Ryanair have announced seven new flights to Dublin Airport this winter, which will include services from France (Nice), Germany (Cologne) and Switzerland (Basel). The airline also plans to increase frequency on some existing Ryanair routes, including from London Gatwick to Dublin.
These new and increased services will help boost tourism business from the French, German and Swiss markets. Meanwhile in London, Ryanair will boost the number of flights from Stansted Airport in Britain to more than 700 a-week from 490 this winter in a move that will bring an extra two million passengers through the hub every year.
The airline released its London Stansted winter schedule for 2014 showing that it plans to add eight new routes from there to destinations including Athens and Prague. It will also boost frequencies on 14 existing services, including Cork.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “Today’s announcement is more good news for Irish tourism this year. We already work very closely with Ryanair and we look forward to co-operating with them to maximise the promotion of these new and expanded services to Dublin. As an island, the importance of convenient, direct, non-stop flights cannot be overstated – they are absolutely critical to achieving growth in visitor numbers.
"Tourism from Mainland Europe has been performing well – with record performances recorded in 2013 from the important markets of Germany, France and Spain. We have a busy programme of promotional activity under way for 2014 – to keep the momentum growing and build on that growth.”
