Ryanair will base two Boeing 737s at Frankfurt from March 2017 for flights to Spain and Portugal. This third-busiest airport in the EU after Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle has been a bastion of network airlines for long and home to Lufthansa. Alicante, Malaga, Palma and Faro will be served daily through the summer.
With Frankfurt being the Europe’s major hub airports, this new introduction will preserve the legacy and open up to the low-cost giants.
Stefan Schulte, the chief executive of Fraport, the company that operates Frankfurt Airport said that Ryanair’s decision to come to FRA would underscore the increasing importance of Frankfurt for low-cost traffic.
Ryanair, the biggest no-frills airline in Europe, has been one of the promising LCC and build up new hubs rapidly. for the winter season 2017/18 — beginning a year from now, the airline will expand the base and serve more business-orientated routes. After the Brexit vote, Ryanair is determined to shift its focus for expansion away from its main base, which is at the UK.
At present, the airline’s version of Frankfurt is Hahn airport, in the Hunsruck region high above the Moselle River, and closer to Luxembourg than it is to the German financial hub. Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, has long been dismissive of primary hub airports, regarding them as too expensive and complex for efficient operations. With the increase in the competition between airlines, Ryanair is looking for opportunities.
