2 NEW AIRCRAFT, 17 NEW ROUTES & 12.5M PASSENGERS P.A. (+9%)

Ryanair, Europe and Italy’s No.1 airline, today (Wed, 21 Oct) announced its record Winter 2026 schedule for Sicily, with 88 routes, including 17 new routes, delivering over 12.5m passengers p.a. (+9% growth) and supporting more than 9,500 jobs across the island. This record Winter 2026 schedule is underpinned by Ryanair’s 11 based aircraft, representing a US$1.1bn investment in Sicily, including the addition of 2 new aircraft this Winter (+1 in Catania and +1 in Palermo) and the extension of Ryanair’s Trapani-Marsala base for the full Winter season. These aircraft will further strengthen Sicily’s year-round low fare connectivity.

Ryanair’s growth follows the Sicilian Government’s sensible decision to abolish the Municipal Tax at Sicily’s smaller airports from January 2026. At Trapani-Marsala, the abolition of the Municipal Tax has already delivered a new Ryanair base, record traffic growth, enhanced connectivity, and hundreds of new jobs. The success of Trapani-Marsala proves that lower access costs drive traffic growth, tourism, investment, and employment.

Ryanair’s record Sicily W26 schedule will deliver:

• 11 based aircraft; 5 in Catania (+1), 5 in Palermo (+1) and 1 in Trapani-Marsala – a US$1.1bn investment
• 88 Winter routes, including 17 exciting new routes from:
  • Catania – Alicante, Dublin* Gdansk, Memmingen, Porto, Rimini, Valencia, Warsaw and Wroclaw*.
  • Palermo – Dublin, Gdansk, Parma, Prague, Sofia and Tirana
  • Trapani-Marsala – Milan Malpensa and Verona

*From Mar ’27

• 12.5m passengers p.a. (+9% growth)
• Over 9,500 jobs supported across Sicily

While the Municipal Tax abolition at Trapani-Marsala is already delivering record growth, Sicily is still being held back by the continued application of the regressive Municipal Tax at Palermo and Catania. If President Schifani extends the abolition of the Municipal Tax across all Sicilian airports, Ryanair stands ready to deliver a further 3m passengers p.a., 5 additional based aircraft (US$500m investment), and over 2,400 new jobs – transforming connectivity, tourism, and economic growth across the island of Sicily.

Sicilian passengers are also being unfairly penalised by current EU aviation policy. While other European island regions, including Corsica, Malta and Cyprus, benefit from ETS-funded SAF support mechanisms, Sicily inexplicably remains excluded. At the same time, the European Commission’s proposed ETS changes risk increasing costs further for Sicilian passengers who depend on domestic and short-haul air connectivity, while many long-haul extra-EU flights continue to benefit from more favourable treatment. Italian representatives in Brussels must act to correct this distortion and ensure that Sicilian citizens are treated fairly and equally, and that money paid by Sicilian citizens does not subsidise extra-EU flights.

To celebrate its record Sicily Winter 2026 schedule, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from just €24.99, available now via the Ryanair app.

Ryanair CCO, Jason McGuinness, said:

“Ryanair is delighted to launch our largest ever Winter schedule for Sicily, with 88 routes (including 17 new routes), 11 based aircraft (+1 in Catania and +1 in Palermo) and the extension of our Trapani Marsala base for the full Winter season. These aircraft will deliver 12.5m passengers p.a. (+9% growth), support over 9,500 jobs across the island and millions of year-round low-fare seats for Sicilian residents and visitors.

The abolition of the Municipal Tax at Trapani-Marsala is already delivering exactly what Ryanair said it would; more aircraft, routes, passengers, tourism, and jobs. If the Sicilian Government extends this success across the whole island by abolishing the Municipal Tax at Palermo and Catania, Ryanair is ready to invest a further US$500m, add 5 more aircraft, grow traffic by an additional 3m passengers annually, and create over 2,400 new jobs across Sicily. In turn this will create even more opportunities for Sicilian residents to travel conveniently at competitive prices”

Regional Minister for Infrastructure and Mobility, Alessandro Aricò, said:“Sicily is becoming increasingly central to Ryanair’s strategy, and this is the result of a clear vision for air transport that the Schifani Government has pursued consistently. The abolition of the municipal surcharge at the island’s smaller airports has made Sicily more attractive to airlines, driving investment, new routes, passenger growth, and job creation. Alongside this measure, the Flight Bonus scheme has been progressively enhanced to further support mobility for Sicilian residents. These are two sides of the same strategy: making connectivity both broader and more accessible, helping to ensure Sicily remains connected year-round. We will continue working along this path with all stakeholders across the airport sector, evaluating every possible measure to extend these benefits throughout the entire island.”