Ryanair announces new Belfast International Airport routes

Ryanair have announced four new routes from Belfast International Airport for the summer 2023 season.

The airline will operate flights to Budapest, Cardiff, Mallorca and Valencia next year.

But it claimed that if Air Passenger Duty (APD) were to be scrapped, the airline would look to add extra routes to and from Belfast.

It comes after Ryanair announced in July it would return to the airport with 12 new routes.

Across the 16 routes the airline will operate more than 140 weekly flights to and from Belfast International Airport, with two airport-based aircraft and more than 800 jobs.

It represents an investment of £164m.

The managing director of Belfast International Airport, Graham Keddie, said the announce was a "fantastic" way to end the year.

"These exciting new destinations, particularly Budapest and Cardiff, which are both previously unserved, are most welcome and will provide further connectivity from Northern Ireland," he said.

'Competing countries'

Last year, Ryanair pulled out of both Belfast International and Belfast City airports, citing the operating costs of airports, and the government's "refusal to suspend or reduce" Air Passenger Duty.

APD is a tax levied on air passengers, which varies according to destination and class of travel.

Airports and airlines have lobbied for it to abolished on short haul flights from Northern Ireland.

The airline is calling for Air Passenger Duty to be scrapped in Northern Ireland

Ryanair's director of digital and marketing, Dara Brady, said a 50% cut on domestic flights from next April is not enough.

He said: "To encourage additional investment from all airlines from next summer onward, the UK government must immediately scrap ADP taxes for all flights, which currently put the UK at risk of losing air traffic to competing European countries.

"We've said lower access cost is the route to gaining more passenger numbers for airports."

Pilots' pay

Meanwhile, Ryanair has agreed a new four-year pay deal with its Irish pilots which will see their salary levels restored to pre-Covid levels immediately.

The airline had imposed pay cuts on its pilots earlier in the pandemic as all but essential travel was banned.

The pay agreement also includes three years of pay increases and will be in force until March 2027.

Ryanair's people director, Darrell Hughes, said: "We welcome this pay restoration agreement with Forsa [the pilots' union] and our Irish pilots which will see pay cuts previously agreed during Covid restored in the December payroll, in time for Christmas."