Brits will soon be able to jet off to six new destinations on Ryanair as the budget airline expands its service from Newcastle airport.
This morning the Irish airline announced its Winter 2022 schedule for Newcastle Airport, bringing up its routes from the travel hub from nine to 15.
It will add twice weekly flights to Barcelona in Spain, Cork in Ireland, Milan Bergamo in Italy, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria in Spain, and Riga in Latvia.
Ryanair will now have two aircraft based at the airport full-time, sustaining 60 local jobs and putting on 80 flights in total every week.
The news comes a week after the airline said it would fly 21 new routes from UK airports this winter, with two of the new Newcastle services announced then.
Those who book a flight before September 9 - this Friday - may be able to bag a flight from the northern airport for £21.99.
Ryanair’s director of commercial, Jason McGuinness, told The Mirror that the expansion was "a big vote of confidence in the North East".
"It is now nine routes more than prior to Covid," he said. "We are going to double our passenger numbers in Newcastle pre and post Covid.
"We are delighted to continue our long-term development plan with Newcastle Airport in the Winter season to give our customers the most options for travel year-round, at the lowest possible fares, developing traffic, jobs and economic support to the area."
Mr McGuinness praised the Newcastle Airport team, saying they had done an "exceptional job" post-lockdown unlike other airports, such as Heathrow, which has come under constant criticism from CEO Michael O'Leary.
When asked for an update on negotiations between Ryanair and unionised cabin crew members in the UK who are currently negotiating over pay, Mr McGuiness said: "Across Europe we have agreements in place with at least 90% of our people for pay increments to 2026.
"We have maintained all of our jobs during Covid while others were cutting jobs, we have maintained all of our staff during Covid."
When asked whether it was true that UK flight crews were being drafted in to cover for striking workers in Spain, he said: "Flight crew move between bases all the time."
Mr McGuiness also called for an end to Airline Passenger Duty, which is a tax placed on commercial aircraft above a certain size - claiming it would allow Ryanair to significantly expand the number of planes flying out of Newcastle to five.
"If this new government is serious about levelling up, it would abolish APD tax," he said.
The tax is predicted to bring in just shy of £3bn to the exchequer this tax year.
