Ryanair has unveiled a big expansion of its winter schedule from a number of UK airports, including Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Stansted and Liverpool this winter.
The Winter 2026 schedule from London and the UK will offer 435 routes (including three new routes from Stansted to Glasgow, Malmo and Parma and one new route from Luton to Venice) as well as another 18 new routes from 19 other UK airports.
Ryanair is anticipating to have served a whopping 63 million passengers throughout 2026, maintaining its crown as the UK’s biggest passenger airline. And the oh-so ambitious airline doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon, either, as it has been revealed that Ryanair wants to grow its annual passenger number to a rather eye-watering 80 million by the end of 2030.
But this growth can only be delivered if the govtenment abolishes its damaging and penal APD tax, which is now the highest in Europe. APD rates depend on the length of the flight and cabin class, and rose in April. Economy passengers are currently charged £8 for a domestic flight and £15 for a short-haul flight of up to 2,000 miles.
The full list of the 22 new routes added is as follows:
The routes were unveiled as Michael O’Leary launched his latest attack on taxation, threatening to withdraw services from UK airports to reduce his company’s tax bill. The CEO claimed that holidaymakers face being “double taxed” under Labour’s plans for a tourist levy on overnight stays.
The Government has proposed giving regional leaders across large parts of England the power to introduce the charge to raise money for their local areas. Mr O’Leary argued it would add another tax for travellers who already pay air passenger duty (APD).
Speaking at a press conference in London on Wednesday, the Ryanair chief executive said he did not oppose the plans outright, but called for APD to be abolished. He said: “We don’t have any great fundamental philosophical difference with his regional tax, where you allow the regional mayors to add a tax on hotel nights, but that is a double tax on tourism. Abolish APD. You can’t tax tourists on the way into the UK and then double tax them for the hotel night.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
