Ryanair to add more routes from regional airports

Low cost airline Ryanair is expecting to carry an extra one million passengers in 2013 as a result of adding nine new routes to airports in the Midlands and the north west of England.

Five new routes will be added at Manchester in the summer of 2013, heading for Corfu, Krakow, Lanzarote, Pahos and Trapani. The routes are expected to carry 360,000 new passengers and to create 360 new jobs.

Liverpool airport will see two new Ryanair routes next summer, one heading for Lublin and the other to Zadar. Ryanair is targeting an additional 180,000 passengers from Liverpool, creating 180 new jobs as a result.

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In the East Midlands, Ryanair will be adding flights to Marseille and Menorca next summer and flying more frequently on 17 other routes. In all, it expects to carry 460,000 new passengers from the East Midlands, creating 460 new jobs in the process.

The group has ordered two new aircraft to support his expansion, one of which will fly from the East Midlands while the other will operate out of Manchester.

"Ryanair today celebrates 1m passenger growth at three North West airports, with 9 new routes, which will sustain 1,000 new jobs at Manchester, Liverpool and East Midlands airports," said publicity-hungry Michael O'Leary, the boss of Ryanair.

"Our 34 Manchester routes (including 5 new to Corfu, Krakow, Lanzarote , Paphos and Trapani), 39 Liverpool routes (including 2 new to Lublin and Zadar) and 38 East Midlands routes (including 2 new to Marseille and Menorca) will deliver almost 7m passengers and sustain over 7,000 jobs at Manchester, Liverpool and East Midlands airports in 2013," O'Leary added.

JH