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Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary in the company's Christmas video YouTube/Ryanair

Ryanair has gone to the US for Christmas - but we're not sure why the boss looks so sad

The budget airline wants US customers to ‘trade Route 66 for the Wild Atlantic Way’.

RYANAIR WANTS US customers to swap Route 66 for the Wild Atlantic Way – and it has set up a new website to tell them so.

The Irish airline, Europe’s busiest low-cost carrier, has launched the play for American customers well ahead of its planned move into the long-haul transatlantic game.

It showcases Ryanair’s cheap flights – in US dollars – between various European cities and Irish destinations, including Shannon, Cork and Knock airports.

One banner slogan reads: “Uncle Sam says fly Ryanair”, while another says: “Trade Route 66 for the Wild Atlantic Way”.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary previously said the budget airline wants to run its own flights from the US to Europe – but it’s at least 4 years away from being able to get the planes it needs for the route.

‘An historic shortage’

He told the Deloitte Enterprise Ireland CeoForum about a month ago that the airline was “very keen” to do low-cost, transatlantic flights between about 15 European cities and 12 US destinations.

“The difficulty is we would need a fleet of 30 or 40 long-haul aircraft to start, we can’t do it in 1s and 2s,”he said.

“And there is a historic shortage of long-haul aircraft, partially because the growth carriers have put in such enormous orders for the next 4 or 5 years.

The good news is we think we can do it, we think we can make a lot of money, but the bad news is we can’t source the aircraft … for probably 3 or 4 years unless there is some significant change in the ordering profiles for long-haul aircraft.”

Ryanair Press Conferences Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland Laura Hutton / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

It comes as Ryanair continues to kick big financial goals – announcing a series of upgrades to its profit forecasts this year as passenger numbers continue to beat expectations.

The company’s latest prediction was for a profit of up to €830 million and over 90 million customers for the 2014-15 financial year.

Meanwhile, O’Leary was making a cameo appearance in Ryanair’s Christmas video that was shot in Dublin.

Ryanair / YouTube

The airline has been featuring a new, “festive” version of its jingle for flight arrivals.

Originally published at 10.27am

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53 Comments
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    Mute John
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    Aug 28th 2015, 3:56 PM

    I bought a ticket in the last General Election for a Better Ireland, turns out it was a fake too.

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    Mute Garwig
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:02 PM

    Brilliant , Me too turns out they didn’t even sign the contract either.

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    Mute Mr N
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    Aug 28th 2015, 3:55 PM

    Ticketmaster aren’t exactly innocent in this, with their ticket reselling companies.

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    Mute John S
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    Aug 28th 2015, 6:44 PM

    Well if somebody buys a ticket to Electric Picnic 2014, more the fool he….

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    Mute funkybuscuits
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:17 PM

    this is just propaganda to make sure you buy tickets from ticketmaster! I have 2 spare ones for electric picnic anyway if anyone’s looking. legit as fcuk

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    Mute Mark Noonan
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:37 PM

    Are they more legit than your user name?

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    Mute funkybuscuits
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:59 PM

    slightly funkier

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    Mute RMcG
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:45 PM

    My rugby world cup tickets were stolen, I moved address & the mail redirect didn’t work, someone signed for them with an illegible squiggle, RWC have cancelled the barcodes on the tickets and the tickets are now void. I just hope some unsuspecting person doesn’t buy them from whoever stole them. Whenever you buy tickets from someone without a licence to sell them you are talking a huge risk.

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    Mute RMcG
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:46 PM

    *taking not talking obviously :)

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    Mute Fiona K
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    Aug 28th 2015, 6:25 PM

    Ticketmaster used to advise to do your ticket exchange at a Ticketmaster outlet and they would verify the authenticity of the tickets for you. Are they no longer offering that service? Also stop posting pictures of your tickets to social media as the barcodes can then be copied!

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    Mute Michael cunnane
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    Aug 28th 2015, 5:05 PM

    I’m looking forward to this year’s eccentric picnic..uh oh :-o

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    Mute John Joe
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:03 PM

    I used to buy the tickets and give the touters the money when I got into the event, not much that can go wrong

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    Mute Mr N
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:31 PM

    From your point of view no, but what if you don’t pay them?

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    Mute Ray Farrelly
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    Aug 28th 2015, 4:58 PM

    Well you won’t be getting a counterfeit beating.

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    Mute Paul Cooper
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    Aug 30th 2015, 4:51 AM

    Beware of fake acts

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    Mute Joe Haverty
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    Aug 29th 2015, 5:46 AM

    Gas, sure they’re in control of security features on their tickets, perhaps improve them!

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