Flightglobal.com reports that Ryanair is to launch a new transatlantic airline serving the US East Coast offering fares as low as $12.
In an exclusive interview with Flightglobal's sister magazine Flight International, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary says that the recent Open Skies agreement has made this possible. The agreement allows airlines to operate transatlantic flights without individual national bilateral deals from 2008.
With "the cheapest fare €10 ($12)", O'Leary expects the services, to secondary airports such as Baltimore, Providence in Rhode Island and New York Long Island Islip Macarthur "to be full". He expects sales of food, drink, duty-free goods and in-flight entertainment to be a major revenue earner.
However, the new airline will have a "premium class" pitched against "the best in the business" such as Virgin Atlantic.
O'Leary says: "By mid 2009, we will be carrying 70 million passengers at 23 bases across Europe. It will be relatively straightforward for us to do a deal for 40 to 50 long-haul aircraft and connect these bases transatlantically. There would be no one to touch us."
