Ryanair adds 500 flights at Stansted to cover October half-term

Ryanair says it will add more than 500 flights serving London Stansted during the October half-term holiday. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Ryanair is to add more than 500 flights to its London Stansted schedule to keep pace with demand during the October half-term holiday.

Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of the low-cost airline, said extra capacity at the Essex airport would mean capacity for another 100,000 passengers at a time when “hopeless” Heathrow suffers further travel chaos.