Fine dining on posh new Ryanair flights
BUDGET airline Ryanair is to launch a swish charter jet service.
The cheap and cheerful operator helped to bring international travel to millions with the help of fl ights, some for under £ 10.
Now Ryanair executives believe they are on to another winner with a 60- passenger service offering business class seats and fi ne dining.
They claim their customised Boeing 737- 700 will be available to the cream of its passengers at “the most competitive rate in Europe”.
Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said: “More than 25 million business travellers fl y with Ryanair every year. Now business and group travellers can enjoy Ryanair’s corporate jet service, as we offer a customised Boeing 737- 700 for private charter.”
The Dublin- based company launched in the 1980s but did not take off fi nancially until 10 years later, when route deregulation and falling costs made fares cheaper. With rival company easyJet, it became a favourite for lowcost city breaks as well as raucous international stag and hen parties.
Chief executive Michael O’Leary once joked: “If drink sales are falling off, we get the pilots to engineer a bit of turbulence. That usually spikes sales.”
His colourful comments have also included: “Ryanair brings lots of different cultures to the beaches of Spain, Greece and Italy, where they couple and copulate in the interests of pan- European peace.”
However, the company’s basic approach led to it being voted Europe’s least popular short- haul fl ier in a 2013 poll by Consumers’ Association magazine Which?
A Ryanair spokesman said the new service will be “ideal for private, corporate, sports team or group travel”.
It will operate fl ights of up to six hours, which would reach destinations in north Africa, Turkey and Israel.