Ryanair has added more than 500 flights to its service out of London Stansted across the October half-term school holidays, taking a swipe at rival hub Heathrow for its passenger limits, in the process.
The new flights will equate to around a further 100,000 available seats to the likes of Spain, Italy, Portugal, France and Greece.
Taking a swipe at Heathrow Airport and its daily cap on passenger numbers, Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary said both Ryanair and Stansted have enough staff to handle the additional flights.
Mr O’Leary, said: “While Hopeless Heathrow continues to cut flights and raise fares for families, Ryanair and London Stansted continue to add flights, and offer thousands of low-fare seats for the Autumn mid-term break.”
“With over 500 additional flights, more than 100,000 additional seats, and prices starting from just €29.99, Ryanair looks forward to welcoming thousands of additional families during the Autumn Mid-Term break on its low-fare flights to/from London Stansted Airport.
“While hopeless Heathrow continues to mismanage air travel, Ryanair and London Stansted will continue to grow and deliver for London families, the way we have through all of Summer 2022,“ Mr O’Leary added.
Heathrow, this week, extended its 100,000 departing passenger per day limit to the end of October. The passenger cap – introduced in July to cope with passenger chaos – was originally supposed to end on September 11.
The airport’s bosses said the extension is needed to cope with ongoing staff shortages and a busy October travel period.
Heathrow – which has already seen improvements since the start of the cap – said the move will “provide passengers with confidence ahead of their half-term getaways”.
Apart from Ryanair, the likes of Virgin Atlantic, Which? and airline industry group the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have criticised the passenger cap.
