Ryanair to open three new bases in Canary Islands

Ryanair today announced that it is to open three new bases on the Canary Islands in summer 2011.

Ryanair will base two aircraft each in Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife from February 2011 while also increasing Fuerteventura routes and frequencies.

Ryanair will operate 112 routes to and from the Canary Islands (including 35 new routes) which will aim to deliver 4.5m passengers per year.

The company claims the move will help sustaining more than 4,500 local jobs including 350 Ryanair pilots, cabin crew and engineers.

"Ryanair’s growth is directly attributable to the visionary initiatives of the Canary Islands government who, in recent years, have identified low-fare access as being critical, and have worked with Ryanair to reduce airport costs in order to return tourism to its previous 2007 record levels," said Ryanair’s Michael Cawley.