Ryanair to open nine new Dublin routes
Ryanair is to open nine new routes from Dublin and increase frequencies on eight existing routes, the airline announced today.
The airline claimed that the move will deliver an additional 700,000 passengers per annum and support around 700 new on-site jobs at Dublin Airport.
This new capacity is “the final part” of the one-million passenger growth that Ryanair promised to deliver at the main Irish airports as a direct result of the Government’s decision to scrap the €3 travel tax from April 2014, the company said.
There have been no plans announced for any increase in the number of routes at Cork or Kerry airports in response to the Budget move. “Ryanair are always interested in other new routes,” a spokesperson said.
The nine new routes to Almeria, Bari, Basel, Bucharest, Chania, Comiso, Lisbon, Marrakesh and Prague.
Ryanair will offer more flights on the Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow (PIK), London (STN), Madrid, Manchester and Nice routes•
Ryanair also announced that it will create over 300 new direct jobs in Ireland in 2014, for pilots, cabin crew, customer service specialists and software developers as the airline rolls out an extensive programme of customer service and website improvements.
“Ryanair is pleased to deliver nine new Europe routes to/from Dublin and over 1m new passengers for Ireland (which will create over 1,000 new jobs at the Irish airports) in direct response to the Government’s welcome initiative to scrap the €3 air travel tax from April 2014,” he said.
“A critical component of this growth will be 100 extra weekly flights into Dublin from Britain, which will reverse the recent tourism declines in UK visitors coming to Ireland.
“We are also proud to confirm that we will create over 300 new direct jobs in Ryanair in Ireland in 2014 to crew our new based aircraft and to help us roll out our very exciting growth plans, which will include significant improvements to the Ryanair.com website and to our industry leading customer service.”
Dublin Airport Authority’s Kevin Toland said: “Daa is pleased by Ryanair’s decision to accelerate its growth at Dublin Airport in response to the Government’s decision on the air travel tax and the attractive suite of incentives we offer to airlines launching new services or increasing passenger numbers.
“This year represents the third successive year of growth at Dublin Airport on both short and long haul services, which is very positive for tourism and the overall economy, and today’s announcement provides a strong platform for continuation of this trend.”
Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar welcomed today’s announcement, saying: “Ireland has benefited from a significant increase in international visitors this year with the CSO recording an increase of 6.4%, and Dublin Airport showing a 5.2% rise in passenger traffic, significantly outstripping growth in the wider economy.
“With this decision, Ryanair can share in this growth and help to build on it further in 2014.
“This announcement, along with other recent announcements by Ryanair of additional routes and capacity at Shannon and Knock, is a major boost for tourism and businesses in the regions concerned.
“My Department will now work together with Tourism Ireland and Ryanair to promote the additional services.”
