"Ryanair planning overseas airline"

Friday, April 13, 2007

Ryanair planning overseas airline
N.H., R.I. airports hope to lure carrier
By Peter J. Howe
The Boston (MA) Globe


With super-discount Irish airline Ryanair Holdings PLC looking to launch a
transatlantic airline, airport officials in Providence and Manchester, N.H.,
are hoping to become the carrier's Boston-area destination.

Officials at the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan
International Airport, "are not in discussions with Ryanair at this time,"
Massport spokesman Richard Walsh said yesterday. Because Ryanair focuses on
flying out of low-cost "secondary airports" like Stansted outside London and
Hahn outside Frankfurt, Walsh said, Massport officials "are uncertain about
whether Boston would fit their business model."

But officials at the two big airports closest to Logan are eager to close a
deal with the as-yet-unnamed Ryanair spinoff. "We were pleased to learn
about these plans, and we expect to be in conversations with them shortly,"
said Patti Goldstein , a spokeswoman for T.F. Green International Airport in
Warwick, R.I. "We're pleased to be in one of the markets they're targeting,
and we hope to be working with them in the near future."

In New Hampshire, Manchester Boston Regional Airport manager Kevin Dillon
also said he wants to talk to the Irish airline. "Manchester is very
interested in getting into the transatlantic market, whether it is through
low-fare service or through charter service," Dillon said.

At the Manchester and Providence airports, Southwest Airlines Co. accounts
for more than half of passenger volume, reflecting a Southwest strategy to
use smaller, less expensive alternatives to Logan to serve the Greater
Boston region. Officials said the smaller airports' appeal to the biggest
discount carrier in the United States should make them strong candidates to
be the Boston-area destination for a Ryanair carrier.

Ryanair is known for intra-Europe fares that are as cheap as a penny, and
revenue-boosting schemes like selling space on luggage bin doors for
bus-style advertising. Since its 1985 founding as a one-airplane carrier,
the company has grown to serve 130 European cities with a fleet of 133
planes.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said he envisions the new airline
charging as little as 10 euros, or about $12, not counting taxes and fees,
for flights from Dublin, Stansted, and Hahn to secondary US airports near
Boston, Dallas, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and cities in Florida.
O'Leary credited a new US-European Union "open skies" agreement for opening
the door to new service between the United States and Europe.

O'Leary has been trying to engineer a merger of Ryanair and Irish flag
carrier Aer Lingus, which Aer Lingus has so far resisted. Some industry
analysts have speculated the new carrier plan is an attempt to pressure Aer
Lingus into resuming merger talks.

By summer, Logan will have service to 35 international destinations,
including service starting next month through Scottish discount carrier
flyglobespan to Glasgow and to Ireland West Airport in Knock, County Mayo.

"We've been looking for opportunities to get a small bit of international
coverage," said Goldstein, the T.F. Green spokeswoman. "We will never
compete with Logan."

T.F. Green currently offers regular charter flights to the Azores and
Caribbean destinations, as well as Air Canada flights to Toronto.
Manchester's only scheduled international service is on Air Canada to
Toronto, Dillon said, but the airport has plans to expand its Customs and
international arrival area to serve additional destinations if needed.

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