Ryanair has revealed plans to invest more than $1bn into Edinburgh Airport over the next three years as it targets to grow its passenger base by 50% to 225 million.
The budget carrier will increase its fleet at Edinburgh Airport to 10 based aircraft with five being the new Boeing 737 8-200 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft.
It revealed it was in a period of growth and was planning to grow its passenger numbers to 225 million by 2025 and is targeting to have 163 million passengers by the end of the financial year ending 2023.
Ryanair also revealed it currently has 125 million passengers, which is more than pre-pandemic.
It has already carried out an incremental investment of $200m for two additional based aircraft for this summer.
The new aircraft will be more environmentally friendly as it claims to burn 16% less fuel and has reduced its noise emissions by 40% with the aircraft delivering 4% more seats.
The investment into Edinburgh will support 300 highly paid aviation jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs at Edinburgh airport.
Ryanair also announced eight new destinations for this summer to Bari, Cork, Madrid, Marrakech, Nimes, Palermo, Paris and Santiago.
It is planning to have 250 weekly flights and is said to be its largest schedule since pre-pandemic, which is 50 more than pre-pandemic.
Ryanair also called on the UK government to abolish Airport Passenger Duty (APD) immediately for all travel and not just domestic to aid the aviation industry’s recovery.
Gordon Dewar, chief executive at Edinburgh Airport, said: “All we are asking for is for the government to create a trading environment to help us recover and doesn’t punish us.
"Ryanair's continued expansion at Edinburgh is extremely encouraging and is a huge show of confidence in the Edinburgh market.
"Aviation will play an important role in the recovery of the Scottish and UK economies and to be in a position where Ryanair are offering more than they did pre-pandemic is a very good place for us to be in, especially when five of the based aircraft will be the quietest and most environmentally friendly in the industry.
"We know there's a pent-up demand for travel and we want to offer choice to people, which is why we are looking to both retain and grow Edinburgh's connectivity. We must work with partners including airlines and governments to ensure Scotland is flexible in its approach and is seizing new opportunities that arise."
Ryanair’s Director of Commercial, Jason McGuinness said: “APD is putting Scottish airports at a competitiveness disadvantage. It is the highest tax in Europe. Italy had a similar tax which they suspended before Christmas and we now have been able to add 250 new routes over the last 12 months unlike in the UK.
The 50% reduction proposed for 2023 is too little, too late for post-covid recovery since APD puts UK airports at a severe cost disadvantage versus their European competitors.
“Efficient operations and competitive airport charges provide the foundation from which Ryanair can deliver long-term traffic growth and increased connectivity. We worked closely with our partners in Edinburgh airport to secure this growth and improve the services for those that live, work, or wish to visit the region.”
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