Irish budget airline Ryanair has overtaken rival Wizz Air in the battle to be the first low-cost airline to fly passengers from Warsaw's Modlin airport.

At a press conference in the Polish capital on Wednesday company CEO Michael O’Leary announced that Ryanair's first flight from Modlin will take off on July 16, a few days earlier than the date penciled in by Hungarian Wizz Air.

“Ryanair is pleased to announce our first eight Warsaw routes to Brussels, Budapest, Dublin, London, Milan, Oslo, Rome and Stockholm when Warsaw Modlin airport opens on July 16,” said Mr O’Leary.

“Ryanair’s eight new Warsaw Modlin routes will deliver at least 700,000 passengers annually and sustain 700 local jobs,” he added.

But while Ryanair may have won the race to be first, Wizz Air is set to offer the greater choice for passengers, with flights to 19 different destinations from the new airport. Reports suggest that in the future Ryanair plans to increase the number of destinations serviced by Modlin to 40.

Poland A.M.