@SeanM1997

Following the loss of Ryanair in early 2021 and the travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19, City of Derry Airport looked to be suffering. It had lost its two busiest routes (Edinburgh and Liverpool), with charter flights to Palma de Mallorca cancelled for the summer due to uncertainties in travel restrictions. This left the airport with just one airline (Loganair) and two routes - Glasgow and London Stansted for 2021. However, the airport has turned its fortunes around and have recently announced a series of new routes and increased frequencies, with Loganair today announcing a new City of Derry to Edinburgh route from May 2022. In March, Loganair announced a third route to Liverpool, with four weekly flights, increasing to seven weekly in late June and were further increased to nine weekly flights in peak summer. Whilst this was less seats than offered under Ryanair, it did involve more flights and were more attractive to those wanting to be flexible with their travel. Additi...

Over the past few weeks, a number of Ryanair UK routes have been added from London Stansted and Manchester across Europe and North Africa. And now, the airline is re-entering the UK domestic market, with Ryanair launching flights between Manchester and City of Derry from 1 December 2021. Ryanair vacated the UK domestic market due to the UK Civil Aviation Authority due to regulatory changes post Brexit (1). This has meant UK registered aircraft are required for domestic and non-EU routes. This was a blow for many airports - especially City of Derry, where Ryanair had flights to Edinburgh and Liverpool. Loganair stepped in and replaced Ryanair at City of Derry, adding a Liverpool route and increasing its existing Glasgow flights, whilst Aer Lingus Regional and easyJet provided links between city pairs which have lost their Ryanair services. Ryanair now have 2 UK bases with UK registered planes - London Stansted and Manchester. With a Public Service Obligation between City of Derry and Lo...

Doncaster/Sheffield has been one of the UK's fastest growing airports, growing from c.690,000 in 2013 to over 1.4m in 2019. The airport has seen TUI Airways grow its existing base at the airport and Wizz Air announce a two aircraft base, showing intent for the airport to have its busiest year yet in 2022. However, one airline is missing from the airport - Ryanair. Could the Irish low cost carrier return to the Yorkshire airport? Doncaster/Sheffield is currently the 6th busiest airport in the UK without a Ryanair presence - behind London Heathrow, London City, Belfast City, Southampton and Jersey. London Heathrow is a premium airport focusing predominately on hub and spoke routes and is not attractive to low cost carriers due to high fees and limited slots. The other 4 airports all have constrained runways, limiting or prohibiting the use of the Boeing 737 aircraft, the aircraft which Ryanair use. Therefore, of all the UK airports which Ryanair could next enter - Doncaster/Sheffield...

Following the collapse of Flybe in March 2020 and liquidation of Stobart Air in June 2021, many routes between Ireland and the United Kingdom were left unserved. However, Ryanair have recently added an abundance of routes from Irish airports to the United Kingdom, closing the opportunity for a new Aer Lingus Regional airline to have a major presence in the market. Image 1: Ryanair Over recent months, Ryanair have announced a series of routes including: Knock - Edinburgh (commenced in September 2021) - previously served by Flybe Knock - Manchester (commenced in September 2021) - previously served by Flybe Shannon - Edinburgh (commenced in September 2021) - previously served by Stobart Air Shannon - London Luton (commences 7 October 2021) - previously unserved Dublin - Cardiff (commences 31 October 2021) - previously served by Flybe Shannon - Birmingham (commences 1 November 2021) - previously served by Stobart Air Image 2: Ryanair's recent Ireland - UK additions Ryanair have put on ...

British Airways are reported to have axed plans to revive short haul operations at London Gatwick Airport, with all short haul flights removed from sale (excluding daily flights to Glasgow and Manchester). With the second largest carrier at Gatwick significantly reducing operations, which airlines could be interested in buying slot s and expand or add a presence at the UK's second busiest airport? London Gatwick has been hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Norwegian Air and Virgin Atlantic have already closed its bases at the airport, whilst many long haul carriers have moved operations to Heathrow - including Air China, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern, Emirates and Rwandair. Whilst some of these airlines are forecast to return in Summer 2022, it is unclear to what extent they will return or if they would remain at Heathrow (if they can obtain long term slots). All this means there will be a great number of available slots at London Gatwick for new and incumbent airlines to base a...

Ryanair are to not serve Northern Ireland from 31 October 2021, after axing City of Derry in January 2021 and curtailing its 8 Belfast City routes on 12 September 2021 (previously on sale until 30 October 2021). Ryanair are now leaving a third airport in Northern Ireland - Belfast International, where it serves six routes. This leaves the country without a direct service with the low cost carrier. Ryanair have been in the Northern Ireland market for over a decade and have served a variety of domestic and international routes during that time, however, the airline are not the largest in Northern Ireland - with easyJet serving more routes and passengers than Ryanair. However, 2021 has been a turbulent year for Ryanair in the Northern Ireland market. How has 2021 impacted Ryanair's Northern Ireland operation? Ryanair ended its City of Derry to Edinburgh and Liverpool routes in early 2021 due to a row with the UK's Civil Aviation Authority regarding Brexit-related policy.  Edinburg...

