester Flights

Irish budget carrier Ryanair has witnessed “greater than anticipated” sales for the new flights it will introduce from Manchester Airport later this year, citing “strong demand from football supporters” as one of the reasons for the success. The airline is opening a two aircraft base at Manchester Airport this winter, expanding its winter network to 17 destinations with links to Alicante, Bergamo, Bremen, Brussels Charleroi, Dublin, Faro, Frankfurt Hahn, Girona, Katowice, Madrid, Malaga, Memmingen, Oslo, Paris Beauvais, Rome, Rzeszow and Tenerife. An additional two aircraft are due to be stationed at the airport for summer 2012 for flights to Beziers, Biarritz, Ibiza, Murcia, Reus, Tallinn, Tours and Valencia.

The Irish budget carrier first launched flights from Manchester in 1994 and in the summer of 2009 offered flights to ten destinations in six countries. However, the failure to agree a new long-term deal with the airport’s executives led it to cancel all but one of its routes; a multiple daily rotation to Dublin. From October 1, 2009 the budget carrier operated just that single route, however, earlier this year it took its first steps back into the market launching new flights in April to Alicante, Faro, Madrid, Palma and Tenerife.

Speaking to The HUB last week, Ryanair’s Sales and Marketing Manager UK and Ireland, Maria Macken said that sales at Manchester have been “very strong” and have “exceeded expectations” with around 20,000 tickets already sold across the winter schedule. The traditional winter sun markets are proving the most popular, especially the Canary Islands, according to the executive, but there has also been a “really strong demand” to support specific football matches. “With Manchester United and Manchester City both in the European Champions League Group Stage we are seeing particularly strong demand to and from certain destinations, above the anticipated levels we predicted,” she explained, highlighting Scandianavia and in particular Oslo as one such location.