Ryanair to launch more Shannon and Knock flights

Ryanair will launch further services at Shannon and Knock in coming weeks, both airports confirmed on Tuesday.

The airline plans to double current Shannon routes to 16 from Monday, July 19th, the day on which the Government plans to end its international travel ban following 16 months of tight Covid-19 restrictions.

Ryanair also intends flying from Knock to Milan Bergamo this winter, adding it to British and Spanish cities served from the western airport.

The airline restarted flights to Spain, UK and eastern Europe from Shannon Airport last month, and is now serving eight destinations.

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State-owned Shannon Group confirmed that Ryanair would add a further eight services to popular sunspots in Spain and Portugal from July 19th to the end of October.

In all, 72 flights a week will operate through Shannon up to the end of October, while Ryanair also intends beginning a winter service to Turin, Italy, in December.

Mary Considine, Shannon Group chief executive, called the new services important milestones on the road to restoring travel from the airport.

The airport plans ad campaigns in newspapers, radio and social media to coincide with the reopening.

Restrictions

Ryanair will begin its Milan-Knock service in November, flying twice a week between the airport and the Italian city.

Joe Gilmore, Knock's managing director, predicted that the route would be "very popular following the resumption of non-essential travel from Monday, 19th July".

Jason McGuinness, Ryanair’s director of commercial, cautioning that Covid-19 restrictions change regularly, said customers could change bookings with no fees until the end of December.

Government restrictions have left Irish air travel lagging a recovery in Europe that has been under way since March.

Official figures show there were 313 flights in and out of the State on Sunday July 11th. The total left the Republic at number 23 in Europe in terms of flight activity, lagging behind Montenegro, which has a population of around 620,000.