Ryanair to Open 29 New Routes to Spain this Winter

More great news for Spain

Ryanair to Open 29 New Routes to Spain this Winter

Irish budget airline Ryanair is set to add 29 extra routes to Spain, leaving them with over 500 routes to and from Spain.

Spain remains a popular destination for spending the summer in the sun and this popularity will only increase with the news that Ryanair are set to open 29 new routes to Spain this year. This will bring Ryanair up to 500 routes, and comes at the perfect time as Spanish tourism is flying quite high as it is. 

Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary explained the reasoning behind the increase in routes, saying that Spain was one of the most important markets for the airline. He explained that around 27% of Ryanair’s traffic is related to Spain, which is no doubt important to the company. 

Key highlights of the additions include extra flights between Seville and Edinburgh, Bristol, Rabat and Tangier in Morocco, and Venice. The extra connections to Barcelona will see flights to Burgundy in France and Palermo in Italy, while Palma de Majorca is set to welcome flights from Milan, Rome, and Dusseldorf. 

Alicante is set to offer a connection to Newquay in England, Gdansk in Poland, and Bologna in Italy, along with domestic flights to Seville. 

Ryanair will be operating flights in 26 Spanish airports after the expansion, handling over 41 million passengers each year, which is a major share of the overall tourism market of Spain. 

Spain registered a massive increase in low-cost air traffic to the country with a 13.7% increase.

Tour Operator Thomas Cook to Open New Spanish Airline

Tour Operator Thomas Cook to Open New Spanish Airline

Good news for Spain and traveling passengers 

UK-based Thomas Cook – the creator of many package holidays (and memories thereof) for Brits – recently announced that they are to set up a brand new Spanish airline to cope with the expected increase in flights to the country in 2018.

During a time where a number of cheap airlines are going bust – such as Air Berlin and Monarch – or are struggling with staffing problems – such as Ryanair – Thomas Cook is looking to take advantage of the uncertainty of the industry by entering what could be the most competitive, and potentially lucrative, aspect of the aviation industry; serving the country of Spain.

Spanish airports are some of the busiest in Europe, bringing in holidaymakers from around the world across the year, mostly thanks to the perennial popularity of the country as being one of the very best tourist destinations in the world.

This is why Thomas Cook are to base their newest airline in Palma de Majorca, and are to begin flights to and from the Balearic Island from early 2018. The fleet will start out as three Airbus A320 planes, flying with a Spanish operating license, but Thomas Cook has said that they are likely to increase their fleet to meet the demand they expect to see.

Chief Ariline Officer of Thomas Cook Christopher Debus released a statement saying that the new base and airline will provide them with the platform to manage the seasonal demand for their business better, giving them better control over things at a lower cost as they continue expanding their destination choices for customers.

As large a company as Thomas Cook is, even they typically make losses during the winter. This is why operating seasonal staff directly from Spain allows the company to respond better to the demand and maintain profits between November and March, which is generally the quiet times for the company and Spanish tourism as a whole. 

Operating out of Majorca allows the Thomas Cook Balearics Division to better loan planes to other group divisions, meaning that the firm should have a better looking balance sheet. Thomas Cook currently have 94 aircraft and deal with a total of 16.7 million passengers on an annual basis.