LOW cost airline Ryanair has announced a major expansion in the north west with over 500 new jobs created in Manchester and Liverpool.
There will be five new routes from Manchester, bringing its total up to 34 – to Corfu, Krakow, Lanzarote, Paphos and Trapani (Sicily). These will add 360,000 new passengers and create 360 new jobs. Recently announced extra winter services include twice-weekly flights to Gdasnk and Riga.
Trapani in Sicily (not very close to the airport)
From Liverpool next year it is adding two new routes to Lublin and Zadar, making it 39 routes there and adding more than 180,000 passengers. 180 new jobs will be created at John Lennon Airport with similar expansion at a third airport, East Midlands.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "Ryanair today celebrates one million passenger growth at three airports which will sustain 1,000 new jobs. Our routes will deliver almost seven million passengers and sustain over 7,000 jobs at Manchester, Liverpool and East Midlands airports in 2013.
"Our 34 Manchester routes, 39 Liverpool routes and 38 East Midlands routes will deliver almost 7m passengers and sustain over 7,000 jobs at Manchester, Liverpool and East Midlands airports in 2013." Ryanair's nine new summer routes from Manchester, Liverpool and East Midlands will be available for booking on www.ryanair.com from November 1.
Michael O'Leary – a man who loves to make his point
The outspoken O'Leary told BBC Breakfast: "We're taking more and more big aircraft and placing those not at the big airports like Heathrow, but across the regions. People no longer want to travel down to Heathrow, they want to fly from their local airport."
Meanwhile, British Airways is axing its three daily flights from Manchester to Gatwick from the end of March. The airline will focus on its Heathrow route, which it serves with up to 11 flights a day.
In early October Ryanair budget rival easyJet announced it was launching five new routes – including Reykjavik and Venice – from Manchester from February 2013, bringing its destination total up to 29 and creating 80 jobs. www.easyjet.com
