Irish budget carrier Ryanair has unveiled plans to open two new Italian bases at the Sardinian airports of Alghero and Cagliari and to launch eight new domestic and 11 international routes.
From the end of March Ryanair will base one Boeing 737-800 at Alghero and operate 18 routes and two 737-800s at Cagliari to operate 19 routes.
New domestic routes include:
•Alghero to Venice Treviso and Genoa
•Cagliari to Genoa, Rome Ciampino, Trieste, Verona Brescia, Cuneo and Venice Treviso
New international routes include:
•Alghero to Brussels Charleroi, Paris Beauvais and Olso Torp
•Cagliari to Brussels Charleroi, Karlsruhe Baden, Paris Beauvais, Dusseldrof Weeze, Edinburgh, Marseille, Seville and Manchester
Ryanair will separately increase to five the number of daily flights between Rome Ciampino and Bergamo's Orio al Serio near Milan from 24 November and a new twice-daily domestic link to Trapani from Ciampino from 4 December.
Alghero and Cagliari take to seven the number of Italian bases operated by Ryanair and cements the carrier's growing presence in the country.
"Italy is now Ryanair's second largest market after the UK," says Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary. "At a time when Alitalia and Air One are merging, increasing fares and raising unjustified fuel surcharges, the conditions for more Ryanair low fare growth in Italy have never been better.
"Ryanair is already the number one international airline in Italy, carrying more international passengers to/from Italy than Alitalia," he says. "This investment in two new bases in Italy, with additional domestic routes and frequencies from our Rome Ciampino base, means that Ryanair will continue to grow its domestic operations in Italy."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
