Ryanair to open new base in Italy

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary. Photo: ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images

October 30 2008 01:59 PM

Ryanair,has announced that from May 2009 it will base two aircraft at Trapani in Sicily, and confirmed that it will not open a base at Forli, alleging the airport withdrew the agreement it had reached with Ryanair.

Despite the decision not to operate from Forli, Ryanair continues to grow in Italy and the new Trapani base will create 2 new domestic and 3 new international routes to/from the island of Sicily. Ryanair also announced that it will increase the frequency on two existing, domestic (Rome and Milan) routes as it transfers the operation of seven existing routes to Trapani based aircraft.

Ryanair’s new routes will connect Trapani with Paris (Beauvais), Brussels (Charleroi), Oslo (Torp), Venice (Treviso) and Turin. Existing routes to Rome (Ciampino) will increase to a twice daily frequency while Milan (Bergamo) will increase from four frequencies per week to become a daily service.

In a statement released today, Ryanair said,"[We] will base 2 brand new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft at Trapani which will operate 15 routes to/from the Sicilian airport, deliver over 1million passengers p.a., sustaining 1,000 local jobs, and save visitors to/from Trapani more than €100m over the high fares and fuel surcharges presently levied by Alitalia. Tourism in Sicily will benefit hugely with over 400,000 extra visitors and an injection of €180 million into the local economy."

Ryanair’s Michael Cawley was quoted in the statement as saying, "Trapani becomes Ryanair’s latest Italian base at a time when Italy becomes Ryanair’s second largest market after the UK. This exciting development comes just one week after we announced two new bases in Sardinia and increased frequencies and routes in Rome, Milan and Bologna. Ryanair is the No.1 international airline in Italy, carrying more international passengers to/from Italy than Alitalia."