Stmnt re Frankfurt Airport
Ryanair Holdings PLC
22 November 2001
RYANAIR ANNOUNCES ITS SECOND CONTINENTAL EUROPEAN BASE
TEN ROUTES FROM FRANKFURT HAHN
Ryanair, Europe's largest low fares airline today (Thursday, 22nd November
2001) confirmed that it had chosen Frankfurt (Hahn) Airport to be its second
Continental European base.
Starting in ten weeks time (14th Feb next) Ryanair will allocate up to four
aircraft to its new base in Frankfurt Hahn, operating over 30 flights each day
from Frankfurt on ten international routes to Milan, Pisa and Pescara in
Italy, London, Glasgow and Bournemouth in the UK, Perpignan and Montpellier in
France, Shannon in the West of Ireland and Oslo in Norway. This new
Continental base will result in the creation of over 200 new jobs in Frankfurt
Hahn, and will result in over 1,500,000 new passengers being carried through
the airport by Ryanair in the first 12 months of this new base operation.
These passengers will save over DM200,000,000 compared to the high fares
currently being charged by Lufthansa, the high fares airline from Frankfurt
Main.
As well as announcing details of its routes, Ryanair also revealed launch air
fares at prices that have never before been seen in the German market.
Ryanair's lowest one way fare will be at least 80% cheaper than the lowest one
way fare currently offered by Lufthansa, the high fare German airline.
New routes from Frankfurt Hahn (lowest one way fares in DEM)
Routes Commences Ryanair Lufthansa (1) Saving
LONDON Existing 99 845 88%
MILAN 14 February 2002 119 799 85%
PISA 7 March 2002 139 999 86%
PESCARA 14 February 2002 139 1106 (2) 87%
OSLO 14 February 2002 159 1535 90%
MONTPELLIER 7 March 2002 139 1027 (3) 86%
PERPIGNAN 7 March 2002 159 1167 (4) 86%
GLASGOW Existing 99 1152 91%
BOURNEMOUTH 14 February 2002 119 845 (5) 86%
SHANNON Existing 99 1125 91%
(1)Refers to Lufthansa's lowest published one way fare on these or nearest
equivalent route on 20/11/01
(2)Lufthansa via Milan (3)Air France via Charles De Gaulle (4)Lufthansa to
Toulouse (5)BA to Southampton
Announcing details of its second Continental European base today in Frankfurt,
Ryanair's Chief Executive, Michael O'Leary said:
'Thanks to Ryanair and Frankfurt Hahn Airport, the era of Lufthansa's high
fares monopoly in the German market is over. For many years visitors to
Germany have had no choice other than to pay Lufthansa's high air fares,
but this monopoly comes to an end on the 14th February next. German
consumers (and potential visitors) will now have a choice of daily
scheduled flights and guaranteed lowest air fares from Frankfurt to
London, Bournemouth, Pisa, Milan, Pescara, Oslo, Glasgow, the West of
Ireland and the South of France.
'Ryanair's low fares offer German consumers savings of over 80% on the
ridiculously high one way fares being charged by Lufthansa. These fares
are only available on Europe's largest travel website at www.RYANAIR.COM,
and we would urge all prospective passengers to book early as seats at
these prices will sell out quickly. The recruitment and training of over
200 people has already commenced for the launch of the base on the 14th
February next. The routes will be operated by four of Ryanair's newest
aircraft, the Boeing 737-800 series.
'Ryanair's expansion into the German market follows closely on the heels
of Lufthansa's withdrawal from London Stansted Airport. For the past two
years, as Ryanair has opened up low fare routes into Germany, Lufthansa
has tried to offer competing services from Frankfurt Main and Hamburg to
London Stansted. In all cases Lufthansa has been unable to match Ryanair's
low air fares, and has now been forced to pull out of the London
Stansted-German market altogether. This experience demonstrates that
Lufthansa cannot match Ryanair's low air fares.
'The new terminal at Frankfurt Hahn is operating well, and is now being
extended to cope with these new routes and visitors. The success of
Frankfurt Hahn Airport highlights the potential growth that is available
to progressive airports who provide efficient facilities and low costs.
Despite the adverse impact of 9/11 Frankfurt Hahn is enjoying strong
growth in traffic, tourism and job creation, and now that it is Ryanair's
second European base, it will continue to do so'.
Welcoming Ryanair's announcement of Frankfurt Hahn as its new
base, Jorg Schumacher, Managing Director of Frankfurt Hahn Airport said:
'This is a milestone in the development of Frankfurt Hahn Airport. This is
all the more a milestone considering that the decision is made at a time
when other airlines are forced to reduce their number of flights or even
discontinue flight operations to some extent.
'With Ryanair, we are able to obtain an airline for our airport for which
all experts are currently forecasting outstanding prospects for the
future. Hahn has thus established itself as the leading low-cost airport
in Germany'
ENDS. Thursday, 22nd November 2001
For further information
please contact. Michael O'Leary, Ryanair - Tel. 353-1-8121212
Pauline McAlester, Murray Consultants - Tel. 353-1-6633332
Ryanair is Europe's largest low fares airline with 63 low fare routes
across 12 countries. Ryanair has a fleet of 36 Boeing 737's, and firm
orders for up to a further 13 new 737-800's which will be delivered over
the next 2 years. Ryanair currently employs a team of 1,600 people and
will carry over 9 million scheduled passengers in the current year.
www.RYANAIR.COM was launched in January 2000 and is already Europe's
largest travel website.
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