Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost carrier (ULCC), today celebrated the launch of its first Greek domestic flights between Chania and Thessaloniki and noted it could be the first of many inter-Greek routes should the Greek Government accept Ryanair’s tourism rescue plan for Greece.

Ryanair has carried over 2m passengers to/from Greece in less than 3 years and will operate 85 Greek routes from 10 airports (including 2 new airports at Kalamata and Zakynthos) this summer, delivering over 1.4m passengers p.a. and supporting 1,400* Greek jobs.

Unfortunately, other Greek airports continue to miss out on Ryanair’s traffic growth and the tourism jobs it brings, especially at Athens, where its operator has refused to engage with Ryanair, at a time when Athens’ passenger traffic has fallen by 22%, from 16.4m in 2008 to just 12.8m in 2012, its lowest figure in a decade. Ryanair recently presented a Greek tourism rescue plan to the Transport Minister Kostas Chatzidakis which if accepted could see Ryanair grow its Greek traffic to 10m passengers p.a. by 2016.

To celebrate its first ever Greek domestic flights, Ryanair is launching a 100,000 seat sale across its entire European network with fares starting from just €22.99 for travel across Europe in June and July and seats must be booked on www.ryanair.com before midnight (24:00hrs) Mon (10 Jun).

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“Ryanair is delighted to celebrate the start of its new Greek domestic flights in a year when we will carry over 1.4m passengers through Greek airports, sustaining 1,400* jobs and underlining Ryanair’s commitment to Greece’s tourism industry. However, while Ryanair’s 10 Greek airports continue to grow, traffic at Athens continues to decline as it misses out on Ryanair’s traffic and tourism jobs growth, as well as Ryanair’s low fares. We are hopeful that the Greek Government will accept our proposal to rescue Greek tourism, which could deliver 10m passengers by 2016 and other new Greek domestic routes.”