Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (20 Feb) announced significant expansion in France, launching a new base at Toulouse as part of its Winter 2019 schedule, with 2 new based aircraft (an total investment of $200m) and 20 routes (11 new – 8 international), which will deliver 1m customers p.a. at Toulouse Airport, and also launching its biggest ever Bordeaux and Marseille Winter schedules (2019), with one new based aircraft (an investment of $200) at each airport (6 aircraft in total), and 39 new routes (75 in total), which will deliver a total of 4m customers p.a. across both airports.

Ryanair’s new Toulouse base will deliver:

• 2 based aircraft ($200m investment)
• 11 new routes to Alicante (2 pw), Brest (3), Budapest (2), Lille (daily), Luxembourg (3),         Marseille (daily), Oujda (2), Palermo (2), Porto (3), Tangier (2) & Valencia (2)
• 20 routes in total
• 1 million customers p.a. (+21%)
• 60 new Ryanair jobs
• 750* “on-site” jobs p.a.

Ryanair’s Marseille W19 schedule will deliver:

• One extra based aircraft ($300m investment in total)
• 16 new routes to Agadir (2 pw), Alicante (2), Bologna (3), Bordeaux (4), Catania (2), Copenhagen (2), Essaouira (2), Manchester (2), Milan Bergamo (4), Naples (2), Ouarzazate (2), Prague (2), Sofia (2), Strasbourg (3), Tel Aviv (3) & Toulouse (daily)
• 43 routes in total
• 65 million customers p.a. (+38%)
• 90 new Ryanair jobs
• 1,990* “on-site” jobs p.a.

Ryanair’s Bordeaux W19 schedule will deliver:

• One extra based aircraft ($300m investment in total)
• 23 new routes to Bari (2 pw), Bologna (2), Brest (3), Budapest (2), Cologne (3), Copenhagen (2), Dublin (2), Krakow (2), Lille (daily), Lisbon (5), Malaga (2), Manchester (2), Marseille (4), Nador (2), Nantes (4), Naples(2), Ouarzazate (2), Oujda (1) Palermo (2), Prague (2), Strasbourg (3), Tangier (2) & Treviso (3)
• 32 routes in total
• 4 million customers p.a. (+186%)
• 90 new Ryanair jobs
• 1,050* “on-site” jobs p.a.

French consumers and visitors can now book their holidays as far out as March 2020, enjoying even lower fares and Ryanair’s 2019 customer care improvements, including:

• Lowest Fares – find a cheaper fare within 3 hours, get paid the difference plus €5 MyRyanair credit
• Punctuality – deliver 90% target (excl. ATC) or 5% off following month’s air fares
• New Max Aircraft – new interiors, more legroom, more seats, greenest aircraft – April
• Customer Care Charter – EU261 claims processed in 10 days, new 24/7 support, connect in 2 mins
• Care Improvements – 48-hour free of charge grace period for changes to bookings
• Environmental Improvements – carbon offset programme & plastic free in 5 years
• New Ryanair Choice – €199 annual fee for free seats, fast-track & priority boarding for freq. guests
• Digital Improvements – new fare finder, sports tickets, bespoke travel guides & faster mobile

To celebrate, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares on its European network from just €19.99, for travel in October, which must be booked by midnight Friday (22 Feb), only on the Ryanair.com website.

In Bordeaux, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, David O’Brien said:

“We are pleased to open a new French base in Toulouse and launch our biggest ever Bordeaux and Marseille winter schedules, as we base 4 aircraft and invest $400m at the three airports. Our growth will deliver 1.1m customers p.a. at Bordeaux Airport, 2.4m customers at Marseille Aiport, and 1m customers at Toulouse, while creating 240 Ryanair jobs across the three bases and supporting over 3,000* ancillary jobs in the regions.

To celebrate we are releasing seats for sale on our network from €19.99, for travel in October. This offer is available for booking until midnight Friday (22 Feb). Since these amazing low fares will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”

Philippe Crébassa, Chairman of the Board of Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, said:

“We are very pleased that Ryanair is strengthening its presence in Toulouse. The opening of a base with two aircraft will allow to develop the offer of the company from the Pink City. The 11 new routes announced by Ryanair are also excellent news for the attractiveness of Occitanie in Europe.”

Julien Boullay, Commercial and Marketing Director, Marseille Airport, said:

“We are pleased to see Ryanair accelerate its development in Marseille, by basing a third aircraft this winter and by introducing new and highly awaited destinations, including Copenhagen in Northern Europe, Sofia in Eastern Europe and Essaouira in Morocco.

As of November 2019, Ryanair will grow its flights schedule by nearly 50%, which is excellent news for our region, both from a tourism and an economic point of view!”

Pascal Personne, Charmain of  Bordeaux Airport’s board, said:

“Ryanair’s decision to add a third aircraft during the first winter of its new base in Bordeaux is extremely encouraging and shows that the first results are already considered positive by the company. This complementary commitment can only benefit our region and significantly increase mobility offered by our platform to all residents of Bordeaux and Nouvelle-Aquitaine, as several routes operated only during the summer will now be operational in the long-term.

With the launch of new routes such as Nador and Oujda, Bordeaux becomes one of the French airports where Morocco will be the most easily accessible, nine cities of the Moroccan Kingdom will be connected directly. “