Low-cost airline Ryanair has said it could add even more routes from Belfast International Airport after announcing four new overseas connections from next year.
t said a “very competitive” deal with the airport had sealed the deal and allowed it to add routes to Valencia, Cardiff, Majorca and Budapest on top of the 12 announced earlier this year.
The Irish company stopped flying from the airport in 2021, in its own words a protest against the UK government’s continued charging of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and a lack of post-Covid incentives from the airport.
The UK government has since halved the domestic flight charge to £6.50, starting in April next year.
Speaking to Business Telegraph, Dara Brady, Ryanair’s director of marketing and digital, said an agreement with the International had made a return worthwhile and enabled her to expand her schedule.
He said it would evaluate the performance of the 16 routes next summer before adding to the schedule. “There are still growth opportunities in the medium term. It is clear that we need to get the schedule in place for next summer. While it’s still very early days, we’ve seen good early indications for bookings and we think route selection will go well. From a brand perspective, we are clearly very well known in NI.”
But he wouldn’t be enamored with the details of the deal with the airport – once nicknamed ‘Lough Neagh Airport’ by outspoken Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary. The airport did not comment.
Mr Brady said: “Ultimately, we worked closely with the airport on a long-term agreement that gives us certainty about our costs. It is clear that reducing APD on domestic flights is a help, but we have advocated for the government to scrap that altogether.
“It is extremely important that airports remain competitive from a cost and access point of view and that makes them very attractive to airlines such as Ryanair.”
Pressure on airports to offer competitive deals to airlines had increased after the pandemic, he said.
“To be honest, we have made a good deal with Belfast International and that supports our relaunch of two Belfast-based aircraft in a $200 million investment.
“It’s just a very competitive deal that worked for them and worked for us. Obviously, we’re not going to waste the beans on what it means to us commercially and what it’s at its core, but it’s a very competitive deal that has the right incentive for us to be active there.
He said the airline had “worked hard with the airport to get a number that works for them and for us”.
“Our business model is focused on keeping costs as low as possible and that enables us to have the lowest rates on the market. and we have.”
Ryanair’s new routes follow an announcement by German airline Lufthansa that it will fly from Belfast City Airport to Frankfurt from April 2023. It is Lufthansa’s first foray into the Northern Ireland market.
Mr Brady said the choice of Budapest as a new route followed its success as a Ryanair destination from UK airports and Dublin. He said he expected it to be a successful destination as a city break from NI.
He said he expected Majorca to be a success for sun worshippers, while Valencia, also in Spain, will appeal to those looking for a sun holiday as well as those looking for a city break.
The 12 Belfast routes announced by Ryanair earlier this year to start from summer 2023 are Alicante, Faro, Barcelona-Girona, Malaga, Manchester, Milan-Bergamo, Stansted, Paris Beauvais, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gdansk and Krakow.
“The four new routes will be a good addition to our other 12 routes, which is really a mix of very strong connections to the UK and some great city pairings, and lots and lots of really good sins. We would be very optimistic that we will have a very good summer there in Belfast.”
The new 16-route schedule means Ryanair operates more than 140 flights to and from Belfast International each week.
“It’s a big schedule with a lot of flights to fill, but we’re very confident that we will.”
When Ryanair announced its return to Belfast earlier this year, it said it would support 800 direct and indirect jobs.
Mr Brady said: “If planes are stationed, it means the planes start and end their day in Belfast. That creates jobs such as cabin crew and pilots who are stationed there in the market.
“Then there are support jobs like ground operations, handling and support staff, and that’s reflected in passengers coming out and being transported to hotels and spending in restaurants — it’s all an economic benefit that trickles down to the wider economy.”
And he said it was not interested in routes from Belfast City Airport, which Aer Lingus is in danger of losing as an operator. “We are very committed to Belfast International and that’s where you’ll see our growth.”