Ryanair adds four new routes this summer for biggest ever Malta schedule

Low-cost airline Ryanair, operating through its subsidiary Malta Air, will operate 66 routes between April and October • New routes to Baden, Memmingen, East Midlands and Stockholm

Ryanair’s Malta summer schedule will cover 66 routes, including four new ones and increased frequencies on more than 20 others, the company said on Wednesday.

This is the low-cost airline’s biggest ever schedule for Malta and will see more than 470 weekly flights, a 26% growth over last year.

The four new destinations are Baden and Memmingen in Germany, East Midlands in the UK and Stockholm in Sweden.

The airline will also increase frequencies on a score of other routes, including Ciampino, Catania and Milan in Italy, Valencia and Barcelona in Spain and Vienna in Austria.

Ryanair carries an average of 3.5 million passengers every year to and from Malta and has six aircraft based on the island, operating under the subsidiary Malta Air.

David O’Brien, CEO Malta Air, said the airline will be offering Maltese residents and visitors to the islands more choice for their summer holidays “at the lowest fares in Europe”.

“The introduction of new routes further demonstrates Ryanair’s commitment to support inbound tourism from key markets and offer the Maltese improved connectivity across Europe,” he said.

He added that the 2023 schedule is underpinned by Ryanair’s six Malta-based aircraft, which he described as “a $600 million (€563m) investment” that is supporting over 3,000 local jobs including pilot, cabin crew and engineering jobs. “Ryanair continues to deliver more growth and lower fares than any other airline in Malta and Europe,” O’Brien said.

Malta Tourism Authority CEO Carlo Micallef said Malta was looking forward to an even stronger recovery this year after hitting 2.3 million arrivals in 2022. “We should be getting very close to 2019 record results,” he said.

The recovery is underpinned, Micallef added, by strong airline capacity increases both in terms of numbers of routes and in terms of frequencies.

“Ryanair and its Maltese subsidiary Malta Air are important contributors to this surge in airline connectivity and the announcement of their summer 2023 schedule is testament to their faith in the re-growing of Malta’s important tourism industry,” Micallef said.

Bookings for the summer routes have opened on Ryanair.com, with the airline offering a limited time promotion with seats starting from €29.99.