Ryanair announces two new routes from airport

Dec 19 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

BUDGET airline Ryanair has announced two new routes from John Lennon Airport (JLA) as part of its biggest-ever European expansion programme.

The new routes to Nantes, France, and Malaga, in Spain, will be operational from April 1 and bring the total number of Ryanair routes from the airport to 42.

Ryanair executives believe this addition will create over 2,500 direct and indirect jobs in Merseyside, save passengers £40m in flight costs, and boost visitor spend in the city by £200m.

They also predict it will attract a further 2.5m passengers annually to JLA – furthering the company’s commitment to the airport as its number one UK operating base.

The new routes, announced the day after rival airline Easyjet revealed it was bringing two new aircraft to Liverpool, is part of Ryanair’s national expansion programme at six British airports which also include Birmingham, Edinburgh, London, Manchester and Newquay.

Peter Sherrard, Ryanair’s head of communications, said: “Liverpool is not a second class city and not a second choice for Ryanair.”