Ryanair proudly announced that it is launching six new routes from London, United Kingdom, this summer. The additions will take the low-cost carrier’s number of routes from Stansted, Gatwick, and Luton Airports to more than 180.

The expansion continues

The Irish giant will conduct over 3,000 flights a week from London airports with the support of the new scale-up this summer. The move comes amid a $5.7 billion investment in the capital of the UK’s aviation industry, backed by 57 based aircraft and the supplying of more than 1,600 crew and engineering job opportunities.

The new routes are broken down by the following:

• Edinburgh, Scotland: 3x daily
• Belfast, Northern Ireland: 2x daily
• Cornwall, England: 3x daily
• Asturias, Spain: 3x daily
• Leipzig, Germany: 3x daily
• Klagenfurt, Austria: 2x daily

Check out London to Edinburgh flights here.

While half of the new routes are to the UK, the other three give Ryanair an extra presence across three continental countries. Thus, the airline continues to bolster its presence across Europe with its Boeing 737 aircraft.

Strong start to the year

Speaking of the 737, 14 MAX 8-200s will be based in the London area this summer to help offer a 10% increase in flight frequencies. The rise in capacity is also supported by more frequencies on summer sun routes to the likes of Malaga, Mallorca, and Nantes.

The momentum won't stop at Ryanair. Within the UK, the carrier announced a series of new flights to Portugal, including new services to Porto and Faro. This followed the addition of 21 new routes across the carrier's winter schedule. This progress is matched across Europe. For instance, recently announced the launch of Boeing 737-800 flights from Barcelona to Copenhagen.

Looking ahead

All in all, Ryanair anticipates 25 million passengers from the UK up until the end of the 2024 financial year. Throughout the continent, the airline now has 90 bases and 517 aircraft that support more than 2,400.

In a press conference in London attended by Simple Flying this afternoon, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary concluded that his company is "the UK’s number one airline" and is proud that the operator continues to provide jobs and growth throughout the country.

However, he has cited challenges such as the impact of Brexit, the war in Ukraine, and the UK's high Air Passenger Duty (APD). The executive reiterated the need to revamp the high APD in the country and has called on the government to support aviation recovery by scrapping the tax.

Still, O’Leary is hopeful for the future as Ryanair just surpassed two million bookings in a weekend for the first time. Notably, outbound UK flights formed a strong portion of this activity.