-
Ryanair
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- FR/RYR
- Airline Type:
- Low-Cost Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Dublin Airport, London Stansted Airport, Milan Bergamo Airport
- Year Founded:
- 1985
- Airline Group:
- Ryanair Group
- CEO:
- Eddie Wilson
- Country:
- Ireland
Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair will resume its popular Stansted-Edinburgh service next month. The carrier has a record number of routes from Edinburgh and Stansted on tap this winter.
Ryanair’s Stansted-Edinburgh returns after three years
Ryanair will relaunch flights between London Stansted Airport and Edinburgh Airport on October 30th, marking a return to a route that was unceremoniously axed in the wake of the Boeing 737 MAX groundings in early 2019.
There will be up to 14 weekly flights on Scotland’s busiest air corridor which will see Ryanair compete with the likes of easyJet and British Airways.
The airline was operating daily flights between EDI and STN before Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 in March 2019 led to the MAX being grounded. This had the knock-on effect of delaying Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 deliveries to Ryanair, forcing the airline to cancel multiple routes, including EDI-STN.
A record-breaking winter
Ryanair is gearing up for its biggest ever winter with a whopping 3,000 daily flights across 88 bases scheduled. This includes a record 57 routes from Edinburgh Airport – 12 more than last year – after Ryanair bolstered the number of aircraft stationed in Scotland’s capital to 10.
Ryanair’s Director of Commercial, Jason McGuinness said:
“Ryanair is delighted to announce a new route to our Edinburgh Winter’22 schedule operating twice daily to London Stansted. Ryanair’s Edinburgh based fleet of 10 aircraft ($1bn total investment), 5 of which are our new more environmentally friendly Boeing 737 8-200 Gamechanger aircraft, will underpin our largest ever Edinburgh Winter schedule.”
According to The Scotsman, the Irish carrier has now overtaken easyJet as the biggest airline at Edinburgh Airport with 1.75 million passengers carried between April and August, accounting for 31% of total airport traffic.
It will also be Ryanair’s busiest winter at Stansted Airport with a total of 129 routes and over 2,000 weekly flights to/from London’s third-busiest airport.
The airline has already smashed pre-COVID passenger records this year following an all-time high of 16.9 million passengers served in August.
Will it prove a hit?
Edinburgh-London Heathrow came out on top as the busiest domestic air route in the UK over the summer of 2021, demonstrating a clear demand for shuttles between the two capital cities. In 2018, Edinburgh was the second-busiest destination from Stansted Airport, eclipsed only by Dublin.
Ryanair will have a record 10 aircraft based in Edinburgh, including five Boeing 737 MAX 8-200s. Photo: Steve Knight via Flickr .
Edinburgh Airport aviation director Kate Sherry said,
“This new route to Stansted puts passengers in good stead for a great deal to London. It was a popular route before the pandemic and we’re sure its performance will be capital in the coming months.”
Ryanair has launched a sale to celebrate this new route, with fares starting at £19.99 for trips between November and the end of January 2023. Visit the Ryanair website quickly as the sale ends on October 2nd.
Do you remember flying with Ryanair between Stansted and Edinburgh before the pandemic? How did you find the experience? Let us know in the comments.
Source: The Scotsman
Source: simpleflying.com
