Ryanair, Ireland’s favourite airline today (14^th July) announced that it would launch a commercial, unsubsidised, flight schedule on the Dublin – Kerry route commencing on Wed 28^th July without any subvention or subsidy under the Irish Government’s PSO Scheme. This commercial route will save the taxpayer almost €4m p.a. in PSO subsidies, which were previously wasted on failed operations provided by Stobart Air.

This route will be served by one of Ryanair’s Boeing 737 800 aircraft, and will start on Wed 28^th July, with 1 daily rotation, rising to a double daily (morning & evening) service from Wed 1^st Sept delivering over 5,000 seats per week. Ryanair will work closely with its partners at Kerry and Dublin airports to minimise costs, so that this commercial service between Dublin and Kerry can survive and thrive without the need for Government PSO subsidies, which have failed to deliver a sustainable service in recent years.

Fares on this Dublin – Kerry route will start from €19.99 one way, and Ryanair hopes that by providing a double daily schedule on B737 aircraft this Autumn, that Ryanair’s low fares can stimulate increased passenger traffic to/from Kerry Airport, building on the success of Ryanair’s international flights from Kerry to London, Manchester, Frankfurt, Alicante and Faro.

Ryanair’s CEO Eddie Wilson said:

“Ryanair’s double daily service between Dublin and Kerry will quadruple the number of seats on the Kerry – Dublin route to over 5,000 per week. To make this commercial service viable, we will need lower costs at Kerry and Dublin airports as recommended by the Government’s Aviation Task Force, which still remains unactioned by Transport Minister Eamon Ryan more than 12 months after it was submitted to him (10 July 2020) by his own Aviation Taskforce.

Minister Ryan’s failure to take any action to promote air travel recovery has led to Ireland being the most damaged aviation market in Europe as evidenced by this week’s Eurocontrol statistics (attached). Other Island Nations like Malta and Cyprus have vastly outperformed Ireland, which remains “Paddy last”.

Ryanair as always will stimulate traffic using our unbeatable low fares which have already seen the successful growth of 6 international routes to Kerry from London-Stansted, Manchester, Frankfurt, Alicante, Faro and Luton. We hope to build on that success to make this unsubsidised commercial service between Kerry and Dublin viable for the long term.

These new flights mean that Dublin passengers can readily access Kerry for short breaks, and the people of Kerry can access Dublin for business, for leisure, and also to make flight connections through Dublin Airport. We will be offering the Kerry football team free flights to Dublin in late August, where we hope they will meet (and beat) Dublin in this year’s All Ireland Final”.