Ryanair will introduce seven new routes from its London Stansted base as part of its 2025 summer schedule, the low-cost carrier announced on Wednesday (29 January).
The Ireland-based carrier will launch flights to Bodrum, Clermont-Ferrand, Dalaman, Münster, Lübeck, Linz and Reggio Calabria this summer and will also add frequencies to existing London routes to Gdansk, Ibiza, Malaga, Milan, Rome, Turin and Valencia.
To support this growth, the carrier will add a new Boeing 737 aircraft to its Stansted base for the season, bringing the fleet to 56 aircraft and creating 30 new jobs, according to the airline.
As part of the announcement, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary criticised the UK government’s recent decision to increase the Air Passenger Duty (APD) as well as its support for a third runway at Heathrow airport.
“Ryanair could be growing more rapidly to/from the UK, but [UK Chancellor] Rachel Reeves’ bizarre decision to raise APD taxes by £2 per passenger damages the growth prospects of the UK, and in particular regional UK airports,” he said.
“If Rachel Reeves is serious about growth, then stop wasting time talking about a third runway at Heathrow (which won’t deliver till 2030 or 2040), and instead do something useful to drive growth during the life of the current Labour government and abolish APD. This would deliver dramatic investment and growth in air travel, tourism, and economic activity, not just in London but across the UK regions.”
In its Q4 2024 financial statement, Ryanair posted a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to €2.96 billion and a post-tax profit of €134 million, however the upturn followed months of lower than average fares.