Ryanair and Manchester Airport Group announced 10 year growth agreement at London Stansted Airport

TRAFFIC TO GROW BY 50% FROM 13.2M P.A. TO OVER 20M

SUMMER 2014 SCHEDULE RELEASED WITH 4 NEW ROUTES
(BORDEAUX, DORTMUND, LISBON & RABAT)

2013-09-16 — /travelprnews.com/ — Ryanair and Manchester Airport Group (MAG), today (16 Sep) announced that they had concluded a 10 year growth agreement at London Stansted Airport, which will see Ryanair grow its traffic at Stansted by over 50%, from 13.2m passengers in 2012 to over 20m p.a. in return for a package of lower costs and more efficient facilities at Stansted. This agreement will account for up to 25% of Ryanair’s 5 year growth plans to 2019. Ryanair expects its Stansted traffic in year 1 of this 10-year deal to grow from 13.2m to over 14.5m.

Ryanair has today released its Stansted summer 2014 schedule (at www.ryanair.com), with a total of 120 routes, including 4 new routes to Bordeaux, Dortmund, Lisbon and Rabat, which will feature:

  • 43 based aircraft in Stansted (up from 37)
  • 120 routes (up from 116)
  • 4 new routes to Bordeaux, Dortmund, Lisbon & Rabat
  • Over 2,000 weekly flights (up from 1,800)
  • Traffic growth from 13.2m to over 20m p.a.
  • Up to 7,000* new jobs created at Stansted over a 5 year period

Ryanair celebrated the launch of its Stansted summer 2014 schedule (and 4 new routes) by releasing 100,000 seats at prices from £14.99 for travel in October and November, which are available for booking until midnight (24:00hrs) Thur (19 Sep).

In London, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair is pleased to have agreed a new 10 year growth deal at London Stansted with MAG. This deal will see our Stansted traffic grow by over 50%, from 13.2m in 2012 to over 20m p.a. in return for lower costs and more efficient facilities at Stansted. This agreement, which will create over 7000 new jobs in Stansted, proves how UK airports can flourish when released from the dead hand of the BAA monopoly and is the first dramatic initiative by MAG to reverse 7 years of decline, during which Stansted’s traffic fell from 23.8m to 17.5m.

As Stansted’s biggest airline, Ryanair looks forward to a decade of growing traffic, routes and jobs at Stansted. We are also pleased to release our Stansted summer 2014 schedule with 120 routes, including 4 new routes to Bordeaux, Dortmund, Lisbon and Rabat, which have gone on sale today on the www.ryanair.com website.”

MAG’s Chief Commercial Officer, Ken O’Toole said:

“The new long term agreement between Ryanair and MAG at Stansted shows that competition really does work, and it represents great news for both passengers and UK businesses. The deal secures a new and exciting era for both Ryanair and Stansted, and we’re delighted to be supporting the airline’s growth over the next ten years.

Today’s announcement, coupled with our £80m investment in the terminal, confirms that Ryanair shares our confidence, and shows how we are succeeding in transforming Stansted under new ownership. Stansted has a really bright future in providing international connectivity for the UK.”

* ACI research confirms up to 1,000 ‘on-site’ jobs are sustained at international airports for every 1m passengers