Ryanair to open 42nd base in Spain

RYANAIR is to open its 42nd base at Barcelona El Prat in September, with five aircraft and 20 new routes.

The airline says its new base will support over 2,000 local Spanish jobs, plus 250 direct jobs among its own pilots, cabin crew and engineers.

It will run 270 flights a week to/from Barcelona El Prat in an investment of more than $350m (€286m) in the airport.

The airline has also released one million €5 mid-week summer seats on over 500 routes across its European network in June.

Traders reacted positively to the announcement, pushing Ryanair’s shares up 7.26p (8.55c), or 2.8%, to Stg£2.65 (€3.12) in early trading on the London Stock Exchange yesterday.

Ryanair deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said: “Our guaranteed lowest fare routes from Barcelona El Prat will allow the airport to tap into the low fares market, which is the only market which continues to grow. Barcelona consumers and visitors can choose low fares on 20 routes from El Prat to destinations all over Europe including France, Italy and Germany among others.”

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller’s predictions of a return to profits in 2011 have also been greeted warmly by stock market analysts, who now predict earnings of 5c per share next year from a projected loss of 2c in 2010.

Bloxham analyst Joe Gill said: “The Aer Lingus CEO has brought a new broom to the business, he’s decided to be very aggressive in terms of improving the cost base.”

Mr Mueller said his biggest worry remains the fragile Irish economy. Aer Lingus has not participated in the wave of consolidation taking place across the industry apart from a number of code-sharing deals.

The former state carrier, which has fended off two hostile bids by shareholder Ryanair, said it was open to talking to other airlines about potential tie-ups.

“We are interested in partnerships, in extending our global network to and from Ireland,” said Mr Mueller.