Ryanair has chosen Marseilles in France as its 16th European base.

Ryanair will invest over $120M in 2 new aircraft that from November will serve 13 routes and deliver almost 1M passengers per annum.

From November, Ryanair will connect Marseille to Brussels, Dublin, Eindhoven, Fez, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Karlsruhe Baden, London, Marrakech, Oujda, Oslo, Porto and Rome.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO commented: “Ryanair’s first base in France marks a major breakthrough for French passengers/visitors who will no longer suffer Air France’s high fares. This base will revolutionise travel to/from the Provence region. It would not have been possible without Marseille Provence airport who have developed a low cost terminal that has won them this base despite intense competition from 5 other low cost European airports.

“Now Marseille airport which has suffered a passenger decline from 6.5M in 2000 to 5.8M in 2006 will achieve record growth in 06/07 thanks to this new low cost partnership with Ryanair.

“Ryanair’s low fare routes are good news for business and tourism in Provence. Marseille airport will become the low fare airport for the South of France as Ryanair delivers almost 1M passengers p.a. This traffic will sustain 1,000 jobs whilst allowing passengers in the region to enjoy low fare flights and end the high fare monopoly of Air France.
——-