One new aircraft will be based at Alghero in Sardinia which operate 18 new routes into and out of the airport. Two aircraft will be based at Cagliari offering 19 routes.
In addition the airline is increasing frequency on Milan Rome and adding an additional Rome - Trapani route.
Today's announcememt which represents an additional 2.5m passengers per annum will bring Ryanair's share of the Italian market to an annual 15 million passengers.
CEO Michael O'Leary said in Italy today that 'Italy is now Ryanair's second largest market after the UK'.
He also said that he did not expect the latest Alitalia rescue effort to be a success without massive job cuts, confirming that Ryanair is waiting to snap up any Rome or Milan slots discarded by Alitalia.
In typical Ryanair fashion the airline has taken the opportunity to launch a new slogan 'Love Italy, Fly Ryanair' in a parody of Silvio Berlusconi's April election slogan 'I love Italy, I fly Alitalia'. It remains to be seen if Berlusconi has a better sense of humour than French President Nicolas Sarkozy who famously sued the airline in January this year for using his image in a jocular fashion.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment