Budget airline Ryanair has announced a new UK base that will create a total of 460 new jobs.
Two aircraft will be based at the Newcastle Airport hub with 63 departing flights per week and 19 routes in total, including 12 new connections to a host of international destinations across Europe from March 2022.
The new base will support jobs and tourism and will give a much needed boost to UK customers and the UK economy. Some 60 direct jobs will be created with another 400 indirect rules supported by the move.
Ryanair currently flies to several popular destinations from Newcastle, such as Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Alicante and Faro. New routes for summer 2022 include Chania, Zadar, Paphos and more.
To celebrate, Ryanair has launched a seat sale with fares from £26.99 for travel until October 31, 2022, which must be booked by midnight on Sunday, August 8, only on the Ryanair.com website.
Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson said: “We are delighted to launch a new UK base, which represents a $200m investment at Newcastle. This development will create over 60 direct jobs and offer our UK customers a host of European hotspots to choose from next Summer, including popular destinations such as Paphos, Chania, Menorca, Ibiza and Zadar.
"We have seen massive demand for flights from Newcastle this summer as UK customers flock to the beaches of Spain and Portugal and now customers will have much wider choice next summer with the addition of these 12 new routes."
Nick Jones, chief executive at Newcastle International Airport, added: “Today’s announcement from Ryanair to base two aircraft at Newcastle International Airport for summer 2022 is very significant news.
"Ryanair’s investment is a sign of growing confidence and will provide a great selection of new destinations and extra weekly frequencies, providing more options for leisure and business travel. This will create new jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineering alongside support services, and will generate economic value for the wider area.
"The two based aircraft will see the number of routes operated from Newcastle by Ryanair increase from 7 to 19, including some exciting new destinations such as Milan and Riga.
"These new routes, alongside extra capacity on current services to destinations, provides our customers with choice not only on where to travel but also on the length of time when visiting friends and family, on holiday or away on business."
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