Ryanair plans cheap trans-Atlantic flights

updated 9:37 a.m. ET Nov. 3, 2008

LONDON - Budget airline Ryanair is drawing up plans to offer trans-Atlantic flights as cheap as 10 euros ($12.70) before taxes to several U.S. cities from Britain and Ireland, a company official said, according to a newspaper report Sunday.

The Irish airline intends to offer services from London's Stansted and Dublin airports to New York, Florida, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary was quoted as saying in an interview with Britain's News of the World tabloid.

Ryanair Holdings PLC spokeswoman Pauline McAlester said she could not confirm the plans before an official announcement Monday when the company's half yearly results — expected to show a fall in profits as a result of slowing consumer demand — are announced.

"Economy class will be very cheap — around 10 euros. But our business class will be very expensive. There's always 10-15 percent who'll pay whatever it costs for a wide seat," O'Leary was quoted as saying.

Last month, the airline closed a base in Valencia, ending 70 weekly flights to the city in southern Spain.

But O'Leary hopes Ryanair could snap up aircraft from struggling rivals to create a new trans-Atlantic service, the newspaper said.

"We'll just have to keep flying more aircraft, opening up more routes and offering people more cheap flights," he was quoted as saying.

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