Ryanair Announces Expansion at Birmingham International Airport

January 17 2008

Birmingham International Airport (BIA) is delighted that Ryanair has chosen the Airport as its 25th base.

It will be operating a fleet of environmentally-efficient Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Birmingham which will deliver 20 new routes to Girona (Barcelona); Biarritz (South West France); Billund - home of legoland (Denmark); Forli (Bologna - Italy); Bratislava - (Slovakia); Bydgoszcz (Poland); Dinard (Brittany- France); Gdansk (Poland); Marseilles  - (France); Olbia (Sardinia); Torp (Oslo - Norway); Perpignan (South East France); Pisa (Italy); Poitiers (Mid west France); Porto (Portugal);  Skavsta (Stockholm, Sweden); Trieste (Northern Italy - on Slovenian border); Reus (Spain); Rzeszow (Poland); Trapani (Sicily).

This will be followed by a further 8 Boeing 737-800 aircraft which will deliver 5 million passengers annually and sustain 5,000 jobs in the West Midlands.
Peter Vella, Birmingham Airport's Business Development Director, said, 'It's great news for Birmingham to have been selected to be a major base for Ryanair. Today's announcement means many more new routes from the Midlands' premier Airport and allows people to fly from within their region - but it also means that there is tremendous opportunity for people to travel to the Midlands as well, for business as well as for pleasure.'

The high-capacity 189-seat 737-800 aircraft are expected to move more people for less fuel burn and lower emissions per seat, than smaller and older types. Its rollout will also increase the average size of aircraft in use at Birmingham Airport, in line with the forecasts set out in the new Master Plan. In most cases, the B737-800 also has one of the lowest noise quotas of any aircraft using BIA.

The new base will grow from June 2008, to 10 based aircraft by 2013 and this has the potential to carry up to 5 million passengers through Birmingham. The majority of the routes announced will be new to Birmingham, which means that many people will be spared the hassle of a long and environmentally-unfriendly journey outside of the region to access air travel. The new opportunity highlight's BIA's commitment to supporting the Government's White Paper on Aviation, which indicated that demand for air travel should be satisfied in a sustainable manner where it arises.

Announcing the new routes today, Ryanair's Chief Executive, Michael O'Leary, said, 'Ryanair is delighted to add a massive 20 additional routes from Birmingham International Airport, which will deliver 1.3 million passengers in the first year, building to 5 million in 2013.  It will bring our total annual passenger numbers at Birmingham to 5 million, generating a visitor spend of £400 million and it will sustain over 5,000 jobs in the region.'

Jerry Blackett, Chief Executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said: "This investment could not be better timed. Business in the West Midlands is ready to do more business internationally and confidence in our local firms is high. International trade is in our veins and the Ryanair expansion means more choice and more destinations. 

'This will also provide a welcome boost to the business tourism market as well as growing new jobs for local people. This is proof that BIA is delivering on its mission to deliver Birmingham and the West Midlands as a premiere business location.'

To find out more about Ryanair, its fares and special offers visit www.ryanair.com

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