AIRLINE EXPANDS AT EDINBURGH
15 January 2009
EDINBURGH has eclipsed Prestwick as Ryanair's busiest Scottish base with the announcement of seven new routes from the airport, bringing the total to 30.
The latest stage of the no-frills airline's rapid expansion in the capital will see services launched between 30 March and 1 April to Carcassonne, Limoges and Poitiers in France, Leipzig (Altenburg) in Germany, Zadar in Croatia, Rome and Malta.
All but Rome and Malta are new routes for Scotland. The boost comes despite a continuing fall in passenger numbers at the main Scottish airports, with operator BAA announcing yesterday a 2.5 per cent cut at Edinburgh last month on a year ago.
Ryanair will double the number of aircraft based at the airport to four, and increase the frequency of flights on its Alicante and Düseldorf (Weeze) routes, that started last year. It has five aircraft and an engineering base at Prestwick, but only 29 routes.
Stephen McNamara, a spokesman for Ryanair, confirmed the airline remained on course for expansion at Edinburgh, with a fifth aircraft to be based there by next year, as The Scotsman revealed last year.
Ryanair operated just two routes from the airport two years ago. It started expanding after claiming victory in an eight-year battle with BAA to cut landing fees.
BAA reported a 5.7 per cent reduction in passengers at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports last month, and a 3.6 per cent fall for 2008.
The Scotsman. (c) 2009
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