Budget airline Ryanair today became the second carrier in as many days to expand operations at Luton Airport.
The Irish airline is adding nine new routes and four new aircraft as part of a €195.4 million (£130 million sterling) investment - just a day after rival easyJet unveiled its own plans.
The airline is adding new routes to Rome, Venice, Stockholm, Barcelona Girona, Barcelona Reus, Nimes and Dinard in France, Murcia in Spain and Esbjerg in Denmark.
Ryanair chief executive Mr Michael O'Leary said most of the airline's growth in Britain would come out of Luton for the next two years, but denied the switch was a reaction to a fuel-levy dispute with the Stansted operator, BAA.
"Any growth in the London area for the next year or two will probably be ex-Luton. Stansted is essentially full at this stage," Mr O'Leary said.
The carrier, which started operating at Luton in 1986, already flies to Dublin and Milan from the airport. Although the new flights were available for booking today, Ryanair will start operating the routes from next January.
It said the move would create more than 1,000 new jobs in the Luton area. Easyjet said yesterday that it was planning to start three new routes from Luton, which already offers 22 destinations, and is adding three aircraft.
Luton operator TBI welcomed the expansion by both airlines. However, it pointed out that the move would not have an impact on figures during its current financial year. Shares in TBI lifted half a penny to 67.25p today.
PA