Ryanair have announced 2 aircraft and 12 new routes from Newcastle. Over recent months, Jet2 and TUI Airways have announced an additional aircraft for Summer 2022, and with Ryanair launching a two aircraft base - it demonstrates the increased demand and competition from the North East Airport. In September 2020, easyJet closed its 3 aircraft base in Newcastle - leaving the airport with no based low cost carrier. Ryanair has filled the void and allowed the airport to have three dominant airlines competition in the Newcastle leisure market. Ryanair will launch one of the 12 routes on 31 October 2021, with three weekly flights to Kraków in Poland. This is Ryanair's third Polish route from Newcastle - joining Gdańsk and Wrocław. From 27 March 2022, Ryanair will base its two aircraft in Newcastle and launch 11 further routes - Chania (Greece), Fuerteventura (Spain), Gran Canaria (Spain), Ibiza (Spain), Lanzarote (Spain), Menorca (Spain), Milan Bergamo (Italy), Paphos (Cyprus), Riga (Lat...

Ryanair have added 10 new routes across North West England, with flights launching in Winter 2021. Ryanair have added 4 new routes from Liverpool and 6 new routes from Manchester, commencing from October 2021. Liverpool Ryanair recently announced new routes to Rome Fiumincino and Stockholm Arlanda, and have expanded on this by adding 4 new routes: Milan Bergamo - 2x weekly flights Paris Beauvais - 2x weekly flights Sibiu - 2x weekly flights Tallinn - 2x weekly flights All four routes are unserved. easyJet recently cut its Liverpool to Paris Charles de Gaulle route, thus Ryanair is an indirect replacement to this service. Additionally, this is the first Ryanair route from Sibiu to the UK, with only Wizz Air serving the UK form Sibiu (to London Luton). Manchester currently have Ryanair flights to Milan Bergamo and Paris Beauvais, meaning the Ryanair additions will complement its existing network 40 miles away. With these new routes, Ryanair are forecast to serve 1.9 million annual passen...

Speculation is growing over Ryanair about to return to the Irish domestic market after a ten year hiatus. Yesterday (9th July 2021), Eamon Ryan TD,  Minister for Transport, Climate, Environment & Communications ashared  an announcement for the restoration of regional air services between Kerry and Dublin, with the route being operated by Ryanair on a commercial basis, operating twice daily flights from 19 July 2021. Stobart Air under a Public Service Obligation (PSO) procurement process, previously operated two domestic Irish routes: Donegal-Dublin and Kerry-Dublin until the airline collapsed in June 2021. Donegal-Dublin will remain operated under the PSO criteria and a preferred bidder has been selected with the hope to launch flights from 19 July 2021. The current procurement process is for a temporary replacement service for 7 months. The Irish Department for Transport will shortly launch a procurement process for a longer contract (up to 4 years) to ensure continuity o...

Ryanair announced a new route from London Stansted to Helsinki with flights commencing 31 October 2021. The announcement was one of 8 new routes from Helsinki, where Ryanair is making its debut in Winter 2021. Ryanair are also launching flights from Helsinki to Brussels Charleroi, Kaunas, Milan Bergamo, Paris Beauvais, Poznan, Riga and Warsaw Modlin. Ryanair are also launching a year round route from Tampere to London Stansted from 2 November 2021, after a 6 year hiatus on the route (FR2128/FR2129). This route will compete indirectly against Finnair (from London Heathrow) and Norwegian (from London Gatwick). In 2019 (the last full year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), 1,046,760 passengers travelled between London and Helsinki. In Winter 2021/22 (w/c 7 February 2022), Finnair will operate 28 weekly flights between London Heathrow and Helsinki, Ryanair will operate 7 weekly flights between London Stansted and Helsinki whilst Norwegian will operate 2 weekly flights between London Gatwick ...

16 June 2021 Ryanair announced a new route from Turin to Edinburgh with flights commencing 6 November 2021. The announcement was one of 15 new routes from Turin, where Ryanair plan to base 2 Boeing 737 aircraft from 30 June 2021. This comes just a day after Wizz Air announce a new base in Naples, also in Italy. This route will compete directly against Jet2. In 2019 (the last full year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), 4,515 passengers travelled between Edinburgh and Turin. In Winter 2021/22 (w/c 7 February 2022), both Jet2 and Ryanair will operate one weekly flight between Edinburgh and Turin. Flight timings: FR 5929 TRN 0615-0740 EDI (Saturdays) FR 5928 EDI 0805-1130 TRN (Saturdays) *Timings and frequencies correct at time of publication Photo: https://corporate.ryanair.com/media-centre/stock-images-gallery/

16 June 2021 Ryanair announced a new route from London Luton to Turin with flights commencing 6 November 2021. The announcement was one of 15 new routes from Turin, where Ryanair plan to base 2 Boeing 737 aircraft from 30 June 2021. This comes just a day after Wizz Air announce a new base in Naples, also in Italy. This route will compete directly against easyJet and indirectly against British Airways, easyJet (from Gatwick), Ryanair and TUI. In 2019 (the last full year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), 11,354 passengers travelled between London Luton and Turin, whilst a combined 361,431 passengers flying between London and Turin. In Winter 2021/22 (w/c 7 February 2022), both easyJet and Ryanair will operate one weekly flight between London Luton and Turin. From London Gatwick, British Airways will operate 17 weekly flights to Turin, easyJet six weekly flights and TUI two weekly flights. From London Stansted, Ryanair will operate 10 weekly flights to Turin and TUI one weekly flight. ...

