Ryanair has been forced to do a U-turn on plans to launch a transatlantic service.

Despite the excitement of earlier this week, it appears Ryanair will not be making the transatlantic crossing anytime soon.

The company’s board yesterday released a statement saying:

“In the light of recent press coverage, the Board of Ryanair Holdings Plc wishes to clarify that it has not considered or approved any transatlantic project and does not intend to do so.”

It is understood plans to launch the service remain in the pipeline. However it would be done using a subsidiary or separate business in which the airline has a majority stake.

On Monday it was reported that the board of the airline had approved plans to begin making moves towards offering a transatlantic service. Yesterday's statement was in sharp contrast to Monday's statement, which said, in its first line:

“The board of Ryanair, like any PLC, have approved the business plans for future growth, including transatlantic."

The statement said the move hinged on a deal for long haul aircraft.

“We are talking to manufacturers about long-haul aircraft but cannot comment further on this.

“The business plan is there but it's dependent on attaining viable long haul aircraft and we estimate that's 4 to 5 years away,” the company said.

Monday's reports stated there would possibly be transatlantic flights from 12 European cities, to a similar number of American cities, with one-way fares for as low as €14.

Newstalk's Business Editor Vincent Wall says the new statement from the Ryanair board was very terse:

Originally posted 19th March