Ryanair has announced expansion plans from its Scottish bases at Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick for next summer.
The no-frills carrier will add six new routes from Edinburgh to Bologna, Beziers, Cagliari, Corfu, Katowice and Santander, and two new destinations from Glasgow to Rzeszow and Warsaw.
Earlier this year, Ryanair announced plans to cut routes from Edinburgh when it cited BAA’s refusal to offer “a competitive cost base for more Ryanair growth” and accusing the operator of having “no interest in securing the future of Scottish tourism, traffic and jobs” .
But the carrier now said: “After reaching agreement with Edinburgh airport’s new owners, Global Infrastructure Partners, Ryanair will now grow again at Edinburgh”.
The airline will also increase frequencies on several routes including Edinburgh to Alicante, Faro, Malaga, Malta and Palma, and Glasgow Prestwick to Ibiza and Palma.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said: “This is a prime example of what can be achieved by dismantling the BAA monopoly and we look forward to further growth at Edinburgh Airport under its new ownership.”
In October rival low-cost carrier Easyjet announced expansion plans from Edinburgh and Manchester airports for next year, including routes from Scotland to Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Dubrovnik.
ryanair.com