Irish low-cost airline Ryanair will open a new base at Bucharest's Henri Coanda International Airport on October 30. The new base, which is the company’s 81st, will have three based aircraft, which will require a USD 300 million investment, the company announced on Tuesday, February 16.

Ryanair will also operate two new routes from this base to Athens (daily) and Timisoara (two times per day), and more flights to Brussels, Dublin, and Milan.

“We are pleased to announce a new base at Bucharest from October 30 with 3 based aircraft, 2 new routes to Athens and Timisoara (10 routes in total), and more flights to Brussels, Dublin, and Milan, which will deliver 1.4 million customers per year and support over 1,000 jobs. Our Bucharest traffic will grow by 75% as we invest USD 300 million,” said Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary, who came to Bucharest personally to make the announcement.

“To celebrate our new Bucharest base, we are releasing seats on sale at prices from just EUR 9.99 for flights in March, which must be booked by Thursday (February 18),” he added.

Moreover, Ryanair also launched a new Romanian website (ryanair.com/ro) where passengers can book flights to and from Bucharest.

This is the second big move that Ryanair has announced in Romania this year. In January, the Irish low-cost airline said it would also open a base in Timisoara, western Romania, and launch domestic flights from Timisoara to Bucharest.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com