THE collapse of Air Lib will accelerate plans by Ryanair and easyJet to expand in France. The two budget carriers, which have mostly targeted Germany for the next phase of their expansion, will be eyeing the 45,000 airport “slots” used by Air Lib.

Ryanair made big inroads into France last week with the acquisition of buzz, which mainly flew to French cities. And now easyJet is likely to get the opportunity for further French expansion.

It was thought that easyJet’s surprise decision last year to buy aircraft from the France-based Airbus consortium, rather than from Boeing, was linked to a slots deal if Air Lib folded.

EasyJet wants to set up a permanent base at Orly, where Air Lib is the second largest airline behind Air France, and rumours spread that the UK airline had done a deal with the French authorities.

Ray Webster, chief executive of easyJet, has emphatically denied any such agreement. “There have not been talks about Orly slots in connection with the Airbus order,” Mr Webster told The Times last year. “In fact, we deliberately steered clear in order not to complicate the Airbus negotiations.”

And yet no one will be surprised if easyJet ends up with some of the take-off and landing rights at Orly. Air traffic rights between countries are increasingly linked to contracts signed with aircraft manufacturers. As Le Figaro, the French newspaper, pointed out last week, Malaysia Airlines had been trying to get extra slots for five years.

The French Civil Aviation Authority has now agreed — three days after an order for six Airbus A380s was signed. Emirates and Qatar Airways also increased services to Paris once Airbus orders were signed.

EasyJet runs several services to France, and has slots at Charles de Gaulle airport. But the airline has already requested 20,000 take-off and landing slots at Orly, which is a 20-minute drive south of Paris, to expand in Europe’s largest domestic market. EasyJet says that 20,000 slots would enable the carrier to base seven aircraft at Orly, and to begin 35 new round-trip flights a day.

EasyJet says that possible destinations include London, Malaga and Barcelona in Spain, as well as Milan and Rome. The airline, which has been expanding by 25 per cent annually, at present serves only Geneva from Orly.

“We always keep a watch on what is going on in Paris, and have made no secret of our wish to expand there,” an easyJet spokesman said. “But we have to await the outcome for Air Lib.”

But Air France is likely to use its power in the political corridors of Paris to try to mitigate the challenge from the budget carriers.