RyanAtlantic

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This article or section contains information about a planned or expected new airline. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as development continues, the launch date approaches, and as more information becomes available.

RyanAtlantic is the proposed name for a long-haul airline version of Ryanair. According to Ryanair's CEO, Michael O'Leary, the airline could be operational by 2009.

RyanAtlantic will offer flights to the US for as little as €10 (£8 or $16) as well as premium-rate fares to compete with business class offerings of competitors. Destinations may include New York (Islip, Stewart Airports, or possibly Albany), Boston (Providence), Chicago (Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport), Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles (Long Beach), San Francisco (Oakland) and Las Vegas.^[1]

European airports that would host these flights are reportedly Dublin, London (Stansted), Liverpool, Frankfurt (Hahn), Barcelona (Girona), and Glasgow (Prestwick).^[2]^[3] However, some of these airports (and most airports Ryanair flies to) do not have a runway long enough to handle long-haul aircraft. Only London-Stansted, Liverpool, Frankfurt-Hahn, Madrid-Barajas, Dublin, Prestwick, and Shannon have already a runway which would allow these long-haul flights.

[edit] Service

The new airline would offer both low cost and a first class service, intended to rival airlines like Virgin Atlantic. It would operate from Ryanair's existing bases in Europe to the new bases in the United States. The new American bases will not be main hubs such as New York's JFK airport, but smaller airports located outside major cities.

[edit] Aircraft

It is planned that the new airline will eventually operate a fleet of 40 to 50 new Airbus A350 XWB or Boeing 787 aircraft. However, since the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 XWB will not enter service until 2009 and 2012 respectively, this would contribute a delay to the airline's launch.