According to Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary, the budget airline might soon set up a new operation to offer travellers low-cost flights between the USA and Europe. Cut-price tickets on routes such as London-New York, Dublin-Baltimore or Frankfurt-Providence could be on sale for as low as $12 within the next two years making for the cheapest USA flights in history.
Ryanair has already made a huge success for itself in Ireland, Britain and around Europe by offering cheap flight prices between many European destinations. American travellers would be astonished to see some of the bargain prices available when Ryanair has its sales and promotions, sometimes with flights for as little as 1p or 99p. Even with the current poor exchange rate, that still means you can sometimes fly from London to Cork or Dublin, or to one of Ryanair's other European destinations such as Barcelona, Rome or Venice, for a fare as low as $2 or sometimes even 2 cents, plus taxes.
Michael O'Leary predicts that by 2009, Ryanair will be carrying 70 million passengers between 23 airports around Europe and cheap USA flights are definitely on their radar. The airline has apparently been approached by a number of airports in the USA with a view to bringing in budget flights and opening up the European-American routes to greater competition. Part of Ryanair's European success has involved using smaller airports, sometimes less convenient for the cities being served - a fact for which they have been criticised although many budget travellers don't mind as long as there's a convenient transport connection with the city.