Telegraph reports that Ryanair will launch an ambitious plan to turn Milan's Malpensa airport into its main European hub.
The low-cost airline will meet executives from Italian airport operator SEA in Dublin today and offer to open 80 routes from Malpensa, serviced by 12 new aircraft.
"It is a major investment. It is very clear that there is huge room for growth in Milan. We can boost the number of passengers at Malpensa from the current 3m to over 10m," said a spokesman. Ryanair currently has 144 routes to Italy's 22 airports.
The move came after Ryanair decided to cut back its operations from London Stansted, closing routes to Blackpool, Esjberg and Malmo. The routes between Dublin and Vasteras and Malmo are also being closed, and many more routes are becoming seasonal.
But the spokesman said the airline was not merely redeploying its fleet to Milan because of a lack of business on some routes out of Stansted. "The reason we are pulling out of Stansted is because BAA has doubled its passenger charges," he said.
Ryanair's move into Malpensa comes as Alitalia, Italy's national airline, said it would close down half its operations at the airport in order to cut its costs. The troubled airline has failed so far to find a buyer, despite being up for sale for almost a year. An auction for the Italian government's 49.9pc stake in Alitalia collapsed this summer when a handful of bidders, including Aeroflot, pulled out.
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