Ahead of Ryanair’s return to Belfast International next summer, the carrier has announced four new routes to Budapest, Cardiff, Mallorca and Valencia.
The low-cost carrier will operate over 140 weekly flights to and from the airport for summer 2023, with two aircraft based at the airport.
The four routes will join the following 12 destinations, revealed in July when the carrier announced its plans to return to Belfast International.
Alicante, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Faro, Gdansk, Girona, Krakow, London Stansted, Malaga, Manchester, Milan Bergamo and Paris Beauvais
Ryanair’s director of digital and marketing, Dara Brady, said:
“We are pleased to announce 4 additional routes at our new base at Belfast International for Summer’23 to the exciting destinations of Budapest, Cardiff, Mallorca, and Valencia. We will operate 16 total routes and 2 based aircraft representing an investment of $200m and the creation of over 800 direct/indirect jobs at Belfast International.”
Ryanair suspended services from Northern Ireland last year, citing the UK government’s “refusal to suspend or reduce APD (Air passenger duty) and the lack of Covid recovery incentives from both Belfast airports”.
The carrier is continuing to call for the lifting of APD taxes, with Brady adding:
“To encourage additional investment from all airlines from next Summer onward, the UK Government must immediately scrap ADP taxes for all flights, which currently put the UK at risk of losing air traffic to competing European countries.”
Graham Keddie, managing director, Belfast International Airport, added:
“The addition of a further four new routes by Ryanair is a fantastic way to end 2022. These exciting new destinations, particularly Budapest and Cardiff, which are both previously unserved, are most welcome and will provide further connectivity from Northern Ireland. From March 2023 Ryanair will now operate 16 new routes and base two aircraft providing a real boost to the local tourism and business economy.”
To mark the occasion, the airline has launched a seat sale with fares from £29.99 which must be booked by December 21, 2022 for travel from April until October 2023.
