The new schedule comes following the announcement of a US $300 million investment at Lisbon Airport, where three new aircraft (seven in total) will be based starting in November.
New routes for this winter include Lisbon to Barcelona, Madrid, Tenerife, Birmingham, Bournemouth and Malta; Porto to Fez, Bari and Agadir and Faro to Baden.
Ryanair Group CEO Michael O’Leary said: “As a major investor and employer in Portugal, we are pleased to invest an additional $300 million (3 new B737 aircraft) at Lisbon airport this winter, supporting growth in Lisbon and the Portuguese regions after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our Winter 2021 schedule from Portugal includes 124 destinations, including 26 new routes from Lisbon, Porto and Faro to fantastic destinations such as Bari, Agadir, Lanzarote, Malta, Palermo, among many others.
“Ryanair will continue to invest in Portugal, as we remain committed to the recovery of tourism in the regions and the creation of well-paid local jobs. To maximise Ryanair’s growth, we appeal to the Portuguese Government and the slot coordinator in Lisbon to prevent TAP from accumulating take-off and landing slots that it does not have the capacity to use, as TAP has already confirmed the reduction of its fleet by 20 %. TAP should not be authorised to pretend that it can use weekly slots throughout the season, but then return them to the regulator on a weekly basis just to prevent competitors from using them.”