Ryanair said it welcomes the competition brought by Jet2's arrival at Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
Jet2 announced last month that it will begin flying from Liverpool in March 2024. Its first summer season will fly to 20 destinations, including seven new routes from the city.
The news was celebrated by many Scousers, who previously have had to travel to Manchester to fly with Jet2. The airline will operate up to 54 weekly flights from Liverpool next summer, with 565,000 seats on sale for the season.
READ MORE: The £40 flight from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to 'stunning sandy beaches' among best in Europe
Ryanair, which is marking 35 years of operating from the Speke-based airport, has welcomed the competition.
Speaking as the airline prepares for its "biggest ever" summer at Liverpool, head of communications Jade Kirwan told the ECHO: "The competition is always going to be healthy for ourselves but ultimately for the customer. Low fares are always pushed down if someone else comes into the market.
"We have so much exclusivity and different routes that we don't have much visibility on what Jet2 will be operating next summer. They've announced they're having a base (at Liverpool), we already have a base that will be strong and loyal.
"We have plenty of exclusive routes, we've already said that we're going to grow our customer numbers by 25% this year alone. By the time we get to next summer, we're already going to be bigger than we are currently."
Ms Kirwan added: "Competition is always healthy, we welcome it, we are the lowest fare in Europe, we have one of the biggest market shares. We've been balancing out with easyJet and been number one in the UK. We're not shy to take on competitors either."
The Irish budget airline will increase its offering to more than 255 weekly flights across 31 routes from Liverpool this summer. Included in its offering are four new destinations- Ibiza, Madrid, Rome and Shannon - while it will also expand capacity on its routes to Alicante, Cork, Dublin, Knock, Paris, Reus and Tenerife.
Earlier this year, Ryanair announced the expansions to its operation in the city this summer. As well as the new routes and increased number of flights, it will base a new plane at the airport, in a move which has created 30 jobs.
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