Budget carrier Ryanair is expanding operations from its Dublin base this summer by adding another 14 short-haul destinations.
The Irish airline will operate more than 2,000 weekly services from Dublin to 130 destinations in summer 2023, with the addition of routes to cities including Stockholm, Genoa, Brindisi, Trieste, Venice and Leipzig.
Ryanair is increasing overall capacity at Dublin by 10 per cent compared to last summer with a fleet of 33 aircraft based at the airport catering for up to 16 million passengers.
But despite this growth, the airline warned that an increase in airport charges at Dublin would lead to it expanding elsewhere in the future.
“Sadly, charges are set to rise by up to 45 per cent at Dublin airport and that will inevitably mean Ryanair locating future aircraft and route expansion elsewhere in Europe,” said the carrier in a statement.
“The post-Covid recovery incentives in Ireland clearly demonstrated that Ryanair responds to lower costs with more seat capacity and new routes.
“Dublin airport needs to remain competitive versus other European airports, with low-cost, efficient facilities and services to support the Irish economy.”
The 14 destinations being introduced by Ryanair from Dublin are: Asturias and Castellon in Spain, Brindisi, Genoa, Trieste and Venice in Italy, Burgas in Bulgaria, Cluj and Iasi in Romania, Kos and Zakynthos in Greece, Leipzig in Germany, the Swedish capital Stockholm and Newquay in Cornwall.