Ryanair, Europe’s No 1 airline, today (9 Mar) launched its Belfast 2017 winter schedule, with a new route to Malta and 12 routes in total, which will deliver 1.3m customers p.a. and support 975* jobs at Belfast Airport, as Ryanair grows its Belfast traffic by 85%.

Ryanair’s Belfastwinter 2017 schedule will deliver:

• 1 new route to: Malta (2 wkly)
• 12 routes in total
• 61 weekly flights
• 1.3m customers p.a. (+600,000)
• 975* “on-site” jobs p.a.

Ryanair will continue to connect Belfast with major business and leisure centres on high frequency, low fare services including London Gatwick (5 daily), with better timings and lower fares, making Ryanair the ideal choice for Northern Irish business and leisure customers.

Ryanair’s Belfastsummer 2017 schedule is attracting record bookings, with more frequencies to destinations for summer family holidays, lower fares as Ryanair passes on lower fuel costs, and an even better customer experience, as it continues to roll out its “Always Getting Better” improvements.

In Belfast, Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs said:

“We are pleased to launch our 2017 Belfastwinter schedule, which includes a new route to Malta and 12 routes in total, which will deliver 1.3m customers p.a. and support 975* jobs as we almost double our traffic at Belfast International Airport. These new routes will go on sale on the Ryanair.com website later today as we continue to grow our Belfast traffic, tourism and jobs.

We are also pleased to report record bookings on our Belfast summer 2017 schedule and customers can look forward to even lower fares so there’s never been a better time to book a low fare flight on Ryanair. We urge all customers who wish to book their holidays to do so now on the Ryanair.com website or mobile app, where they can avail of the lowest fare air travel to and from Belfast.

The UK Government missed a golden tourism opportunity in the Spring Budget by not only retaining, but increasing APD. We urge the Government to follow the Irish example and scrap APD entirely to allow traffic, tourism and jobs to grow and ensure UK regional airports can compete and attract more business, particularly in the face of Brexit uncertainty. Taxing tourists at the point of entry simply makes countries less attractive to airlines and visitors, particularly for regional UK airports.

To celebrate the launch of our Belfast winter 2017 schedule we are releasing seats on our new Belfast-Malta route from just £24.99, for travel in October and November, which will be available for booking until midnight Friday (10 Mar). Since these amazing low prices will be snapped up quickly, customers should log onto www.ryanair.com and avoid missing out.”

Belfast International Airport’s Uel Hoey added:

“We are delighted to see Ryanair continue to develop their network from Belfast with the provision of routes   to the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Canary Islands now supplemented by a new service to Malta, which is certain to be popular with Northern Ireland travellers.

We wholeheartedly support Ryanair’s entreaty to the UK Government to scrap Air Passenger Duty as soon as possible. The burden of APD has a uniquely negative effect upon Northern Ireland’s capacity to boost tourism and general economic growth through the sustainable provision of widely available and affordable airfares.”

ENDS

*ACI research confirms up to 750 ‘on-site’ jobs are sustained at international airports for every 1m passengers