Ryanair has today given Belfast Airport a major boost ahead of the upcoming Winter 2023/24 season through an expansion of routes and based aircraft.
It is understood that for this upcoming period of the year, there will be 16 routes, three of which will be new, as well as basing two aircraft at the airport, representing a $200m investment.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Expansion: Ryanair Gives Belfast Winter Confidence Boost…
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It is understood that the three new routes will be as follows:
- Porto
- Turin
- Lanzarote
This expansion will be utilised to support over 980 local jobs, including 60 highly paid aviation roles as well, as Ryanair aims to grow traffic from Belfast to 1.2m passengers per annum.
The Irish low-cost carrier reopened this base last March.
Commenting on this was Ryanair’s Director of Digital & Marketing, Dara Brady:
“It is great to be in Belfast announcing our largest-ever Winter schedule as we continue to grow in the region.”
“With 16 routes on offer (11 more than pre-Covid), customers can avail of a wide range of Winter sun or exciting city breaks at Ryanair’s infamously low fares.”
“Our Belfast Winter 23/24 schedule includes our largest-ever connections to the UK, which is a direct result of the UK Govt.’s reduction in APD (Airport Passengers Duty), which is critical in driving and maintaining UK connectivity.”
“Any increase in domestic APD charges would be counter-productive, and plans for this increase from Apr ‘24 should be scrapped as they will only damage connectivity.”
“Our 3 new routes from Belfast to Lanzarote, Porto, and Turin will offer Belfast customers even more Winter Sun and city break opportunities and our 2 based aircraft at Belfast provide 60 high-paid jobs and support another 980 jobs in the locality.”
“We are delighted to be able to offer Belfast’s customers/visitors more choice for Winter getaways which shows our commitment to Belfast.”
Overall this is significant news for both sides as growth is definitely on the back of their minds for the Winter season, with all eyes on both to see how this goes.
