After Morocco, Ryanair aims to serve Egypt and Libya
Ryanair is far from finished with its records. From 168 million passengers expected this year, the Irish specialist in expensive flights is aiming for 185 million in 2023. It wants to achieve this by increasing the density of its flight programmes and by exploring new niche markets, notably in Egypt and Libya.
In the coming months, Ryanair could open routes to Egypt and/or Libya. This was revealed by its CEO on Tuesday 29 November 2022, on the sidelines of a meeting of Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. "We are talking to the Egyptians and Libyans," said Michael O'Leary, without giving further details, Reuters reports.
If the project becomes a reality, Ryanair will be in competition, notably in Egypt, with other European low-cost airlines such as Hungarian Wizz Air, Spanish Vueling and British EasyJet.
For the moment, the carrier serves only one country in Africa, namely Morocco (Oujda, Nador, Tetouan, Tangiers, Rabat, Fez, Ouarzazate, Marrakech, Agadir and Essaouira). It also flies to Jordan and Israel. The rest of its network is focused solely on Europe, where it connects 230 airports in 40 countries.
Ryanair could have served Kenya. Indeed, in September 2018, the East African country's Secretary of State for Tourism announced negotiations with the low-cost operator. "We are developing a strategy to encourage the UK low cost carrier to fly here. I will start discussions with Ryanair and EasyJet," Najib Balala promised.
The reason for choosing the UK-based private flagships is that at that time the country was the main supplier of tourists to Kenya. But to date, there has been no further follow-up on these potential negotiations.
