Ryanair aimed at Lelystad airport

Budget airline Ryanair has big ambitions for the new Lelystad airport, commercial director David O'Brien said in an interview with the Telegraaf. "We want all the slots, if the price is right. In a few years we will bring 2 million passengers to Lelystad." he said to the newspaper.

The Irish airline is seeing strong growth in the Netherlands and plans to put 8 perecent more seats in the market next year. Ryanair is currently very active at Eindhoven Airport and recently started flying from Schiphol too. Lelystad airport is set to open in two years, accordding to the newspaper.

O'Brien calls Schiphol a "phenomenally expensive" airport and sees his airline rather expanding to Lelystad. "The capacity is laughable at Lelystad though", he said to the Telegraaf. "It's about three flights a day, which you can really do little with if you want to keep growing at a brisk pace. We could do multiples of that. The market is there, near Amsterdam."

Schiphol CEO Jos Nijhuis is happy with Ryanair's interest in Schiphol, he said to the Telegraaf. He added, however, that the capacity at Lelystad will not be increased in the first few years. "The airport must first be tuned."