Ryanair ponders Manchester office base

RYANAIR, the Irish budget carrier, is considering opening a back office at Manchester Airport as it moves into a new phase of growth.

Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs told TheBusinessDesk.com, the airline already has a customer support facility at Stansted Airport, and said a similar base in Manchester was “on the radar”.

“Manchester is an interesting place to invest, there’s potential there,” he said.

There would be abundant space for such a facility at the Airport City development which is moving forward.

An avid Manchester United fan, Mr Jacobs lives in south Manchester but splits his time between the airline’s headquarters near Dublin and travelling in Europe, where the airline has major operations.

He said there was “nothing to stop” Ryanair doubling the size of its Manchester passenger numbers over the next five years to more than five million. The airline this week announced a multi-billion dollar order with Boeing for new aircraft with a fiew to it carrying 150 million passenger a year by 2024.