Ryanair has underlined its commitment to Leeds Bradford Airport – as it unveils its summer schedule of flights from Yorkshire’s major airport.
The budget airline will operate 21 routes from Leeds Bradford – where it has three aircraft and almost 1,000 employees – with destinations including Spain, the South of France, Greece, Malta, Gdansk, Cracow and Riga.
Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said the airline, which accounts for 26% of traffic at the airport, saw Leeds Bradford as a major part of its plans for further expansion.
This year, the company expects more than 90m people to travel with Ryanair to and from its UK locations.
“We have an airline with 302 aircraft and we have orders for 380 in the next two years,” he said. “We want to be number one in the UK market and every UK airport is important to us.
“The North of England has seen under-investment and we can bring a lot to Yorkshire.
“It is possible we could grow further at Leeds Bradford.”
Tony Hallwood, aviation development director at Leeds Bradford, said: “Ryanair are a great partner.
“We brought them on board almost 19 years ago and they have grown dramatically in the last three or four years.
“We have exciting plans to increase passenger numbers from 3.3m today to 5m-plus by the end of the decade and Ryanair can provide a significant part of that.”
