Summary
- Ryanair has added Norwich to its ever-growing network.
- Alicante, Faro, and Malta will begin on April 1st (no joke).
- Ryanair plans to serve 22 UK airports next yr, greater than in some other country than Spain and Italy.
Ultra-low-cost carrier Ryanair will begin flying to East Anglia’s largest urban area, the primary time it has done so. The three coming destinations are unserved, which undoubtedly contributed to securing an excellent deal on fees and charges, together with promising to deliver 65,000+ passengers annually. Norwich’s slow recovery would even have helped, with January-September 2023 passengers down by a 3rd versus 2019 from the tip of the unique Flybe.
What is occurring?
When writing on December sixth, Norwich is listed on Ryanair’s website, and the next fights are bookable. In time, perhaps Malaga, also unserved from Norwich, will begin, subject to aircraft availability at its base there and the opposite usual considerations.
- Norwich-Alicante (see here): Mondays, Fridays
- Norwich-Faro (see here): Mondays, Fridays
- Norwich-Malta (see here): Mondays, Fridays
Image: GCMap
On Mondays, Ryanair flights will arrive in Norfolk at 10:10 (Alicante), 18:15 (Faro), and 19:50 (Malta). They may depart, as is common, after a 25-minute turnaround. On Fridays, flights will arrive at 16:40 (Alicante), 18:40 (Faro), and 19:10 (Malta). So, you see two 737-800s on the bottom concurrently on Friday evenings.
It can now serve 22 UK airports
Using Cirium to look at Ryanair’s April-October 2024 network indicates that it plans to serve 22 UK airports, as shown below. As at all times, things could change. It can fly to more UK airports than some other country except Spain (27) and Italy (26).
Image: GCMap
It can have 222 airports across its entire network. Not only does it now include Norwich, but additionally Sarajevo; the primary time it’ll fly to the Bosnia and Herzegovina capital.
If departing flights are considered, seven UK airports make its top 50. Naturally, London Stansted is first and by a superb margin, then Manchester (seventh), Edinburgh (18th), Birmingham (thirty fifth), East Midlands (forty first), London Luton (forty eighth), and Bristol (forty ninth).
Photo: Ilie Silviu Alexandru | Shutterstock
Where has been cut?
Examining Ryanair’s UK airport portfolio since 2004 shows that it has stopped flying to Belfast City (a former base; I flew the carrier from East Midlands); Blackpool (I flew it from London Stansted, but Blackpool has closed to airlines); Doncaster Sheffield (airport closed); Humberside; Inverness; and London Southend (a former base).
Inverness is interesting. It served the Highlands airport year-round between October 2006 and July 2009. It didn’t fly from London but as a substitute the East Midlands and Liverpool. Inverness-East Midlands returned with Loganair in September 2019, nevertheless it didn’t last long.
Photo: InsectWorld | Shutterstock
What about Belfast?
Ryanair opened a base at Belfast City (shown below) in 2007 with one 737-800. As befits a downtown airport, it will not be only known for ease of use and placement, but additionally for limited operating hours and a brief runway.
With a network of domestic routes, it pulled out 37 months later and reverted to the long-served City of Derry. That modified in 2016 when it announced a base at Belfast International, which ended 62 months later.
Photo: Ardfern | Wikimedia Commons
Motivated by the exit of Aer Lingus, Ryanair returned to Belfast City in June 2021 with a summer-seasonal network of leisure-driven markets. But it surely left just 4 months later. And, in one more twist, it reopened its Belfast International base in March 2023. Phew.
Where else would you just like the carrier to fly within the UK? Tell us within the comments.