This is taken from the Daily Echo. FR plan to open a new route every year and eventually want a base at BOH.
BUDGET airline Ryanair expects to add at least one new destination every year to its Bournemouth services after revealing that it is to fly to Pisa from the town.
Flights to the Tuscan city will begin on June 8, with fares starting at £3.49 one-way plus taxes and charges, rising to around £20.
Michael Cawley, chief operating officer and deputy chief executive of Ryanair, told the Daily Echo it was "onwards and upwards" for the company - and that Ryanair could establish a permanent base at Hurn.
"We're very pleased about this new route from Bournemouth, which consolidates our excellent and growing relationship with the airport," he said.
"Not only is it going to provide people in the Bournemouth area with the facility to get the cheapest fares to Tuscany but also bring thousands of Italians in. In our experience, Italians love coming to Britain."
He added: "We've chosen Bournemouth because it's been very successful with us on our existing routes."
Ryanair currently flies from Bournemouth to Dublin, Glasgow Prestwick and Barcelona Girona, and expects the Pisa route to bring another 40,000 passengers to the airport in its first year.
The company says it is on course to see 325,000 passengers pass through Bournemouth this year.
Mr Cawley added: "This is a reflection of our ambitions for Bournemouth. I would be surprised if we don't have a new route every year over the next four or five years and hopefully consider it as a base."
Dublin-based Ryanair this week announced a rise in profits to 36.8 million euros - around £25 million - compared with 34.8 million euros the previous year. But it said rising fuel costs were a "drag on profitability".
Mr Cawley said: "Fuel has gone up by something like 40 per cent in the last 12 months and about 100 per cent in the last two years."
Ryanair expects to carry 42 million passengers in the next financial year, compared with just under 35 million this year.
Pisa Airport
Pisa Airport is often used to reach Genoa, Leghorn and Florence.
Pisa itself is best known for its leaning tower, built between 1173 and 1350, which owes its tilt to the fact that the soil under it started collapsing shortly after building began.
The tower is found at the Campo dei Miracoli, or "field of miracles", which is also home to the city's cathedral and baptistery, as well as dozens of souvenir stalls.
Other attractions include the Piazza dei Cavallieri, a charming square which was once the centre of medieval Pisa and may have been the site of the city's Roman forum; and the Chiesa della Spina, a church described as Pisa's best example of Gothic fancy.
First published: February 9, 2006