O’Leary to announce range of ‘bargain’ Cork routes

By Niamh Hennessy

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

RYANAIR is expected to announce a series of routes from Cork to a number of sun destinations today.

It said it will undercut Aer Lingus prices and couldoffer deals to the locations for €60 return.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary flies into Cork this morning to make the announcement before he jets off to New York to address an airline conference. The airline is also expected to base a new aircraft at Cork Airport.
Mr O’Leary said yesterday that Ryanair plans to "swamp" the sun destination market over the summer months with a raft of low fares.

"We have 11 aircraft to allocate for the summer and there’s a number of airports bidding for them," he said.

Aer Lingus operate flights from Cork to Alicante, Faro, Lanzarote, Malaga and Tenerife but Ryanair is expected to offer prices for significantly less than what Aer Lingus are offering.

Mr O’Leary said Ryanair will "explode" Aer Lingus’s market. He said fares to sun destinations will be higher than average but lower than others charge in those markets.

He added that Spain is an "amazing" market for the airline. It is proving to be an important market given that the government has confirmed its airport discount scheme will continue until at least March 2012.

Ryanair will operate 53 Canary Island routes this summer. In July last year Ryanair announced it would be offering flights from Shannon and Dublin to Lanzarote and Gran Canaria. They were initially on offer for €60 return.

Aer Lingus said its routes to the Canary Islands are very popular. It flies from Dublin to Lanzarote, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, February 02, 2010