Low-cost Irish airline issues statement denying its board has approved business plan to spread its wings to US cities, as announced on Monday

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Ryanair has denied that it is about to move into long-haul air travel, just days after it said its board had approved business plans that included transatlantic flights.



The low-cost Irish airline said the board “has not considered or approved any transatlantic project and does not intend to do so”.

However, its ambitions to spread its wings further have long been discussed by chief executive Michael O’Leary. Last December Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, told the Guardian that cheap US flights could be on the table within three years if new planes became available.

This week the airline apparently confirmed that the business plan had been nodded through by the board, opening the way for connections between a range of European and US cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago and Miami from London Stansted, Dublin and Berlin.



On Monday, Ryanair said in an emailed statement: “The board of Ryanair, like any plc, has approved the business plans for future growth, including transatlantic.

“We are talking to manufacturers about long-haul aircraft but cannot comment further on this. European consumers want lower-cost travel to the USA and the same for Americans coming to Europe. We see it as a logical development in the European market.”

However, on Thursday afternoon, Ryanair backtracked rapidly in a statement to the stock market. It said: “In the light of recent press coverage, the Board of Ryanair Holdings Plc wishes to clarify that it has not considered or approved any transatlantic project and does not intend to do so.”

Passengers seeking ultra-cheap long-haul flights will still be hoping that Ryanair’s latest position is purely temporary, after the airline raised the prospect of one-way transatlantic fares beginning at £10.

A new generation of fuel-efficient long-haul aircraft has made the proposition more feasible, and competitors such as Norwegian have already launched limited, low-cost services.