Ryanair will compete with Air France when it opens a twice-daily route between London Stansted and Strasbourg this winter.
Ryanair says it will offer fares that are 70 per cent cheaper than those of Air France.
Ryanair's sales and marketing manager for Europe, Ms Sinead Finn, said the airline expects to carry over 200,000 passengers on the new route in the first year of operation.
Announcing its winter schedule for 2002, Ryanair also said it will increase frequency on its routes from London Stansted to Milan and Rome.
