LONDON – Europe’s largest low cost airline, Ryanair today announced its plans to run a summer schedule between Northern Ireland’s second largest city, Londonderry (Derry) and the UK’s ‘Northern Capital’, Manchester.
Jade Kirwan, Ryanair’s Head of Communications was upbeat about the new summer schedule announcement, saying: “Ryanair is pleased to announce our Summer 2023 schedule for Derry with 8 weekly flights to/from Manchester – the UK’s ‘Capital of the North’.”
In an addition to a huge network of circa 235 destinations, the domestic route with an average flight time of an hour and five minutes will see the carrier take 87,000 passengers between the two cities throughout 2023.
“With a flight duration of just 1 hour, Manchester is the perfect destination for Derry customers looking for a nearby, low fare trip to soak up some culture, nightlife, shopping, football and music in the city or spend some quality time with the family exploring Manchester’s beautiful countryside,” continued Kirwan.
The service will run on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday between the summer months, making it an ideal schedule to get away to the see what Derry has to offer over a long weekend.
Steeped in political history, you can visit the memorials of Bloody Sunday and the Peace Bridge that spans across the River Foyle, connecting Ebrington Square and the the rest of the city.
Managing Director of Derry Airport, Steve Frazer said this of the news: “We are delighted that Ryanair’s service from City of Derry Airport to Manchester has proved to be such a huge success.”
“With consistently high passenger loads and fantastic fares this has resulted in this increase in frequency of the service with an additional weekly departure taking off from April onwards.”
“This demonstrates the importance of this connection for the local catchment area for leisure, business and students who commute regularly.”
“The route is also key for reuniting many in the North West with their family and friends living in Manchester and also has so much to offer for family breaks, couples retreats, and group getaways.”
“Our passengers want to “fly local”, avail of great parking offers and experience a stress-free car park to gate process within 20 mins of arrival with no queues! That leaves time to relax in the wonderful Amelia Earhart Airport Lounge so can easily see why Manchester is in such demand!”
As per their entire business model, Ryanair prides itself on offering some of the most competitively priced air fare tickets in the business and more recently have started to offer a ‘spread the cost’ option.
If choosing to book the family plus bundle, you will be required to pay half of the airfare upon booking and then complete the payment 40 days pre-departure.
Economy boost
Observing what the addition can bring to Derry, Kirwan concluded:
“Ryanair is driving Derry’s economic recovery post-Covid through our delivery of year-round tourism, regional investment and support of 65 local jobs, while also providing the people of Derry with the lowest fares when planning their summer 2023 holidays.”
