Ryanair plans low-cost transatlantic airline

[goldrake75]

ABOARD RYANAIR FLIGHT FR1112 (Reuters) - Executives at Europe's
biggest low-cost carrier Ryanair <RYA.I> are working on launching a
transatlantic airline with a fleet of 30 to 50 long-haul aircraft in
the next three to four years.

"We've been approached by a number of airports in the U.S. who are
very keen to see us start a long-haul, low-fare service and we're
working on plans to start flying the Atlantic," Ryanair <RYA.L> Chief
Executive Michael O'Leary told reporters on Thursday during a flight
from Dublin to Germany.

O'Leary, who repeated he plans to step down as head of the company in
the next two to three years, said Ryanair (Dublin: RY4.IR - news)
would not invest the Irish-based company's own money in the new
airline, which would be a sister or associate company rather than part
of Ryanair.

"I will personally have some say in the way it's run," said O'Leary,
adding that he doubted he would be its chief executive.

The new carrier would amass a fleet of up to 50 Airbus A350 <EAD.PA>
or Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) 787 <BA.N> mid-sized aircraft and serve
destinations such as New York, Florida, Dallas and San Francisco from
major Ryanair <RYAAY.O> bases such as London Stansted, Dublin,
Frankfurt Hahn in Germany and Barcelona in Spain.

Ryanair's own, short-haul fleet serving European destinations is made
up entirely of Boeing 737s.

O'Leary, who checked reporters onto a flight touring European
airports, saying "10 euro (6.81 pounds) tickets to New York", said the
new airline would also offer a premium service costing more than full-
service carriers such as British Airways (LSE: BAY.L - news)

<BAY.L>.

Prerequisites for the new airline would be a fall in the price of
aircraft -- which O'Leary said he expected in the next year or two --
and implementation of last month's "open skies" deal between Europe
and the United States.

The new carrier would initially be funded by private investors with a
view to a stock-market flotation at a later date, he added.

"There are a lot of investors who are very keen to see a low-fare
airline operate a transatlantic service, and money is the last thing
we'll need," he added.

O'Leary has raised the prospect of launching a long-haul airline in
the past but never in such detail. He had previously said it would be
restricted to a luxury service, which is where he believes most money
is to be made on transatlantic routes.

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/12042007/325/ryanair-plans-low-cost-transatlantic-airline.html