Ryanair will launch a new service for business travellers in the coming weeks.

The carrier also said yesterday that it had appointed Lesley Kane as its new head of groups and corporate travel. She was previously head of European sales and marketing at the airline.

Ryanair is in the process of reinventing itself as it tries to lure more families and corporate travellers. The airline's boss, Michael O'Leary, said in November that the new business products would include flexible fares that will allow business passengers to alter flight times and dates as part of their ticket price in the event that their schedule changes.

"Once we have identified that you are a business passenger flying with us, you might have a flex-fare option that would include features like fast-track through airport security, reserved seating and checked-in bags all built into the seat price," he said at the time. "The key feature will be that you will be able to change the flights and the timings if your meetings change."

Ryanair has also just launched a new 'groups' section on its website. The airline said the option would be of particular use to the likes of schools and sports clubs.

The carrier is poised to open more than 20 new routes from Ireland this year. Later this year it will begin receiving the first deliveries from an order for 175 aircraft it placed with Boeing in 2013.

In an interview with the 'Sunday Independent' this week, Mr O'Leary said Ryanair was working with Google as the internet giant plans to launch a new price comparison service.

"We'll be sharing the Ryanair pricing through all of the Google outlets, so when you go in, there'll be route selections, cheapest prices and so on. Google are developing a price-comparison thing themselves," said Mr O'Leary.

"They want to launch with us and we're working with them on that kind of product."

Irish Independent