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, Málaga, Faro, and Alicante Elche Miguel Hernández with effect from March 29.

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