Ryanair announces third new European service from Ireland West Airport Knock as new three times weekly service to Reus-Barcelona is announced

Ryanair, Europe's largest low fares airline announce a new three-times-a-week service from Ireland West Knock to the hugely popular sun and city break destination of Reus-Barcelona in Spain. The new service which is due to commence on the 4th May 2010 is the third scheduled European sun destination to be launched from Ireland West Airport Knock following the commencement of the twice weekly service to Alicante last year and the new twice weekly service to Faro which will commence on March 25th 2010. The addition of Reus-Barcelona will complement Ryanair's existing network of routes at Ireland West Knock which include daily scheduled services to Liverpool, London Luton and London Stansted airports in addition to the four-times-a-week services to East Midlands, Bristol and the new 3 times weekly service to Leeds Bradford which commences on March 25th 2010. The new service will operate during the 2010 summer season from May to October initially. It is expected that this latest expansion by Ryanair at Ireland West Knock will increase the seat three capacity at the Airport this year by in the region of 29,000 seats.

Commenting on the new route Lesley Kane, Head of Sales & Marketing, Ryanair said: "Ryanair is pleased to announce its 3rd summer sun route from Ireland West Airport Knock to Reus-Barcelona which will ensure that holidaymakers from the West, North West and Midlands regions of Ireland can jet to the sun from their local airport. This summer Ryanair will operate summer sun flights to Alicante (Costa Blanca), Faro (The Algarve) and Reus Barcelona (Costa Daurada) from Ireland West Airport Knock, fares will start from €44.99 one way. Since seats at these crazy low prices will be snapped up quickly, we urge passengers to book them immediately on www.ryanair.com".

Welcoming today's announcement, Joe Gilmore, Managing Director, Ireland West Airport Knock said: "The addition of a third European service to Reus Barcelona with Ryanair is very welcome news for the Airport and is the third new route to be launched this year in addition to the new services to Leeds-Bradford and Faro (The Algarve).The addition of this new service from Ireland West Knock is another significant step in the Airport's development as we expand our schedule services to now include three popular European destinations. We know that this will come as welcome news to many holidaymakers in the region as the airport has had weekly charter services to Reus for the past three years which have proved hugely popular. Not only is Reus-Barcelona a popular sun destination but this new service opens up for the first time the European City break market for people in the region who will have direct access to the beautiful city of Barcelona which is less than a 90 minute journey by train and bus from the town of Reus - only 10 minutes from Reus Airport. For the many football enthusiasts out there we are sure that this new service will also come as welcomed news to them as this offers them the opportunity to watch the European champions Barcelona in action."

Flights from Ireland West Airport Knock to Reus-Barcelona will depart on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 08:55am and will return into Ireland West Airport on the same days at 08:30am. On Thursdays, flights will depart Ireland West Airport Knock at 11:35am and arrive into Ireland West Airport Knock from Reus-Barcelona on Thursdays at 11:10am. For further airport information log onto www.irelandwestairport.com; for information on fares and to book flights log onto www.ryanair.com.

About Reus/Salou

Reus in Spain is a picturesque town that was once famous for the production of Brandy. Today it is a bustling town that spans 59km2 and has 100,537 inhabitants. Reus is the home town of Antoni Gaudi the famous Catalan modernist architect, although, ironically, there are no examples of his work here. Instead you'll see lots of Lluís Domènech i Montaner's work. He constructed several buildings throughout the city in a modernist style.Reus is near the east coast of Spain 10 kilometres from the coast of the Costa Dorada. You'll find the sun-drenched shores of Costa Dorada, where there's some fabulous family-friendly resorts, the world class Port Aventura theme park and two splashtastic waterparks, all just an hour south of fabulous Barcelona. Other coastal towns and resorts within a half hour drive include Cambrils and La Pineda. A highlight for many visitors is the Universal Mediterranean theme park resort which includes Port Aventura, the only Universal Studios theme park in Europe

For more information check out the following websites

1. http://www.barcelona.com/
2. http://www.reus-tourist-guide.com/