Ryanair plans to increase flights from Belfast International Airport if the 32m annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport remains, identifying Belfast as its “closest viable alternative”.
The airline has already moved 50,000 flight seats from Dublin to Belfast for the winter schedule, which includes a new route to Kaunas, Lithuania, along with additional capacity for other destinations.
Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Dara Molloy criticised the cap for harming tourism and economic growth in Ireland and is calling on the Irish Transport Minister to take action to increase flight slots at Dublin Airport.
Belfast International Airport’s management welcomes the potential increase in passenger demand and is committing over £100 m in improvements to enhance facilities for travellers and airlines.
Belfast International chief executive Dan Owens shared: “From our side we’d welcome anything that drives additional passenger demand. We’re investing over £100 m over the next five years in the airport to improve facilities for passengers and for airlines. So we welcome any sort of growth that could come our way from that side of things.”
