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RYANAIR

Ryanair gives away €8 flights to mark Italy investment boost

Ryanair is giving away 100,000 flights for just €8 for trips to major European destinations from airports across Italy.

Ryanair gives away €8 flights to mark Italy investment boost
Ryanair is making a record $1 billion investment in Italy. Photo: Olivier Morin

The Irish airline announced the flight sale to celebrate plans to invest a record $1 billion (€883 million) in Italy next year.

The investment will see 44 news routes, 21 at Rome and Milan airports, and 2,250 jobs created in 2017, the company’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said in a statement on Wednesday.

“By opening over 40 new routes and by investing over $1 billion in new aircraft and new jobs in Italy in 2017, Ryanair expects to deliver record traffic growth, up from 32m in 2016, to over 35m in 2017,” he added.

The flight offer will be available until midnight on Thursday for travel from 15 Italian airports in October and November.

O’Leary’s investment plan, which was announced at a press conference alongside Transport Minister Graziano Delrio, came after the Italian government said it would scrap the €2.50 municipal tax increase from September for Ryanair.

“We are extremely grateful to Prime Minister Renzi and Transport Minister Delrio for taking these initiatives to grow Italian tourism,” O’Leary said.

“All of this growth would have been lost to other EU countries if the municipal tax increase had not been reversed, and the airport guidelines had not been redrafted to comply with EU rules.”

O’Leary said the company would also reverse its plan to close its base in Pescara. Meanwhile, the company is still in negotiations over Alghero airport in Sardinia and said it would reopen there by November if plans to privatise the airport are successful.

Delrio said the investment was “a good day for the Italian economy”, especially since new data on Friday revealed that the economy stalled in the second quarter of this year.

“The Italian government keeps on working on the compliance with the EU rules, we are committed to develop services to citizens and to foster opportunities for investors,” he added. 

“We welcome the 2017 industrial plan of Ryanair setting up more flights, increasing opportunities for tourism in Italy and especially new job opportunities.”