London Southend was once the UK's fastest growing airports and in 2019 saw over 2 million passengers for the first time in its history. However, in March 2020, COVID hit and caused turmoil across the aviation sector, but one airport suffered more than any other in the UK - London Southend. In 2008, Stobart Group bought the airport for £21 million and initially extended the runway by 300m to allow the airport to handle Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft. In 2011, an on site railway station opened with direct trains to London and Stratford. Additionally, the airport announced a 10-year deal with easyJet, with the airline basing three A319 aircraft and in 2018 and offering over 70 weekly flights from the airport. In 2014, Stobart Air announced a franchise deal with Flybe to see two aircraft based at the airport with a third added in 2017 to serve domestic and European routes. In 2018, easyJet added a fourth aircraft, before Ryanair announced a new base at London Southend, being the t...

COVID-19 has led to many restrictions on international travel across the world, with a stronger demand for staycations and domestic travel. In the UK, many airlines have added new domestic flights in 2021 including Aer Lingus Regional, BA CityFlyer, Blue Islands, Eastern Airways, easyJet, Jet2 and Loganair. However, Ryanair have done the opposite - cutting all their domestic routes including flights from Belfast International, City of Derry, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London Stansted and Manchester. Could we see Ryanair return to the market? Ryanair vacated the UK domestic market due to the UK Civil Aviation Authority due to regulatory changes post Brexit (1). This has meant UK registered aircraft are required for domestic and non-EU routes. This was a blow for many airports - especially City of Derry, where Ryanair had flights to Edinburgh and Liverpool. Loganair stepped in and replaced Ryanair at City of Derry, adding a Liverpool route and increasing its existing Glasgow flights, whilst A...

8 June 2021 Ryanair announced a new route from Rome Fiumincio to Liverpool with flights commencing 1 August 2021. Blue Air previously served the route until 2019, when they cut the Liverpool base. This left the market unserved until 2021. Wizz Air announced in May 2021 that it will launch a new route to Liverpool from July 2021, meaning Ryanair will be the second airline on the route. In Peak Summer 2021, Ryanair will serve the Liverpool to Rome Fiumicino route four times weekly and Wizz Air will serve the Liverpool to Rome Fiumicino route three times weekly. In Winter 2021, Wizz Air will serve the Liverpool to Rome Fiumicino three times weekly. The Ryanair route is currently not on sale for Winter 2021 but is expected to go on sale at a later date. Flight timings: FR3009 FCO 0640-0825 LPL (Friday) FR3009 FCO 1340-1525 LPL (Wednesday and Sunday) FR3009 FCO 1810-1955 LPL (Monday) FR3010 LPL 0850-1235 FCO (Friday) FR3010 LPL 1550-1935 FCO (Wednesday and Sunday) FR3010 LPL 2020-0005+1 FCO...

During the 2000s, many airports introduced an Airport Development Fee yet these have gradually been removed - Newquay removed theirs in 2006 and Teesside will abolish their Development Fee from today (1 July 2021). Yet one airport has maintained their Development Fee - Norwich. An Airport Development Fee (ADF) is to help fund further development of the airport's infrastructure and passenger facilities and to maintain and develop the airport's route network. Norwich introduced the fee in 2007 and is currently charged at £10 for adults. Norwich Airport states the airport has helped to increase holiday destinations and retain scheduled services at the airport and fund the refurbishment and extension of the airport's terminal. However, the airport is one of the few remaining airports in the United Kingdom to maintain an ADF. So, should Norwich remove their fee? There are two noticeable examples of airports removing their fees - Newquay and Teesside. Newquay removed their ADF in...

On 5 March 2020, Flybe ceased operations, leading to many routes across the United Kingdom being cut. At Belfast City, Flybe had 70.3% of total seats and 80.3% of movements with a total of 679,927 scheduled departure seats. However, this gave Belfast City an opportunity - to be less reliant on one carrier and to spread its operations across many. First came Loganair - adding flights from Aberdeen and Inverness followed by Eastern Airways launching Southampton flights. In July 2020, BA CityFlyer announced a London City route from September 2020 before Stobart Air added 6 routes from Belfast City under the Aer Lingus Regional brand - Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds/Bradford and Manchester. This led to the first base at Belfast City following the collapse of Flybe - albeit at reduced frequencies. Finally in 2020, Loganair announced a new route from Dundee, the first route which was not previously served by Flybe. Yet it was in 2021 when Belfast City really f ound their...