Ryanair To Base 11th Aircraft In Edinburgh For Bumper Summer Schedule

Ryanair has announced an expansion to its Edinburgh base, where, this summer, it will base an extra aircraft, bringing its total to 11. This will facilitate a 25%+ year-on-year capacity boost, as well as the introduction of six new routes. The growth will help the airline handle close to five million passengers a year in Edinburgh.

The key figures

As revealed yesterday, the presence of an 11th based aircraft at Scotland’s Edinburgh Airport (EDI) will help enable the opening of six new routes. This represents an increase of almost 10%, and brings the Irish low-cost giant’s portfolio of routes out of Edinburgh to a grand total of 69. Many others will see increased frequencies.

Ryanair’s investment in Edinburgh now totals $1.1 billion, and the airline will be hoping to offset this through the increased passenger numbers that the 25%+ capacity growth will enable. With a busy summer planned, Ryanair expects to handle an annual total of 4.7 million passengers in Edinburgh. Dara Brady, Ryanair’s Director of Marketing, Digital & Communication, welcomed the growth, stating:

“This record 2023 schedule will see the addition of one new based aircraft (11 total), representing another $100m investment in Edinburgh Airport ($1.1bn total) and supporting over 330 highly paid pilot and crew jobs, as Ryanair continues to deliver more traffic, connectivity, and lower fares than any other airline for the UK.”

Photo: Ryanair

Where are the new routes?

The six new routes that Ryanair is launching from Edinburgh this summer are spread both across the UK and further afield in Europe. Internationally speaking, the airline is set to begin flying from Scotland’s busiest airport to Rhodes (RHO) on April 1st and Venice (VCE) on March 28th. The former of these will see it face competition from easyJet and Jet2, while easyJet only serves the latter at present.

Somewhat closer to home, Ryanair will also commence flights to Belfast International (BFS), Bournemouth (BOH), London Stansted (STN), and Newquay (NQY). A key role in enabling these was the UK government’s decision to cut Air Passenger Duty (APD) taxes by 50% on domestic routes from April this year. Nonetheless, Ryanair wants to see such fees abolished altogether, as Brady explains:

“If we are to continue to grow and to drive recovery and connectivity to the UK, Prime Minister Sunak must immediately scrap APD in full for all travel (not just domestic travel) and provide incentives for airlines like Ryanair to stimulate growth and recovery for the UK and its regions.”

Photo: Fotokon/Shutterstock

Competitive corridors

Much like the new international routes out of Edinburgh, Ryanair’s new domestic services will also face competition. Belfast International already sees service from easyJet, while Aer Lingus links Edinburgh with Belfast City (BHD). Meanwhile, easyJet flies to London Stansted, and Loganair to Newquay.

That being said, Ryanair is set to have a monopoly on the route down to Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. Meanwhile, popular holiday hotspots such as Alicante (ALC) and Barcelona (BCN) are among the 30 routes on which the airline plans to increase its frequencies from Edinburgh this summer. Kate Sherry, Edinburgh Airport’s Aviation Director, views the routes with excitement, stating:

“It is always our aim to offer as much choice as possible from Edinburgh. The announcement of this schedule comes as we continue to build towards a strong summer season at the airport. This investment, which will also see an additional Ryanair aircraft based at EDI, is a real show of faith in the market, illustrating the growing demand for travel we’re seeing at Edinburgh.”