Ryanair confirm Madrid (MAD)

Yes its happened people Ryanair will officially fly to Madrid Barajas and not some airport 100 miles away.

They will initially operate to MAD from DUB only but its only a matter of time until the announce more. Bad news for Iberia.

Its just one of 12 new routes they have announced from DUB today.

Oslo (Norway)
Dec
Daily

Madrid (Spain)
Feb
Daily

Tampere (Finland)
Dec
Four Weekly

Vitoria (Spain)
Jan
Four Weekly

Billund (Denmark)
Jan
Four Weekly

Bologna (Italy)
Feb
Four Weekly

Grenoble (France)
Dec
Three Weekly

Friedrichshafen (Germany)
Dec
Three Weekly

Seville (Spain)
Jan
Three Weekly

Pula (Croatia)
Feb
Three Weekly

Almeria (Spain)
Jan
Two Weekly

Rzeszow (Poland)
Jan
Two Weekly

These new destinations start in December 2006 and will be served by Ryanair on a year round basis. They bring to 63 the number of UK and European routes served by Ryanair from Dublin and completes Ryanair’s displacement of Aer Lingus as the national carrier of Ireland, as demonstrated by the following facts:

1. Ryanair carries 42M pax annually, five times more than Aer Lingus’ 8M.
2. Ryanair offers more routes from Dublin to the UK (18) than Aer Lingus (7).
3. Ryanair offers more routes from Dublin to Europe (45) than Aer Lingus (28).
4. Ryanair offers double the routes from Irl to UK&EUR (102) than Aer Lingus (51).
5. Ryanair carries 50% more passengers to/from Ireland (12M) than Aer Lingus (8M).
6. Ryanair’s av. fare is €41. Aer Lingus’s av. Eur fare is 60% higher @ €67.
7. Ryanair beats Aer Lingus on punctuality, fewer cancellations and fewer lost bags.
8. Ryanair brings more visitors to Dublin and Ireland than Aer Lingus.

Announcing these new routes in Dublin this morning, Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“Move over Aer Lingus! Ryanair is now Ireland’s national airline and Aer Lingus is just a distant number 2. Passengers prefer Ryanair because we give them lower fares, many more destinations to the UK and Europe and a better passenger service in terms of newer aircraft, better punctuality, fewer cancellations and fewer lost bags.

“On every route where there they have a choice, millions more passengers prefer Ryanair to Aer Lingus. Today’s twelve new routes will end Aer Lingus’ high fare monopoly to destinations such as Madrid, Bologna, Almeria and Seville. Irish passengers who previously had no alternative to Aer Lingus’ high fares and frequent delays on these routes will now have a low fare, on-time option with Ryanair. Irish passengers will also enjoy Ryanair’s low fares to new European destinations such as Norway (Oslo Torp), Denmark (Billund), Finland (Tampere) and Eastern Poland (Rzeszow) which are not currently served by Aer Lingus.

“This year Ryanair will carry 42 million passengers across its network. This is five times more than the annual, 8M traffic of Aer Lingus. Ryanair also carries 50% more passengers than Aer Lingus to/from Ireland. The Irish people have voted with their feet and made Ryanair Ireland’s number one airline. In the process Aer Lingus has been displaced as Ireland’s national airline and now survives as just a distant number 2.

“In 2007, Ryanair will deliver 9M passengers through Dublin airport, sustaining 9,000 jobs in Dublin and generating a tourist spend of €2.5BN. To celebrate these 12 new European destinations, Ryanair is launching a seat sale today with every seat on every one of these routes (except Grenoble and Friedrichshafen) being sold for just €12 one way (including taxes, fees and charges) for travel during the first month of operation. This offer will run for one week only and I urge everybody to book their seats as quickly as possible on http://www.ryanair.com because at such low prices, these seats will sell out fast”.