Ryanair enters domestic arena from Cork hub

Ryanair yesterday announced plans to enter the domestic market with the launch of a route from its latest European hub, Cork, to Dublin three times a day.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the service, which will start on November 24th, is targeted at people currently using train and other modes of transport to get between the two cities.

Ryanair will base a new Boeing 737-800 to service the new route, offering over 1,000 low-fare seats between Cork and Dublin daily as well as a twice-daily new service between Cork and Gatwick.

Mr O'Leary said the placing of a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 plane at Cork and the establishment of a base there would result in an extra one million passengers coming through the airport in the next year.

The airline will also launch a Cork-Gatwick route.

By 2010, Mr O'Leary said he expected Ryanair's throughput at Cork to grow to over four million.

Mr O'Leary stressed that Ryanair wasn't targeting the existing Cork-Dublin business of Aer Arann, which currently provides eight flights between the two cities, but re-iterated that it expected to grow the business by attracting new customers.

"It's the first time we are going to have a low-fares airline on a domestic route. Prices will start on Cork-Dublin at €1 and, with taxes and charges, it'll be €14 one way, €28 return - that's about half the price being charged by Aer Arann.

"But Aer Arann still have eight flights a day, they have a better frequency than we have, they have later evening time departure, they offer a businessy type of service which we don't do. We will not be coming down here looking for Aer Arann's passengers.

"Frankly, at our prices we're going to get a whole new group of passengers who presently can't afford to fly Aer Arann. The one who really need be quaking in their boots today are the train services because they're really going to be screwed."

Mr O'Leary said the average price including taxes and charges on the new Cork-Dublin route would be €20 and he said that, if the company needed to lower it further to compete with Iarnród Éireann, it would do so.

While news of the new Ryanair services out of Cork was welcomed by Cork Airport Authority chairman, Joe Gantly, there was disappointing news when Slattery Travel confirmed the collapse of its planned Cork-New York service due to start next month.

Slattery Travel chief executive David Slattery said the decision not to go ahead with the service was due to an increase in aviation fuel prices, which would have forced the company to add €95 to the cost of each seat.

Ryanair also announced new routes yesterday out of both Shannon and Knock airports. The airline will fly twice weekly out of Shannon to Malaga year round from November 2nd, its 17th route out of that airport.

Mr O'Leary also announced a new daily route from Knock to Luton airport - its third service from Knock to airports around the UK capital.

Ryanair has postponed plans to make Lübeck airport, near Hamburg, a European hub. The airline put its plans to extend operations at the airport on hold after planning for a runway and taxiway extension and an instrument landing system upgrade was turned down. The airline said it would announce a replacement hub later in the week.