Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary is promising $100 round trip fares to and from the United States in his latest public relations effort.
He says the flights would be available from several parts of Europe and Dublin, but Dublin would not be the hub.
He told the Irish Independent they would be up and running within five years. He said the goal would be to fly between 15 major European cities and 15 major US cities.
"If we wanted to get into the pan-European transatlantic market, then starting in Dublin would be the wrong place to start. It's a tiny market," he said.
"We'll need something in the order of 30-50 aircraft," said O'Leary. ”We're not interested in doing something small scale."
The fares would be available on a Ryanair new subsidiary and some could cost as low as $10 as an incentive
"Our average price on short-haul (flights) across Europe is €46," he said.
"We'd want to have an average price in economy on a transatlantic low-cost carrier of under €100.
"The average price should be somewhere in the mid-€80s or mid-€90s." He said such a low-cost transatlantic airline fare could still make profits but would require cheap long-haul aircraft purchase.
He stated he is also eyeing Ryanair expansion to countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Israel and Russia.
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