Ryanair increases winter schedule from Newcastle

BUDGET airline Ryanair is to add five new winter destinations from Newcastle Airport after moving to base a third aircraft in the North East.

- GRAEME WHITFIELD

The $100m (£74m) investment will create around 40 new jobs and support hundreds more. The additional capacity from the new plane will see Ryanair add flights to Brussels, Budapest, Gdansk, Malta, and Wrocław, as well as adding extra flights to Alicante, Dublin, and Kraków.

Ryanair's increased capacity will see it add 120,000 additional seats and take its annual passenger numbers at Newcastle above a million. The company has announced a two-day sale with fares from £29.99 to accompany the launch.

But Ryanair also took a swipe at the Government over increases to air passenger duty, which it says is holding back growth in the UK.

The company's chief commercial officer, Jason McGuinness, said: "We are delighted to announce this additional US$100m investment in Newcastle today.

"This third Boeing 737 8-200 'Gamechanger' based aircraft arriving in winter will provide a huge economic boost to the North East - delivering 120,000 additional seats and five new routes to Brussels, Budapest, Gdansk, Malta, and Wrocław, as well as supporting over 850 local jobs including 30 local pilot and cabin crew jobs we're now hiring for.