Ryanair $15 Flights - Ryanair, Europe's largest discount airline is reportedly going to begin flights to the United States, with some seats selling for less than $15 each way. The board of the Irish-based airline OK'd adding the Ryanair $15 flights Monday, ending years of conjectures of when the airline would eventually turn its sights to North America.
"The board of Ryanair have approved the business plans for future growth, including trans-Atlantic," according to a statement from the company, as quoted by Ireland's RTE News. "European consumers want lower cost travel to the U.S. and the same for Americans coming to Europe. We see it as a logical development in the European market."
"Other one-way tickets would be priced at £99 or more, and the airline would fill up to half its jets with more expensive premium seats," wrote the Financial Times of London, citing Ryanair marketing chief Kenny Jacobs.
However, despite the approval of the Ryanair $15 flights, the launch of U.S. flights is not about to happen soon.
"It could take up to five years to become a reality," according to the BBC.
"It's dependent on attaining viable long-haul aircraft and we estimate that's four to five years away," a Ryanair spokesman told the British news agency.
Ryanair is hoping to fly to as many as 14 U.S. cities from about the same number of bases in Europe with the Ryanair $15 flights.
"Chicago, Boston, New York, London, Berlin and Dublin are understood to be among the cities included in the plan," reports The Irish Times.
According to Forbes, majority of the tickets from the Ryanair $15 flights will likely be sold at rates closer to the domestic carriers like Delta or United. If Ryanair's additional fees are put on top of those rates as well as the new Ryanair $15 flights, the price might become less pleasing to travelers.
Despite this possibility, the Ryanair $15 flights is still an excellent price point against other carriers which will have to compete soon with the trans-Atlantic service market. As airfares on those routes start to drop, many consumers will hopefully be getting tickets to Europe for a steal, regardless of the carrier.
The Ryanair $15 flights comes as news in the trans-Atlantic airfare sector grew over the last several months. European carriers such as Norwegian and Wowair have reportedly expanded into new U.S. markets, with Norwegian Air being the most aggressive with its new routes between U.S. and Europe, according to USA Today.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
