Ryanair returns to Manchester: Budget airline to offer 26 new European routes

Add to My Stories Share It is an airline that, of late, has made the front pages for its infamous extra fees on passenger check-in and baggage allowances.But Ryanair is accruing headlines today for a more positive reason bucking the trend of the current economic situation by expanding its operations, announcing that Manchester will be its latest British base.

No trick missed: Ryanair's Michael O'Leary kisses a Manchester City shirt as he announces 26 new routesThe Dublin-based airline has revealed bullish plans to run 26 new routes out of Manchester from summer 2012, with 17 of them up and flying as of next October.The majority of the routes will be sunshine flights to southern Europe. Ten of the 26 new destinations are Spanish: Alicante, Girona (for Barcelona), Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Murcia, Palma, Reus, Tenerife and Valencia.

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A further seven routes will fly to France (Beziers, Biarritz, Paris, Tours), Portugal (Faro) and Italy (Milan and Rome).The remaining ten routes will fly east and north, to Germany (Bremen, Frankfurt, Memmingen), Belgium (Brussels), Poland (Katowice, Rzeszow), Norway (Oslo) and Estonia (Tallinn) with a lone route heading west to Ryanairs main hub in Dublin.The airline claims the expansion will add up to an investment of 175million, leading to the creation of 2000 new jobs, either at the airport or on board its aircraft.

Up up and away: 17 of the new routes will be in operation by OctoberHowever, this is not the first time Ryanair has based itself at the airport and last time it flew from Manchester, the relationship ended on a sour note. The a! irline a bandoned the airport in August 2009, citing a row over landing charges as the reason for its departure.The move led to the loss of 44 weekly flights and an estimated 600 jobs.Ryanair swiftly moved its operations to Leeds-Bradford Airport a base it still uses.At the time, the airline was openly critical of Manchester Airport, as the dispute played out in public.Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said: Ryanair offered new routes, traffic and growth to Manchester airport. But since they prefer to preserve their high-cost base than to grow, Ryanair will now switch/close nine Manchester routes.A spokesperson for the airport was equally forthright in response, commenting: Notwithstanding all of our investment in Manchester airport, including during the current recession, we don't believe that charges as low as three per cent per passenger are unreasonable. Clearly, Ryanair do and that's regrettable.But it was all smiles today as airline and airport kissed and cuddled at a press conference.Nothing has really changed, said Ryanair chief executive Michael OLeary. Weve always thought Manchester was a brilliant airport but it was expensive. Its like every marriage you have to work at it. Its not always plain sailing.This is the make-up, and making up is always more fun that the bust-up.

All smiles now: But relations between Ryanair and Manchester Airport were less harmonious two years agoThe airport continued the theme of reconciliation, with managing director Andrew Harrison telling the Manchester Evening News: This is about giving choice to passengers and about Manchester having a different range of options.Its about catching the 1.5million people who go down the road to Liverpool or Leeds-Bradford, and encouraging them to fly from Manchester instead.