2 BASED AIRCRAFT ($200M INV) & 40% TRAFFIC GROWTH TO 1.2 MILLION P.A.

Ryanair, the UK’s No.1 low fares airline, today (16^th Oct) launched its Winter 2024 schedule for Belfast, with 13 routes including an exciting new route to Kaunas. Ryanair has also added extra Winter flights on 3 popular city-break hotspots – Alicante, Krakow, & London – giving Ryanair’s Belfast customers unbeatable choice and regular connections at the lowest fares in Europe.

Ryanair will operate 4x return services per week on its new Kaunas Winter 2024 route starting from 27^th October, offering Belfast customers the opportunity to visit the south-central Lithuanian city and explore the charming streets of the old town, take in the beauty of the Kaunas castle, and soak up the city’s fascinating history. Kaunas is also home to one of Europe’s best Christmas Markets, which runs from the end of November right up to Christmas eve – the perfect reason to take a trip.

Since the re-opening of its Belfast base in 2023, Ryanair has grown and invested heavily in Belfast (+64% v pre-Covid), including the airline’s 2 based aircraft, which represent a $200m investment and support over 850 local jobs. Ryanair is also driving year-round inbound tourism for Belfast, carrying over 1.2m passenger to/from Belfast in 2024, and now with Dublin Airport closed for business due to the 2007 artificial traffic cap, Ryanair has switched over 50,000 Winter seats to Belfast, including flights for key sporting fixtures, school holidays and Christmas, further driving traffic to/from Belfast in the off-peak Winter season.

To celebrate the launch of Ryanair’s Belfast Winter 2024 schedule and its new Kaunas route, the airline has launched a limited time seat sale with fares from just £24.99 available only at www.ryanair.com.

 Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady said:

“As the UK’s No.1 low fares airline Ryanair is pleased to announce our Winter 2024 schedule for Belfast, with 13 routes including an exciting new route to Kaunas – connecting Northern Ireland with the Baltics, as well as extra Winter flights to Alicante, Krakow, and London, and giving Northern Ireland citizens/visitors even more choice at the lowest fares in Europe.

Since reopening Ryanair’s base in 2023, we have grown and invested heavily in the region with 2x based aircraft ($200m invest.) and support of over 850 local jobs, as well as driving important inbound tourism year-round. Through our ongoing investment, we have grown our Belfast operation by +64% vs. pre-Covid levels, and we will continue to grow at Belfast, have recently switched over 50,000 Winter seats from Dublin due to the 2007 traffic cap rendering Dublin Airport closed for business.

Ryanair looks forward to continuing our positive relationship with Belfast International Airport and the growth opportunity it presents. We look forward to carry millions more Belfast citizens/visitors onboard our Ryanair flights over the years to come.”

Belfast International Airport’s CEO, Dan Owens said:

“Since returning to Belfast International Airport, Ryanair has offered local passengers’ greater choice and connectivity with fantastic routes on offer. Today’s announcement that they will deliver 13 routes over the winter period including an exciting new destination such as Kaunas in Lithuania only grows this offering.

The additional flights to Alicante, Krakow and London strengthen Ryanair’s presence in Northern Ireland and is warmly welcomed by all.”

“SLEIGH” CHRISTMAS 2024 WITH RYANAIR’S LOW FARE LAPLAND FLIGHTS

Ryanair, Europe’s no. 1 airline, has today (7th October) announced its Winter 2024 Lapland-Rovaniemi schedule for London (5x return flights per week) and Liverpool (2x return flights per week), both starting from Sunday, 27th October.

Lapland is a winter wonderland like no other, with snow-covered forests, breath-taking husky and reindeer rides, and magical ice hotels – not to mention being the home of the big man himself. So, whether you’re seeking adventure, festive fun, or a wholesome weekend away with the family, Lapland offers an unforgettable experience wrapped in the spirit of Christmas.

Ryanair’s Winter 2024 Lapland-Rovaniemi flights are available to book now at ryanair.com.

Ryanair’s Head of Communications, Jade Kirwan, said:

“Christmas has come early for our UK customers with the launch of Ryanair’s Winter 2024 Lapland schedule offering 5x return flights to/from London per week and 2x return flights to/from Liverpool per week, both starting from Sunday, 27^th October.

Lapland is every kid’s (big and small) dream with magical experiences that you will share with your family forever, including miles of glistening snow, reindeer & husky rides, snowball fights, chasing the northern lights, adventuring Christmas-themed parks and of course, a special visit to the big man himself and his jolly team of elves.

It’s never too early to start your Christmas planning, especially when it means getting ahead of the flock to secure the best fares available, so make sure to visit Ryanair.com today and book your once in a lifetime trip to Lapland this Winter.”

Ryanair Holdings plc today (Wed, 2 Oct) released Sept 2024 traffic stats as follows:

Ryanair Holdings plc today (Tue, 3 Sep) released August 2024 traffic stats as follows:

Following the announcement of their “Approved OTA Aggregator” partnership last month, Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (30 Aug) confirmed that its low fare flights are now available for Travelfusion’s network of OTA partners to book. This means that OTAs who sign up via Travelfusion will now be able to offer Ryanair flights to their customers without needing a direct connect – just like Ryanair’s direct “Approved OTA” partners.

