Ryanair is bolstering services between Scotland and south-east England with new routes from both Edinburgh and Glasgow to Stansted.
The no-frills carrier will operate three times per day from Edinburgh to Stansted, while it will also operate the same daily frequency from Glasgow International to Stansted. Both routes will be introduced for the winter season starting on October 26.
As part of its Scottish expansion, Ryanair will switch the existing daily Dublin service from Prestwick to Glasgow International which will operate three times per day from October.
The new routes are part of Ryanair’s new strategy of targeting business travellers, which also involves a new corporate fare - due to be launched later this summer.
Despite the move of the route away from Prestwick, Ryanair said it “remains committed” to its base at the airport and was in discussions with the Scottish Government, which now owns Prestwick, about potential expansion.
Ryanair’s decision to base one aircraft at Glasgow will also allow it add a total of seven routes from October. The other destinations will be Bydgoszcz, Warsaw Modlin and Wroclaw in Poland plus Derry and Riga in Latvia.
Despite the expansion, Ryanair's chief commercial officer David O’Brien made a plea for APD to be scrapped to allow Scotland to “fulfil its true tourism potential”.
“We would urge Scotland to follow the example of Ireland, where Ryanair has launched 21 new routes and will deliver over 1.2 million new customers this year, in response to the Irish government's welcome decision to scrap APD,” he said.
“Regardless of the outcome of the referendum, Scotland cannot unlock its full potential until APD is repealed.”