A former lieutenant of Ryanair chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary is seeking to upstage his old boss by masterminding the Dublin launch of a new budget airline.
Mr Tim Jeans, the former commercial director of Ryanair, is the driving force behind the entry into the Irish market of MyTravelLite, the charter carrier division of British tour operator My Travel
Although the airline, which poached Mr Jeans from Ryanair to be managing director, will not reveal details of its routes ahead of a press conference next week, it is believed it will fly to a number of British regional destinations, and sun holiday locations in Spain and Portugal.
The bid to win a share of the Republic's lucrative low-cost travel market comes at the end of a period of deep financial instability for My Travel, which posted an €883 million deficit for the first six months of 2003.
But the performance of MyTravelLite has outshone the rest of the company, with more than 300,000 tickets sold in its first half year. The airline, which already operates a Knock to Birmingham service, flies from London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast to destinations in Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands.
The carrier believes it can establish itself as a niche operator, several rungs below Ryanair in terms of volume. It is using aircraft and crew from My Travel's existing fleet of charter planes.
Meanwhile, another My Travel subsidiary, Panorama Holidays, has announced a 50 per cent increase in sales. Despite the heatwave, holidaymakers' enthusiasm for sun holidays remains undiminished, managing director Mr Niall McDonnell said.
He added: "The excellent weather conditions over the past week has given consumers a taste of what it can be like every day across the Mediterranean and they have been booking sun holidays in huge numbers. There is little joy in a mini-heatwave if you are stuck in the office all day."
My Travel was founded by Burnley millionaire Mr David Crossland, who started the business after buying two travel agencies from an elderly couple in 1972.
