Ryanair could invest 8 billion euros in Italy in return for tax cut - CEO to paper

ROME (Reuters) - Budget airline Ryanair could invest an extra 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in Italy if the country scraps a local tax on air tickets, CEO Michael O'Leary said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Speaking to La Repubblica newspaper, O'Leary said he wants to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and ask her to "create the conditions" that would allow Ryanair to make that investment.

When asked what the conditions would be, he said the government should scrap the additional tax on air fares, charged by municipalities, and which is partially used to pay pension costs for air sector workers.

O'Leary also said Ryanair would open two new bases in Italy, in Trieste and Reggio Calabria, and would increase flights to and from Rome's two airports, Milan Malpensa and Bergamo's Orio al Serio.

On Tuesday, in two press conferences in Rome and Milan, the Ryanair boss said his airline was interested in expanding its market-leading position in Italy, taking up more airport slots that may become available as a result of ITA Airways teaming up with Germany's Lufthansa.

($1 = 0.9195 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Louise Heavens)