Its been comfirmed today that MOL is in talks with Bridgepoint Capital regards Ryanair setting up a base at Leeds/Bradford Airport.
Talk of up to between 10 and 20 routes from next spring. Heres the following news artical from todays Local Yorkshire Post Newspaper.
Ryanair holds out hope of regional base - Yorkshire Post
Ryanair holds out hope of regional base
By John Collingridge
City Reporter
BUDGET airline Ryanair is in talks about establishing a base at Leeds Bradford International Airport, which could mean a significant increase in flights.
Currently Ryanair flies three routes from the airport but does not have jets based there.
Airline chief executive Michael O'Leary said despite rising fuel costs, he hoped for Ryanair to fly between 10 and 20 routes from Leeds Bradford if an agreement were signed with the airport.
Mr O'Leary said: "It depends on a low cost base at Leeds Bradford which would allow Ryanair to establish Leeds Bradford as a base here in the UK. At the moment we have 10 bases in the UK – Leeds Bradford isn't one.
"We are in talks with the airport but unless the airport is able to beat the kind of low-cost offers we have from six or seven other European airports, then it'll have to wait its turn.
"If they come up with a really imaginative package on costs and proposals then Leeds Bradford could well be one of Ryanair's next bases in the spring. That would mean an enormous surge in routes, traffic and jobs at Leeds Bradford."
Ryanair's 10 UK bases include London Stanstead, Luton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Liverpool. Last month the airline announced new routes to Barcelona and Alicante from Leeds Bradford, starting in October. It already has twice-daily flights to Dublin from the airport. Mr O'Leary did not discuss where the new routes might fly.
Leeds Bradford's new private equity owner Bridgepoint Capital has pledged to invest £70m in the airport.
Commercial and aviation development director Tony Hallwood said: "We look forward to working with any airline who's interested in expanding at Leeds Bradford. We believe we offer a great, competitively priced service at Leeds.
"At present we are in discussions with a wide number of airlines and Ryanair are one of those. At the present time we are more concerned that the two new routes just announced are successful."
The Dublin-based airline yesterday reaffirmed its intention to offer low fares in the face of soaring fuel costs and launched a £5 per flight strategy for one million flights in September.
It added fares would fall by five per cent this winter, and again reiterated its intention not to charge a fuel surcharge "not today, tomorrow or ever".
Mr O'Leary insisted the airline could sustain low prices and undercut rivals for the foreseeable future. Passenger numbers were up 19 per cent in July, with the airline now flying about 28m passengers per year from the UK, whom Mr O'Leary said are being poached from airlines such as British Airways.
He said: "We can sustain this for a couple of years even with oil at $130 a barrel. It will not be pretty from a shareholder's point of view. If it means for a year or two we do not make any money, as one of our largest shareholders I'm happy to live with that."
Last month Ryanair reported adjusted net profit in the three months to the end of June at 21m euros, (£16.57m), well below analysts' forecasts. Revenue grew 12 per cent to 777m euros, compared with the 865.4m (£683m) expected by analysts.
Mr O'Leary admitted the airline has been "consistently wrong" with its hedging of oil prices in the past 12 months. "I regret not hedging at $70 per barrel," he said. Ryanair has hedged its 90 per cent of September fuel needs at $129 per barrel, 80 per cent for its third quarter at $124, but has not hedged for the fourth quarter as it expects prices to fall. Oil is currently about $120 per barrel.
Mr O'Leary said he is in talks with both Boeing and Airbus buying new aircraft beyond 2012.