Ryanair mounts challenge to SAS
Ryanair is to mount a winter low fares assault on SAS from Sweden with 13 new routes.
The announcement from the Irish low cost carrier came a day after SAS announced a wide-ranging revamp including the sale of a 20% stake in bmi and the sale of Spanair (see previous TravelMole story).
Ryanair is to operate from its Stockholm Skavsta base to Liverpool, Alicante, Basel, Berlin, Bratislava, Eindhoven, Baden Baden, Malta, Pisa, Porto, Salzburg, Trapani and Valencia from October.
The airline is to add two new Boeing 737-800s to bring the total to six based at the Swedish hub.
CEO Michael O’Leary said: “Ryanair low fares in Sweden have been a tremendous success because Swedish passengers can’t stand SAS’s high fares and frequent strikes.
“With these new routes Ryanair will carry 2.5m passengers annually to and from Stockholm Skavsta at less than one third of SAS’s high fares. This generates a visitor spend of 5bn SEK in the region and delivers passenger savings of 3bn SEK.
“If any passenger finds a lower fare with another airline on the same route, Ryanair will refund double the difference.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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