Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) CEO Michael O'Leary says his airline has set the ball in motion insofar as plans to develop interline operations for Europe's intercontinental carriers are concerned.

Speaking to Reuters, O'Leary confirmed the Irish LCC has held talks with a number of carriers to feed Ryanair shorthaul traffic into their longhaul networks. Among the carriers approached include Aer Lingus concerning feed into its Dublin International hub, TAP Portugal and its Lisbon hub, and Norwegian and Virgin Atlantic concerning their London Gatwick base operations.

"The advantage for them is they would get much cheaper short-haul feed than they would from anybody else, but what they have to get themselves mentally over is that they would have to take responsibility for missed connections," he said.

Talks have also been held with the International Airlines Group (IAG) over the Group's possible start of longhaul operations out of London Stansted, a major Ryanair base.

Reuters says that under the proposed system, customers would buy their tickets from the long-haul carrier, who would then be responsible for check-in, luggage throughput, and would handle any missed connection. It is the cost of compensating passengers for missed connections that has forced Ryanair to avoid longhaul tie-ups in the past.

O'Leary has prophesied that LCCs such as Ryanair, easyJet, and Wizz Air will eventually force Europe's legacy carriers such as Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Lufthansa and Co. to withdraw from the intra-European market and focus on intercontinental operations instead.

"We could be doing contract flying for high-fare carriers and feeding high-fare carrier hubs, but I would see that operating on the basis that the high-fare, long-haul carrier would simply want access to our low-cost seats," he said. "easyJet in London Gatwick could be feeding British Airways, Ryanair could be feeding Lufthansa or Air France. It's not something that I'd see them looking at in the short-term, but I think it's an inevitability over the medium term."