Ryanair invests $300 million in Lisbon Airport

Ryanair announced on Thursday that it will invest $300 million (€253.4 million) in Lisbon airport, where it will allocate three more aircraft from November as part of its 2021 winter schedule.

The airline will thus have a total of seven aircraft at the Lisbon base and will operate 50 routes and over 250 weekly flights from Lisbon, including 22 new routes to destinations in Italy, Morocco, France, Spain, Poland, United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany, it said in a statement.

The Irish airline also said that “it is now imperative” that the Portuguese government “supports this investment, speeding up the development of airport infrastructures in Lisbon, including the opening of Montijo airport,” the statement said.

It also considers that Ryanair’s growth in Lisbon will support the recovery of the economy and tourism industry, creating 4,000 direct and indirect jobs in the region, and that it will improve the country’s connectivity.

Ryanair’s commercial director, Jason McGuiness, welcomed the announcement of this winter’s expansion plan for Lisbon with “three more aircraft at the airport, which represents an investment of $300 million, and the 22 new routes.

He stressed that Ryanair will operate “more short-haul European routes from Lisbon than any other airline this winter, and will be one of the biggest foreign investors in the Portuguese economy, creating local jobs and contributing over €138 million annually in government taxes and fees.”

McGuiness said that Ryanair remains committed to supporting Portugal’s tourism industry and to “recovering connectivity” after the impact of the pandemic, and also notes that this expansion will generate “five million passengers per year in Lisbon.”