Ryanair has praised Liverpool's "great variety" as the airline expands its operations at John Lennon Airport.
The airline will increase its capacity to more than 255 weekly flights from Liverpool this summer - a 15% increase from 2022. It will base a new plane at the airport, creating 30 jobs for pilots and cabin crew, in order to support the expanded scope.
The new aircraft is part of $100m extra investment at John Lennon Airport from the Irish budget airline. This will take its overall investment at the airport to $400m.
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The news comes as Ryanair confirms its schedule for summer 2023. The ECHO reported in December that Ryanair will offer flights from Liverpool to Ibiza, Madrid and Shannon in Ireland from March and in January, we reported that the budget airline will fly from John Lennon Airport to Rome from April.
These new routes are the additions to Ryanair's summer schedule from Liverpool for 2023. The additions mean the airline will offer 31 routes this summer season, with increased capacity on flights to Alicante, Cork, Dublin, Knock, Paris, Reus & Tenerife.
Ryanair's marketing director Dara Brady told the ECHO that the announcement of a new plane and new jobs at Liverpool Airport was the result of the city's attractive offering and the recent performance of the airport.
He said: “We work very closely with our airport partners, they (Liverpool Airport) responded post-covid with the right way of thinking. The airline space has changed significantly post-covid, where every market is looking for a tourism recovery.
"Ryanair is the only airline that is growing and has recovered past pre-pandemic numbers. Last summer, we operated at 115% of pre-pandemic levels.
"So Ryanair is growing and the airport recognised that. We’ve got a very good deal with the airport and that makes it a very attractive area for us.
"As for the city itself, you get a great variety there. Not just from an inbound point of view, where you have sport and lots more.
"But there’s great connections to Ireland. One of our new routes is Shannon and there's always been a historically big Irish contingent in and around the city.
"There’s also a very strong appetite for people in Liverpool and the catchment for sun holidays, they love Spain and Portugal, so there’s a good mix there. We get it on both sides, we have a very attractive deal with the airport that incentivises growth, and then we have a great catchment that serves inbound and outbound, so it’s a good location for us."
Mr Brady said the investment shows the airline's confidence in Liverpool. He hopes the region will see economic benefits from Ryanair's expansion.
He said: "The market has never been more competitive - we’re oversubscribed for Ryanair aircraft across Europe at the moment and it just goes to show our commitment to the region and its airport. I think it’s really great news.
"We only have a finite number of aircraft - we fly to over 40 countries and we’ve over 250 airports and they’re all looking for aircraft, so for Liverpool to secure that is a great boost. It drives employment but the additional capacity - 15% more than last summer - will drive a boost for local jobs, restaurants and hotels, bringing results for everyone involved. It’s a great day for the city."
Mr Brady added: "All good news, between Ryanair’s summer schedule and Eurovision, I hope the city will be very happy this summer”.
Ryanair's expansion at the Speke-based airport follows a similar move from easyJet. In December, easyJet added a seventh plane to its Liverpool Airport base, creating 40 jobs, to support its summer 2023 plans.
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