Ryanair’s Spanish flights mark milestone

Ryanair has now transported more than 25 million passengers to destinations in Spain, following the establishment of these routes in 2002. Although Ryanair is based in Ireland and the United Kingdom, its first route to a destination in Spain was from Frankfurt to Barcelona, launched almost five years ago. The Irish low-cost carrier expects that its routes to and from points in Spain will show further growth, with an estimated 11 million passengers to travel with this airline to this Mediterranean country in 2008 alone. Ryanair expects to serve up to 18 airports in Spain by the end of next year, and there may be as many as 124 routes to and from other cities in continental Europe, the UK and Ireland. Michael Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, celebrated this milestone by publicly thanking passengers who had placed their trust in Ryanair and used the discount carrier to fly to holiday destinations in Spain. Of all Spanish destinations, Catalonia has demonstrated the most potential and the highest level of growth over the course of the past year. Thus far, 13 million passengers have traveled to and from airports in this region.

Established in 1985, Ryanair is one of the oldest no-frills airlines in Europe. The carrier is based in Dublin, but operates hubs in a handful of other cities, such as London Stansted, Shannon, London-Luton and Liverpool. The airline’s fleet consists of 146 planes, with an additional 160 on order, and the carrier flies to a total of 132 destinations. Ryanair made the headlines earlier this year during its failed bid to take-over its main competitor, Aer Lingus.

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