Ryanair launches first base in Croatia

Budget airline Ryanair announced Tuesday the launch of its first base in Croatia with 16 new routes in the UK and Europe.

The European company will open its 54th base at the Zadar Airport next April with one-based aircraft at an investment of more than $70m.

Ryanair's new base, north west of Split, will have seven new routes - 16 in total - to and from Dublin, East Midlands, Gothenburg, Haugesund, Liverpool, Paris and Wroclaw.

The company expects growth in the New Year with the introduction of the base which will include 68 weekly flights and an additional 300 onsite jobs.

Ryanair celebrated the launch with a sale of 100,000 seats with fares starting from £8 for travel across its European network. The sale for its new Zadar routes begins Wednesday and ends at midnight local time Thursday.

Ryanair's Michael Cawley said: "Croatian consumers/visitors can now beat the recession and escape Croatia Airlines' high fares and fuel surcharging by switching to Ryanair's lowest fares and our no fuel surcharge guarantee from Zadar to 16 exciting European destinations, including Dublin, London and Paris, amongst others. Ryanair's 300,000 passengers per annum will sustain up to 300 on site jobs in Zadar."

Shares dropped 0.31% to €4.76 at 13:55 Tuesday.

RD