Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) will become the first Low Cost Carrier to open a base at Frankfurt International when it commences operations out of the Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) hub towards the end of the first quarter of next year.

During a press conference, Fraport AG’s executive board chairman, Dr. Stefan Schulte, said the cooperation agreement formed part of a new strategy to attract more low-cost traffic to Germany's largest aviation gateway.

"The basis of this cooperation with be formed by meeting the special requirements of low-cost airlines via customized processes and operations, which also facilitate short turnaround times," he said. "In the medium term, Fraport will also meet the increasing demand for low-cost offerings by adapting passenger and terminal processes accordingly."

Ryanair has said in the past that plans to secure a 15-20% share of the German market by 2018/19 would see it developing a presence at at least twenty central German airports but not at Frankfurt Int'l.

As such, the Irish LCC said its new Frankfurt base would use a pair of B737-800s to offer daily services to Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Faro, and Alicante with effect from March 29.

Ryanair already serves the Frankfurt metropolitan region via its Frankfurt Hahn base.