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Ryanair returns to Manchester: Budget airline makes up with the airport it ...

The Dublin-based airline has revealed bullish plans to run 26 new routes out of Manchester from summer 2012, with 17 of them up and flying as of next October.

The majority of the routes will be sunshine flights to southern Europe. Ten of the 26 new destinations are Spanish: Alicante, Girona (for Barcelona), Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Murcia, Palma, Reus, Tenerife and Valencia.

A further seven routes will fly to France (Beziers, Biarritz, Paris, Tours), Portugal (Faro) and Italy (Milan and Rome).

The remaining ten routes will fly east and north, to Germany (Bremen, Frankfurt, Memmingen), Belgium (Brussels), Poland (Katowice, Rzeszow), Norway (Oslo) and Estonia (Tallinn) – with a lone route heading west to Ryanair’s main hub in Dublin.

The airline claims the expansion will add up to an investment of £175million, leading to the creation of 2000 new jobs, either at the airport or on board its aircraft.

However, this is not the first time Ryanair has based itself at the airport – and last time it flew from Manchester, the relationship ended on a sour note. The airline abandoned the airport in August 2009, citing a row over landing charges as the reason for its departure.

The move led to the loss of 44 weekly flights and an estimated 600 jobs.

Ryanair swiftly moved its operations to Leeds-Bradford Airport – a base it still uses.

At the time, the airline was openly critical of Manchester Airport, as the dispute played out in public.

Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said: “Ryanair offered new routes, traffic and growth to Manchester airport. But since they prefer to preserve their high-cost base than to grow, Ryanair will now switch/close nine Manchester routes.”

A spokesperson for the airport was equally forthright in response, commenting: “Notwithstanding all of our investment in Manchester airport, including during the current recession, we don't believe that charges as low as three per cent per passenger are unreasonable. Clearly, Ryanair do and that's regrettable.”

But it was all smiles today as airline and airport kissed and cuddled at a press conference.

“Nothing has really changed,” said Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary. “We’ve always thought Manchester was a brilliant airport – but it was expensive. It’s like every marriage – you have to work at it. It’s not always plain sailing.

Members of Malaga provincial youth orchestra stuck in Czech ...

The young musicians were due to travel back to Malaga on Sunday and had already paid for tickets for their cellos. They were planning to carry their violins as hand luggage, as they had done on the outward trip, but when they arrived at check-in they were told that all the instruments - which are each worth thousands of euros - would have to go in the hold, which would have put them at risk of damage. Arguing had no effect and the youngsters, some of them on their first trip abroad with the orchestra, were denied boarding and left stranded with nowhere to go. Many were very upset and some parents in Malaga were frantic with worry. Eventually, the adults who were accompanying the musicians managed to organise accommodation in a hostel, where they finally arrived in the early hours of Monday morning. The following day proved very stressful but the orchestra was eventually able to organise flights for some of its members and their instruments the following day, with the remainder having to wait until Thursday to come home. It was decided that the youngest musicians would go on the first flight, together with those with work commitments and those who were undergoing medical treatment. They were accompanied by the artistic director of the JOPMA, Ángel Luis Pérez and the president of the Provincial Youth Orchestra Association, Remedios Arrabal, who said they were very relieved to be home but upset that the remainder of the group was still stranded in Prague. Angry parents said they felt completely helpless when their children were stranded more than 2,000 kilometres from home, and are furious with the Eroski Viajes travel agency who insisted on Monday evening that they each had to pay an extra 130 euros immediately or their children wouldn’t be able to travel. Those still stranded in Prague returned home safely on Thursday evening. Once they knew that their flights home had finally been arranged, the young members of the JOPMA were able to spend a few hours exploring the city of Prague. They needed to get out into the open air after two days of tension and uncertainty spent indoors and with too much time on their hands and they were able to travel around in a coach which was provided for their use by the Spanish Embassy. They did a tour, saw the sights and enjoyed a saxophone concert in the street. “Some of the youngsters had been upset but others treated it as an adventure.

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