30 October 2008

New Sicily base for Ryanair

Ryanair is to create another Italian base in Sicily after withdrawing plans to use Forli in the Emilia-Romagna region for new operations.

Six planned Italian domestic routes from Forli will now not operate and passenger booked on the services will be refunded.

Instead, the budget carrier is to run two aircraft from Trapani in Sicily from next May.

They will serve Paris (Beauvais), Brussels (Charleroi), Oslo (Torp), Venice (Treviso) and Turin. Existing routes to Rome (Ciampino) will increase to a twice daily frequency while Milan (Bergamo) will rise from four flights a week to a daily service.

The move comes less than a week after the airline announced it was withdrawing from Valencia due to a row over promotional funding.

Ryanair deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said: ââ¬ÅâœTrapani becomes Ryanairââ¬â¢s latest Italian base at a time when Italy becomes Ryanairââ¬â¢s second largest market after the UK. 

ââ¬ÅâœThis exciting development comes just one week after we announced two new bases in Sardinia and increased frequencies and routes in Rome, Milan and Bologna. 

ââ¬ÅâœWe very much regret the decision by the board of Forli airport  to rescind  its agreement with Ryanair, but highlight that in the long term it will be passengers, the local economy and the airport that will lose out as we bring our guaranteed lowest air fares to other Italian airports and bases. 

ââ¬ÅâœWe remain confident that millions of Italian domestic passengers will continue to switch from Alitalia to Ryanair in the coming months and years.ââ¬~

by Phil Davies

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