Ryanair to introduce 6 new routes

Ryanair today announced significant summer 2013 growth in Scotland, with 38 routes (6 new) at Edinburgh and 27 routes (2 new) at Glasgow Prestwick, which will deliver a combined total of over 3m passengers and sustain over 3,000* “on site jobs” at both Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick airports.

Ryanair cut its winter 2012 schedule at Edinburgh following the breakdown of cost negotiations with the previous owners of Edinburgh, the BAA. After reaching agreement with Edinburgh Airport’s new owners, Global Infrastructure Partners, Ryanair will now grow again at Edinburgh as follows:

38 routes (up 11%).
6 new routes to/from Bologna, Beziers, Cagliari, Corfu, Katowice & Santander
Increased frequencies on 5 other routes
From 232 to 246 weekly flights (up 5%).
From 1.6m to 1.8m pax p.a (up 11%).
1,800* jobs at Edinburgh Airport.

Ryanair will also grow at Glasgow Prestwick as follows:

27 routes (up 7%).
2 new routes to/from Rzeszow & Warsaw Modlin
Increased frequencies on 4 other routes
From 86 to 95 weekly flights (up 10%).
From 1.2m to 1.4m pax p.a (up 6%).
1,400* jobs at Edinburgh Airport.

Ryanair celebrated its Edinburgh and Glasgow summer 2013 schedules by launching a 100,000 seat sale with fares starting from £18 for travel across its European network in January which are available for booking until midnight (24:00hrs) Thur (6 Dec). Ryanair’s 6 new Edinburgh routes and 2 new Glasgow routes will begin in April and are on sale on www.ryanair.com now.

In Glasgow today, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair is delighted to announce its Scottish summer 2013 schedule, which will deliver over 3m passengers p.a. and sustain over 3,000 jobs at Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick Airports.

Following successful negotiations with Edinburgh Airport’s new owners, Global Infrastructure Partners, Ryanair will grow its summer 2013 operations at Edinburgh by 11%, with 38 routes, including 6 new routes to/from Bologna, Beziers, Cagliari, Corfu, Katowice and Santander from April 2013, which will help deliver a total of 1.8m pax p.a. and sustain 1,800* “on-site” jobs at Edinburgh Airport. This is a prime example of what can be achieved by dismantling the BAA monopoly and we look forward to further growth at Edinburgh Airport under its new ownership.

Our summer 2013 schedule will see us operate 27 routes at Glasgow Prestwick, including 2 new routes to Rzeszow and Warsaw Modlin, which will help deliver a total of 1.4m pax p.a. and sustain 1,400* “on-site” jobs Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Ryanair’s summer new Scottish routes will begin in April and will be available for booking on www.ryanair.com tomorrow.

To celebrate our new Edinburgh & Glasgow Prestwick routes, we are launching a 100,000 seat sale with fares starting from £18 for travel across Europe in January, which are available for booking until midnight Thursday (6 Dec). Since seats at these crazy low prices will be snapped up quickly, we urge passengers to book them immediately on www.ryanair.com.”

Gordon Dewar, Edinburgh Airport CEO, said:

“I welcome Ryanair’s return to growth and investment at Edinburgh Airport.  When I came to Edinburgh Airport in the summer, it was clear that we had to repair the relationship with Ryanair and work with them to provide more choice for Scottish passengers. I’m pleased that today we can announce a new relationship and new routes.  This announcement underlines the fact that Edinburgh and Scotland is an attractive market for a variety of operators and that we as an airport are open and willing to do business to expand our network and encourage growth.”

Iain Cochrane, Glasgow Prestwick CEO, said:

“We’re delighted with Ryanair’s latest commitment to grow its business from Glasgow Prestwick which is another sign of its continuing confidence in our airport. The decision to increase its Prestwick operations for next summer, along with new routes to Rzeszow and Warsaw is great news both for the airport and the region too. It gives travellers an even greater choice of value-for-money destinations next year and a further boost for the local economy, with more visitors to Scotland coming through the airport gateway.