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29 Apr
Ryanair is expected to announce new routes between its Irish airport bases and the Canary Islands shortly - as it looks to greatly boost its UK and Ireland services to Spain.
The budget airline has confirmed it is in talks with the Canary Islands Government to reopen bases in the archipelago. It has also signed a new deal with Boeing to acquire 210 new aircraft over the next 5 years.
Fifty of these planes will be on Spanish routes and a number will be operating from Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.
Ryanair boss Eddie Wilson said their aim is to "reopen new bases but also to take advantage of existing ones" to continue growing and offering connectivity in Spain.
This year the airline celebrates its 20th anniversary of operating in Spain and Ryanair is positioned to be the leading airline in the recovery after the pandemic. This will mean 50 million passengers on Spanish routes in 2022, beating the figure of 46.6 million in 2019.
In February, Ryanair announced it would base a third jet at Cork airport and commence 7 new routes to destinations across Europe for the Spring and Summer.
Airline CEO Eddie Wilson was at Cork Airport to make the big announcement.
The new routes to be added are:
The Ryanair boss said there would be an additional €100m invested in operations in Cork airport, taking the total for 2022 to €300m.
As well as a third jet permanently based in Cork, there will also be an additional 30 jobs created at the airport and up to 120 Ryanair flights a week.
Cork Airport has welcomed the announcement, which brings the total number of Ryanair regular routes from Leeside to 25.
As well as more routes to Spain from Cork and Dublin, Micahel O'Leary has said they plan to take advantage of the gap left by companies that have disappeared from Spain, including Thomas Cook and Norwegian Airlines, to increase its operations.
Ryanair has been planning ahead - O'Leary said they have already paid for 80% of the fuel they will need until March 2023 - which will allow them to ride out any volatility in aviation fuel prices.