Low-cost carrier Ryanair revealed its summer 2025 schedule for Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, despite claiming that regional UK travel and tourism is “suffering” due to the new labour government.
The new summer schedule for Belfast includes 19 routes, featuring a new service to Kaunas, Lithuania, along with more flights to popular summer destinations such as Malaga, Alicante and Malta.
In a statement issued on February 26, 2024, the airline said this will provide Ryanair’s Northern Irish customers with “more choice and regular connections in Europe”.
“Since returning to Belfast International Airport, Ryanair has offered local passengers’ greater choice and connectivity with fantastic routes on offer,” said Belfast International Airport’s CEO Dan Owens. “Announcement that they will deliver 19 routes over the summer period including the new summer route to Kaunas in Lithuania only grows this offering.”
The airline said that its growth is driven by its two aircraft based in Belfast, which is a $200 million investment and helps create more than 1,000 local jobs.
Despite Ryanair’s ongoing investment and expansion in Belfast since it reopened its base in 2023, regional UK connectivity and tourism “is suffering” under the new labour government, the airline added.
“Ryanair could be growing more rapidly to/from Belfast and the wider UK, but Rachel Reeves bizarre decision to raise APD taxes by £2 per passenger damages these growth prospects, and in particular regional UK airports,” said Ryanair’s Chief Marketing Officer Dara Brady.
“If the UK government wants to deliver growth, they should abolish their penal and damaging APD tax, which makes the UK uncompetitive when EU countries like Sweden, Hungary, Ireland, and regions in Italy are abolishing aviation taxes, and winning dramatic traffic, tourism, and jobs growth from the UK,” Brady added.
The increase in APD tax unfairly affects regular UK families travelling abroad on holiday and deters millions of potential tourists from visiting the country, Ryanair’s statement continued.
According to Ryanair, the rise in UK APD is “damaging tourism and economic growth in the UK regions”. The airline urges Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to quickly eliminate the APD tax.
“Ryanair continues to call on Rachel Reeves to immediately abolish this stupid APD tax, which will deliver immediate and much needed growth across the regions,” the statement concluded.
