Ryanair open new Shannon base

Today Ryanair opened its 12th European base in Shannon.
I knew it was this week but wasnt sure what day. They will base 3 aircraft at the Western Irish airport. The first flight this morning was operated by the Ryanair dramliner and there was a woful attempt of Irish dancing on Michael O’Learys behalf.

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 low fares airline today (Wednesday, 4th May 2005) marked the launch of its new base at Shannon Airport with a 20,000 Free* Seat Sale. Ryanair now operates 26 daily flights on 14 international routes to and from Shannon Airport and this year will carry 1.5 million passengers through the airport.

Speaking in Shannon today, Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary, said;

“Ryanair’s €240M investment in Shannon will deliver 1.5 million passengers for the airport this year, bringing a massive boost to tourism and jobs in the mid-west and establishing Shannon as the low cost gateway to Ireland.

“Over 400,000 bookings have already been made for travel this summer on these routes and in the first week of operations alone, Ryanair will carry over 30,000 passengers to and from Shannon.

“To mark this new base we are offering 20,000 free* seats on 4 of our new routes during May and June. Passengers are advising passengers to book their free* flight online at http://www.ryanair.com immediately because demand will be very strong”.

Pat Shanahan, Chairman of the Shannon Airport Authority said:

“Ryanair’s development at Shannon will provide an unprecedented boost to tourism and business activity, thus enabling the airport to continue to fulfill its key role as the economic generator for the entire West of Ireland. Ryanair will contribute significantly to the expected growth of a million extra passengers through Shannon Airport in 2005”.

Ryanair’s new Shannon base will be serviced by new Next Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Speaking from Shannon, John Reuland, Boeing’s Director of Marketing, said:

“The economics and reliability of the Boeing Next Generation 737 are key to Ryanair’s success and we are delighted to be here today to support that growth. Our partnership today could not be more visible with the arrival of the special Ryanair/Boeing Best in the Blue aircraft, bringing the first of many millions of visitors from Europe to Shannon and the West of Ireland”.

Niall Gibbons, Director Corporate Services, Tourism Ireland, said:

“Ryanair’s decision to open a base in Shannon means that visitors across Great Britain and Continental Europe now have low-cost access direct into the heart of the Western seaboard. Air access capacity to the island of Ireland will be at an all-time high this summer and Shannon will see the greatest proportional capacity increase, driven largely by these new services from Ryanair”.