Ryanair picks German airport as new base

Low fares specialist airline Ryanair today said Frankfurt-Hahn would be its second continental European base.

The move was confirmed at the German airport by the no-frills carrier’s chief executive Michael O’Leary.

He claimed the development marked the end of what he called the ‘‘high fares monopoly’’ of the German national airline Lufthansa.

From February Ryanair will allocate up to four aircraft to its new base in Germany operating more than 30 flights every day on international routes to locations in Britain, Italy, France, Norway and Ireland.

Mr O’Leary said the company’s new base would result in the creation of 200 new jobs in Frankfurt and lead to 1.5 million new passengers being carried through the airport by Ryanair in the first 12 months of its operation there.

To coincide with the announcement Ryanair also unveiled a range of prices said to be at least 80% cheaper than current Lufthansa fare levels.

Mr O’Leary, currently embroiled in a long-running campaign to force cheaper facilities for budget airlines operating out of Dublin airport, also claimed that the move to Frankfurt-Hahn meant that the new jobs and tourists had again been lost to Ireland because of the monopoly arrangement in Dublin airport.

He maintained: ‘‘This is the fourth year in a row that Air Rianta’s high costs and abject facilities have forced Ryanair to grow outside Ireland - first in Stansted, then Glasgow, last year Brussels and this year in Frankfurt-Hahn.’’

Mr O’Leary went on: ‘‘At a time when Irish tourism is facing collapse last year the failure of the Air Rianta monopoly to provide efficient facilities and lower prices is a national disgrace.’’

Earlier this week an Irish government-appointed committee urged that better facilities should be provided in Dublin for low-fare airlines but stopped short of recommending that Ryanair should have their own terminal there.

Mr O’Leary said: ‘‘The Irish Government must - before any further damage is done by Air Rianta - permit Ryanair to proceed with our plans to develop a low-cost terminal for all who wish to use it at Dublin Airport.

‘‘Ryanair is the only airline with any plan to make up for the massive loss of traffic and tourism that Ireland is now facing as a result of the downturn in the transatlantic market and cutbacks in Air Lingus’s operations.’’

He also charged: ‘‘If the Irish Government continues to dither then our tourism industry will face collapse in 2002.

‘‘Irish tourism needs action from the Government and needs it now.’’

Ryanair selected Frankfurt-Hahn for their latest continental European base in the face of competition from a number of other airports in Europe after receiving what sources describe as ‘‘extremely favourable’’ conditions from the German base.