EUROPE’S NO.1 AIRLINE ADDS 2 AIRCRAFT, 15 ROUTES AND 50% GROWTH ACROSS LAMEZIA TERME, REGGIO CALABRIA, AND CROTONE AIRPORTS FOLLOWING PRESIDENT OCCHIUTO’S SCRAPPING OF TAX

Ryanair, Europe and Italy’s No.1 airline, is thrilled to respond to the Calabrian region’s forward-thinking and innovative decision to abolish the Italian State’s Municipal/Tourist Tax with today’s (11 July) announcement. This strategic move will see the addition of an extra Boeing B737-800 at Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme (US$200m investment), and the introduction of new routes across all three Calabrian Airports (Lamezia Terme, Crotone, and Reggio Calabria).

Ryanair welcomes President Occhiuto’s pragmatic approach, transforming Calabria into the region with the lowest access costs in Italy. Italian regions like Calabria and Friuli Venezia-Giulia are scrapping the burden of the municipal tax, unlocking the full touristic potential of their regions. It is now time for all regions, but most specifically Sicily and Sardinia, to scrap this regressive tax, which is levied on all passengers, adults, and children.

Ryanair in response of scrapping the municipal tax will deliver:

• 4 based aircraft (US$400m tot. invest.) – 2 a/c in Reggio Calabria & 2 a/c in Lamezia Terme
• 50% growth (to 1m passengers)
• 15 new routes for the Region
• Supp. over 1200 jobs in the Region
• Record capacity, connectivity, and low fares for Calabria Region

Ryanair will deliver immediate growth for coming winter season including 11 new routes. 7 from Reggio Calabria to London Stansted, Brussels Charleroi, Milano Malpensa, Pisa, Frankfurt Hahn, Katowice and Paris Beauvais; 2 from Lamezia to Tirana and Brussels Charleroi; and 2 from Crotone to Venice Treviso and Turin. Additionally, for Summer’s 25 Ryanair will deliver additional 4 new routes from Lamezia Terme to Trieste, Madrid, Wroclaw and Bucharest.

In Catanzaro, Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:

“We are thrilled to announce Ryanair’s significant investment and expansion in the Calabria region, following President Occhiuto’s forward-thinking decision to abolish the municipal tax. This strategic move enables us to rapidly increase our capacity in the region, adding an additional Boeing B737-800 at Reggio Calabria and Lamezia Terme, launching new routes across the Region.

Our Winter 2024 schedule for Calabria will deliver 82% growth compared to Winter 2023, with three based aircraft and a total investment of $300 million. Furthermore, we plan to base another aircraft in Lamezia Terme for Summer 2025, bringing our total to four based aircraft in the region and increasing our total investment to $400 million. This will deliver 50% growth next year for the region, supporting over 1,200 jobs and contributing to the economic growth of the region by enhancing tourism, improving connectivity, and offering lower fares to both citizens and visitors.

Ryanair now calls on all Italian regions to scrap this regressive tax. Sicily and Sardinia in particular should follow the positive example of Calabria and revolutionise their connectivity by scrapping the tax. Ryanair could deliver an additional 3 million seats annually to Sicily and 2 million to Sardinia, transforming connectivity on a year-round basis, as we did in Trieste and will now do in Calabria.

To celebrate this remarkable growth in Calabria, we have launched a three-day seat sale with fares starting from €29.99, available exclusively at ryanair.com. We look forward to welcoming millions of passengers on board our flights to and from Calabria, experiencing the benefits of our investment and the region’s progressive policies.”

President Roberto Occhiuto said:

“We are truly proud of the great attention that Ryanair, the leading low-cost airline in Italy and Europe, continues to give to our Region.

For the upcoming winter season, there will be an extraordinary increase in connections to and from Calabria, with many European and Italian cities, and this represents the well-deserved recognition for the efforts we have been making over the past two and a half years to continuously increase the flow of tourists to our Region.

Today, we are very happy to once again host Eddie Wilson in Calabria, not only a great CEO but a friend with whom we want to develop and grow air routes within our airport system, across all three regional airports, and create the ideal conditions for visitors to experience the best of travel in Calabria and share it with many new tourists.

For this reason, our commitment is also linked to improving accessibility and internal mobility services, as demonstrated by the agreement reached just a few weeks ago with the automotive services company Uber.

We are confident that thanks to the air transport policies we are implementing and the significant investments made by companies like Ryanair in our airports, the coming months will not only see an exponential increase in tourists in Calabria, but also significant growth in economic and employment terms throughout our territory.”

Marco Franchini, SACAL Airport CEO, said:

“From August 1st, with the abolition of the municipal surcharge, Calabria will be able to offer advantageous rates for the airports of Lamezia Terme, Crotone, and Reggio Calabria. An historic and innovative decision achieved through the determination of President Roberto Occhiuto, that, together with the infrastructural transformation of the airports, has identified the Calabrian airport system as the absolute protagonist of the region’s economic development”.