Ryanair today announced its largest ever summer schedule to Naples with 58 routes, including six new to Gdansk, Memmingen, Paphos, Shannon, Trapani and Zakynthos, as well as increased frequencies on existing routes including Palermo, Trieste, Toulouse and Valencia.
This growth is supported by Ryanair's $500 million investment in Naples, with five aircraft 'based' and 150 aviation jobs for pilots, cabin crew and engineers.
Ryanair's summer 2023 schedule from Naples includes over 530 weekly flights; a 90% growth compared to the pre-Covid period with 3,9 million passengers to/from Naples; over 3.300 jobs.
The company intends to invest further in Naples, but – it is underlined in a note – “this growth is subject to review by the Municipality of the introduction of a new boarding tax of 2 euros (per departing passenger) which is added to the municipal surcharge of 6,50 euros.
This will not only make Naples completely uncompetitive compared to other EU destinations, but will also prevent airlines, such as Ryanair, from investing and growing further.”
Meanwhile, to celebrate the opening of these six new routes, Ryanair has launched a special promotion with fares starting from €29,99 for travel between April and October 2023 which can be booked on Ryanair.com.
“As Italy’s No. 1 airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce its biggest ever schedule to Naples for summer 2023, giving Naples customers even more choice for their summer holidays at the lowest fares in Europe”, comments Ryanair Commercial Director Jason McGuinness from Naples.
“Ryanair continues to provide more traffic, more jobs and lower fares than any other airline in Italy. However, if Ryanair wants to continue to grow and invest in the Region, the Municipality of Naples must revoke its proposed two-euro increase in the departing passenger tax, which would make Naples one of the most expensive and inaccessible airports in Italy.
This summer’s growth for Naples is contingent on the elimination of this new tax, ensuring the region remains competitive with other areas with low access costs. Additionally, we call on the Italian Government to immediately eliminate the municipal surcharge (6,50 euros per departing passenger) from all Italian airports to ensure continued growth of the Italian tourism economy.”
For the CEO of Gesac Roberto Barbieri “Ryanair's numbers confirm the extraordinary connectivity of the Neapolitan airport and its ability to boost the local economy. After the pandemic shock, we have painstakingly rebuilt and expanded the flight offering, bringing visitors to our Region well beyond the peak summer period, contributing to the deseasonalization of tourist flows.
In the interest of all and according to reasonable methods identified with the Government, we hope to resolve the issue of the increase in the municipal surcharge, in order to maintain the current traffic volumes and simultaneously develop the Salerno airport, which will gradually become operational starting next year".
Article published on March 23, 2023 - 17pm
