Ryanair adds 300,000 seats on Manchester routes

Low-cost carrier Ryanair is set to raise its capacity at Manchester airport this summer by adding 300,000 seats across ten new routes.

Three additional Boeing 737s will be based at the airline’s north-west hub, bringing its fleet up to 12 aircraft.

The ten new destinations being introduced between June and September are Agadir, Almeria, Barcelona Reus, Belfast, Cagliari, Palermo, Ponta Delgada, Porto, Rhodes and Venice Treviso.

Additional flights have also been scheduled on existing routes to Alicante, Bologna, Chania, Faro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Lisbon, Malaga, Majorca, Naples and Tenerife.

The summer-only additions will bring Ryanair’s network from Manchester up to 57 routes in what the airline calculates as a $300 million investment.

Ongoing growth

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, said: “Over the past four years, Manchester has been one of our fastest growing bases in the UK and this year summer numbers will grow again by a further nine per cent.

“Ryanair will continue to connect Manchester with major leisure and business centres on high frequency, low fare services including Dublin (five daily), Madrid (daily) and Rome (ten weekly), with better timings and lower fares.”

Julian Carr, Manchester airport’s aviation director, said: “We are pleased to see Ryanair add three additional aircraft to Manchester airport. As well as increasing its route network and options for passengers, it also creates jobs for people here in the north-west.

“We look forward to the routes starting and the added international connectivity they offer our 27.8 million passengers.”