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Ryanair today announced plans to base a sixth aircraft and launch two routes from Shannon Airport.
The airline said an extra 5,000 passengers will travel on an additional 26 flights a week to and from the mid-west region.
The new aircraft will create new routes to Frankfurt-Hahn and Newcastle and improve frequencies to current destinations like Bristol, Edinburgh and Paris.
However, the Shannon-East Midland route will be axed with frequencies reduced to and from Luton from October 31st. Shannon Airport said the restructuring was good news for the region.
“Having another aircraft based here will expand Ryanair’s operation and up the frequency of flights to the airport,” said a spokeswoman.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said the new routes were a double celebration for passengers.
“This sixth aircraft, which is a further $70 million investment by Ryanair in Shannon, will generate over 100 more jobs at the airport this winter,” he said.
The budget airline recently revealed it could break even this financial year if oil remained at 100 US dollars a barrel in the final quarter.
The carrier, which previously warned of a potential €60 million annual loss, said it also could return to “substantial” profits the following year if crude costs continued to fall.
