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Ryanair takes on Lufthansa
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November 22, 2001: 6:57 a.m. ET
Low-cost airline to challenge Lufthansa with move to Frankfurt, create jobs
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LONDON (CNN) - Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost airline, is to use Germany's Frankfurt-Hahn airport as its second continental European base.
The expansion is in sharp contrast to the difficulties national flag carriers have experienced in the past two months, with Swiss carrier Swissair and Belgian carrier Sabena both collapsing.
Ryanair's move will challenge Lufthansa, one of the strongest European flag carriers, in its domestic market. Low-cost carriers led by Ryanair, EasyJet and Go, are forecast to gain a growing share of the European market.
While most major airlines have reported heavy losses and cutbacks in flight capacity since the September 11 terror attacks in the U.S., Ryanair and EasyJet have maintained healthy passenger figures by offering lower fares.
Ryanair said it expected the deal to create over 200 new jobs at the Frankfurt airport. Ryanair already has bases in London Stansted, Dublin and Brussels Charleroi.
Frankfurt-Hahn is a little used former US fighter airfield, west of Mainz and 60 miles west of Frankfurt. It was taken over by Frankfurt airport, the second largest airport in Europe in 1998.
Ryanair has tested the market in Germany by operating services to Frankfurt-Hahn from London, Glasgow and Shannon in western Ireland with five daily flights as well as a service from London Stansted to Hamburg-Lubeck.
Lufthansa, with its much higher cost base, faces a challenge from the low-cost airlines, and has already failed in its attempt to drive Ryanair and Go off routes from Stansted to Germany.
It recently announced the withdrawal of its services to Stansted from six German cities including Frankfurt and Hamburg, routes served by Ryanair, and Munich, served by Go, in the face of mounting losses there. 
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