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Lowest fares air travel is here

[August 8th 2008]

Budget airline Ryanair has announced the end of low fares air travel and its replacement with a new era of lowest fares air travel.

The airline, which claims to be the largest low fares airline in Europe, says it will reduce fares by up to 5% this autumn and continues to guarantee no fuel surcharges ever.

Ryanair has also started a £5 seat sale for travel from September 1st to September 30th, but you’ll need to be quick – the sale ends at midnight on Sunday August 10th. The airline points out that the £5 fare “is just half the UK APD tax rip-off imposed on passengers by greedy Gordon Brown”.

Most of the £5 fares, which include taxes and charges, are available from Stansted airport. Flights with £5 fares from Stansted include Barcelona Girona, Biarritz, Genoa, Marseille, Milan, Montpellier, Parma, Porto, Rimini, Stockholm and Turin.

A limited number of destinations are also available for £5 from other airports including Luton, Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

Speaking at a press conference, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said: “Lots of rubbish has been pedalled recently about the end of low fares travel. In reality higher oil prices means the end of high fares short haul travel. Just look at British Airways who are raising fares and fuel surcharges and are losing short haul passengers to Ryanair. Last month BA’s UK/Europe traffic declined by 3%. By contrast Ryanair’s traffic continues to expand, up 19% last month, and we are still lowering airfares and guaranteeing no fuel surcharge”.

“Ryanair’s £5 seat sale proves that the era of low fares travel is over – and will be replaced by an era of lowest fares air travel this September,” O’Leary adds.

At the press conference O’Leary also confirmed that Ryanair is in discussions with Airbus and Boeing about an order for 200 planes, with an option for 200 more. This would mean a massive expansion for the no frills airline, which currently operates just over 160 Boeing planes.

Written by: Nick Purdom