Ryanair Adds Extra Flights From UK To Spain Ahead Of The Winter Season
Spain News
Published: 08 September 2022 18:38 CET
Irish budget airline Ryanair has extended its services from Newcastle Airport, by adding 21 new routes from the UK to Spain and Italy.
The new winter 2022 schedule was announced on Wednesday, September 7, with Ryanair confirming that it has increased the number of flights from northern-based Newcastle Airport from nine to 15. This will include two extra weekly flights to Barcelona, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria in Spain, as well as Milan Bergamo in Italy, Riga in Latvia and Cork in Ireland.
Jason McGuiness, Ryanair's commercial director, said that the additional flights show “a big vote of confidence in the North East."
“It is now nine routes more than prior to Covid. We are going to double our passenger numbers in Newcastle pre and post-Covid.
“We are delighted to continue our long-term development plan with Newcastle Airport in the Winter season to give our customers the most options for travel year-round, at the lowest possible fares, developing traffic, jobs and economic support to the area.”
He also praised the Newcastle Airport team, saying that they had done an "exceptional job" post-lockdown unlike airports, such as Heathrow, which has come under constant criticism from CEO Michael O'Leary.
The news comes just a week after the airline announced it would fly 21 new routes from UK airports this winter.
With the expansion of flights from the north-east airport, Ryanair will now have two aircraft based at Newcastle full-time, with 80 flights in total every week.
The airline has recently warned that ‘the era of cut-price air travel is over’, however flights from Newcastle Airport that are booked before Friday, September 9, could be grabbed for as little as £21.99.
Throughout the summer, Ryanair has been plagued by strike action across Spain, due to pay negotiations for cabin crew. The airline has however kept disruptions to a minimum.
When Mr McGuiness was asked for an update on negotiations he said "Across Europe we have agreements in place with at least 90% of our people for pay increments to 2026.
"We have maintained all of our jobs during Covid while others were cutting jobs, we have maintained all of our staff during Covid."
Mr McGuiness also called for Airline Passenger Duty (APD) to be scrapped. APD is a tax that is placed on commercial aircraft above a certain size and if the tax, which is predicted to bring in just shy of £3 billion to the exchequer this tax year was scrapped, Mr Guiness said it would allow Ryanair to significantly expand the number of planes flying out from Newcastle to five.
He said, "If this new government is serious about levelling up, it would abolish APD tax."
Sources
https://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/news/ryanair-adds-extra-flights-spain-27927832
https://murciatoday.com/ryanair_adds_yet_more_routes_to_spain_ahead_of_the_autumn_winter_season_1830919-a.html
