Ryanair has announced six new routes from Stansted Airport in London to destinations in Germany, France and Italy, and taken the opportunity to renew its attack on Aer Rianta over landing charges in Dublin Airport.
According to Ryanair, it will introduce 10 new routes from Dublin to Europe over a two-year period if it gets lower costs at Dublin Airport and will offer fares from £59 (€74.91) return to Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy, France and Spain. This, says Ryanair chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary, would boost passenger numbers through Dublin by one million.
Aer Rianta has maintained consistently that its landing charges are among the lowest in Europe, while Ryanair has also insisted that landing charges in Dublin - which are likely to rise if EU duty free sales end in July - are the highest of all the 33 airports in Europe used by the airline.
For the first time, Ryanair will be flying into Germany with a three-times daily Stansted-Frankfurt route. The airline will not be using the main international airport in Frankfurt but will be using the smaller Hahn airport.
Ryanair is also adding three new Italian routes from Stansted - to Genoa, Turin and Ancona, and two new French routes - to Biarritz in the south-west and Dinard in Brittany.
