Ryanair have announced a major investment in Shannon, adding eight new routes from the western airport as part of its Shannon tourism recovery schedule.
The airline confirmed two new routes to Corfu and Gran Canaria, which began this week, while the remaining six routes will be brought on for the winter season.
As a result, Ryanair's offering from Shannon will increase to 16 routes during the summer and 18 during the winter, including Fuerteventura, Turin, Birmingham, Budapest, Edinburgh and London Luton.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the airline said it will operate "85 departing flights across the 34 routes", in addition to basing a second aircraft in Shannon from the latter part of this year, supporting over 600 jobs in the region.
Ryanair once again called on the Government to urgently implement the recommendations of the Aviation Taskforce, claiming the airline's aircraft based at Cork Airport have not returned "due to a lack of incentives, resulting in the loss of connectivity and jobs in the Cork region".
"If traffic and jobs are to return to Dublin and Cork airports, the Taoiseach must urgently implement incentives to attract Ryanair and other airlines to restore pre-pandemic capacity as Ryanair has done in Shannon airport," the statement added.
Shannon Group chief executive Mary Considine said they are delighted with the announcement, describing it as "an important step on our road to recovery".
"Restoring its second based aircraft here at Shannon demonstrates Ryanair’s continued commitment to our airport. The confirmation of 18 routes from Shannon for winter is very positive news for the airport and for this region after what has been a very difficult period for the aviation industry," Ms Considine added.
