Taking advantage of route cutting by other carriers, Ireland’s Ryanair is to open a new European hub at Frankfurt`s Hahn airport.

More than 30 flights a day will operate from Frankfurt-Hahn to Great Britain, France, Ireland, Italy and Norway, creating 200 new jobs. Frankfurt Hahn is a former U.S. military base and the economy of the area has suffered a decline following the withdrawal of the American forces; this decision by Ryanair was welcomed by both local business leaders and residents.

Frankfurt-Hahn is about 60 miles west of Frankfurt and will be the second European mainland hub for Ryanair, one having been established at Charleroi, Belgium, earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Tony Ryan, co-founder of Ryanair, sold 1.8m Ryanair shares on Friday at Eu11.85 (£7.36) each, for a total of more than Eu21m. Mr Ryan, aged 65, is now only a non-executive director of the airline he helped found with his sons in 1985, but he still holds 6.6m shares, or 1.8pc, of Ryanair.

For more information, visit,
www.ryanair.com

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