Additionally, OTAs who sign up to book Ryanair flights via Travelfusion will benefit from;

1. Speed to market giving them a competitive edge.
2. Direct, high quality tech support from Travelfusion.
3. Ryanair “Approved OTA” partnership benefits without he need for a direct connect.

This integration between Ryanair and Travelfusion’s systems represents a pivotal development for the airline and OTA industry, enabling a whole new cohort of OTAs to access Ryanair flights for their customers in a convenient and efficient way requiring minimal resourcing and with the added benefit of tech support.

Ryanair’s CMO, Dara Brady said: 

“We’re pleased to announce that our “Approved OTA Aggregator” partnership with Travelfusion is now live. Through this exciting new agreement, Travelfusion’s network of OTA partners will now be able to offer Ryanair flights to their customers on the condition that they provide full price transparency. This is an incredible development for OTAs who want to sell Ryanair flights without needing to plug a direct connect, with the integration of both Ryanair’s and Travelfusion’s system providing a more streamlined and efficient option that minimises resource requirements but also offers tech support should it be required.”

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (28 Aug) apologised to its passengers for the excessive flight delays and small number of flight cancellations caused by European ATC “staff shortages” and the “equipment failure” in the Netherlands ATC centre today (Wed 28 Aug), which are affecting all airlines operating to/from Eindhoven and Amsterdam.

Despite EU flights in 2024 being 5% lower than 2019 levels, and even with the benefit of much fewer French ATC strikes, Europe’s ATC delays are at record levels. Over the last 3 years, Europe’s ATC fees have risen by 21% while staffing and service levels continue to decline. This is unacceptable, and EU Commission President von der Leyen must now take action to urgently improve Europe’s competitiveness by reforming its failing ATC system.

Ryanair’s Chief Ops Officer Neal McMahon said:

“It is unacceptable that passengers continue to suffer ATC disruptions as a result of repeated ATC staff shortages and yet another equipment failure in Europe, this time in the Netherlands ATC centre, today (28 Aug), which has forced the cancellation of 12 Ryanair flights so far this morning.

We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC disruptions, which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control, and we encourage passengers to visit atcruinedourholiday.com to demand that the EU Commission take urgent action to improve Europe’s failing ATC system.”

CALLS ON UK GOVT TO SCRAP APD TO DELIVER GROWTH

Ryanair, the UK’s No.1 low fares airline, today (27^th Aug) announced 4 new London routes (Dubrovnik, Linz, Reggio & Sarajevo) for W2024, giving UK citizens/visitors even more choice at the lowest fares in Europe this Winter. Ryanair operates over 640 routes to/from the UK, carrying over 57m passengers p.a. on its fleet of 117 UK-based aircraft ($12bn investment), providing UK citizens/visitors with unbeatable choice, industry leading reliability, and the lowest fares, while driving year-round tourism to/from the UK which supports over 45,000 British jobs.

While Ryanair continues to invest and grow traffic & tourism in London and Provincial Cities across Britain, UK airports and passengers are suffering the highest burden of APD, which puts UK tourism at a major disadvantage against EU competitors. Ryanair can grow UK traffic, jobs, and tourism but the new Labour Govt must immediately scrap this unfair and unjustified APD tax if they are serious about implementing policies to deliver growth. They must also demand urgent reform of UK NATS inefficient yet very expensive ATC system, and change its incompetent leadership, who continue to mismanage UK airspace.

Ryanair calls on the new UK Govt to abolish APD for all travel, which will allow Ryanair to deliver ambitious growth for the UK for the rest of the decade, as follows;

1. Grow UK traffic by 14% to 65m passengers p.a. by 2030
2. Create 1,000 new jobs for UK pilots, cabin crew, and engineers by 2030
3. Open a new engineering training facility at Prestwick
4. Base 20 new Boeing MAX-10 aircraft (worth $2 billion) at UK airports
5. These new B737 aircraft deliver 20% more seats with 20% less fuel & 50% less noise

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“We are pleased to announce 4 new Ryanair routes from London to Dubrovnik, Linz, Reggio & Sarajevo for W2024, adding to Ryanair’s UK schedule of over 640 routes, giving UK citizens/visitors even more choice at the lowest airfares in the UK.

As an island economy on the periphery of Europe, it is vital that Ryanair continues to grow low-cost air access to/from the UK. Britain’s tourism growth is being hampered by UK APD, which unfairly imposes a £13 tax on all UK citizens/visitors, making air travel to/from the UK less competitive, particularly when other EU States, like Poland, Croatia, Italy, and Spain are lowering costs and cutting taxes, while growing rapidly.

If the UK Govt scraps APD on all flights, Ryanair will respond with rapid traffic growth for the rest of this decade, including 1,000 new jobs, 20 new UK based aircraft (additional $2bn investment) and a 14% growth in UK traffic to 65m passengers p.a. by 2030, just as we have done in Italy, where we added 3 new aircraft ($300m investment) & over 20 new routes following the decision of regions, like Calabria, to scrap the Italian Municipal Tax.”