Budget airline Ryanair has launched a new flight route to the Mediterranean island of Malta from Bournemouth Airport.
The twice-weekly flights with the carrier follow the start of a new service from Bournemouth to Zadar, on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast, two weeks ago. It means Ryanair now has 17 routes from the Dorset transport hub, with more than half operating year-round.
Steve Gill, managing director of Bournemouth Airport, said: “Malta is a very popular destination and we’re delighted to see its return from Bournemouth with Ryanair. We’re committed to increasing connectivity and it means our passengers have even more travel options this summer.”
The new flights mean in total Bournemouth Airport is offering 34 destinations in 17 countries for 2022-23.
The news comes amid major disruption at UK airports as a number of airlines, including Ryanair, have cancelled summer flights due to staff shortages.
Travellers can expect further disruption this month after extra strike dates were announced in Spain. Ryanair's cabin crew voted in favour of walking out for 12 days from mid-to-late-July, according to BusinessLive's sister site ChronicleLive.
Two Spanish unions (USO and SICTPLA) are due to strike from 12 to 15 July, 18 to 21 July and 25 to 28 July, scuppering the plans of thousands of holidaymakers.
The latest round of action continues a difficult summer period for the airline, which has included numerous strikes in June and 10 cancelled flights in Spain on Saturday. Ryanair’s Spanish bases at Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Malaga are all likely to be among those affected.
The advice is for passengers to check their flights ahead of travel and if flights are cancelled, the budget airline previously said: "You can either apply for a refund or change your cancelled flight for free.”
This week the chief operating officer (COO) of easyJet quit amid the airport chaos. Peter Bellew has resigned to "pursue other business opportunities", easyJet said, and David Morgan has been appointed to lead the operations function as interim COO.
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