BA To Go Head To Head With Ryanair At Stansted

British Airways will begin flying from Stansted Airport, establishing a presence at London's No.3 airport for the first time and bringing it into direct competition with budget carrier Ryanair on leisure routes.

BA, owned by IAG, said on Tuesday that from May it would fly to Faro in Portugal, and Ibiza, Malaga and Palma in Spain, from GBP£49 (USD$71) one way.

British Airways will compete directly on those routes with Ryanair, whose cheapest flights in May cost about GBP£25 one way.

BA's move into secondary airport Stansted enters traditional budget carrier territory, a change from a wider trend of low cost airlines increasingly flying from a city's main airport and stealing market share from full-service airlines.

Stansted, 35 miles north of London, will become BA's fourth airport in the region. It already flies from London's Heathrow, Gatwick and City airports.

BA said the flights would be operated by its BA CityFlyer subsidiary on two-cabin 98-seat Embraer jets which are usually based at London City.