SHANNON airport could be set to become a major transatlantic hub for low cost flights, if Ryanair can buy the planes to lay on the service.
A senior figure with the budget airline revealed CEO Michael O’Leary’s wish at a function to push the airline’s winter schedule this week.
Ryanair’s head of sales and marketing, Peter Bellew, said that it was disapointing that Ryanair had not been able to buy Aer Lingus as that would have given the airline the opportunity to acquire transatlantic aircraft.
“Michael would like to do transatlantic routes but we can’t get the aircraft. If we had taken over Aer Lingus, within weeks we would have had a huge order in for aircraft. We would have had a major transatlantic hub at Shannon. If aircraft get freed up, we will be lookimg at that hub in Shannon,” he said.
Mr Bellew was speaking at a joint Ryanair/Shannon airport Travel Clinic in Bunratty, designed to promote both the airport and the new routes to professionals in the travel trade.
