Budget airline Ryanair is expanding its presence at Bristol Airport, creating tens of new jobs, it has announced.
The £500m investment will see the carrier base one new aircraft at the South West transport hub, bringing its total Bristol-based fleet to five.
It is also launching two new routes - to Porto, in Portugal, and Venice, in Italy - taking its number of flight routes from Bristol Airport to 25.
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Under the plans, the airline said it would also increase the frequency of flights from Bristol to cities such as Alicante and Malaga, in Spain; Budapest, in Hungary; Sofia in Bulgaria; and the island of Lanzarote.
According to Ryanair, the investment will support more than 1,700 local jobs, including 30 pilot and cabin crew roles.
Jade Kirwan of Ryanair said: “Ryanair is pleased to announce more growth, investment and jobs for the South West with the launch of Ryanair’s winter 23/24 schedule for Bristol.
“With 25 routes for winter, including our new Porto and Venice routes, as well as increased frequencies on another 10 popular winter sun destinations, like Alicante, Budapest, Lanzarote, Malaga and Sofia, our customers in the South West can avail of a wide range of winter destinations at Ryanair’s infamously low fares.”
The announcement comes just weeks after Bristol Airport started work on a huge £60m transformation project. The plans include the creation of a public transport interchange hub as well as a multi-storey car park.
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The airport has said its plans to increase the number of passengers using the transport hub to 12 million a year will create thousands of new jobs, open-up new direct air links, and support inbound tourism.
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