Ryanair announces seven new routes for winter 

The launch of the new flights brings Ryanair’s total routes for winter 2022/23 to and from Ireland to 177. Picture: Dan Linehan

Ryanair has announced seven new routes from Dublin and Cork airport as part of their winter schedule.

Dublin airport will see new flights to Castellón, Genoa, Klagenfurt, Rome, Rovaniemi and Venice.

Cork will see the addition of a route to Newcastle.

The launch of the new flights brings Ryanair’s total routes for winter 2022/23 to and from Ireland to 156. The new flight routes will provide a boost to the airports as they increase passenger numbers following Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The budget airline has 90 bases and over 2,500 routes operating across 36 European countries this winter.

Jason McGuinness, Director of Commercial, Ryanair said: “As Europe’s no.1 airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce our Winter ‘22/23 schedule for Ireland with 174 routes to popular destinations across Europe, including new routes to/from Rome, Venice and Newcastle."

"Although this schedule offers plenty of choice, demand is growing swiftly, so customers should book their Winter ‘22/23 getaways early to ensure the lowest possible fares," he added.

The airline is currently growing its fleet of new B737 “Gamechanger” aircraft, which burn 16% less fuel and 40% produce less noise emissions while adding 4% more seats.

Ryanair is currently facing accusations of racial discrimination after forcing South Africans to take a test in Afrikaans before boarding flights home from Europe and Britain.

The budget airline, which claimed the “simple questionnaire” was part of efforts to tackle fraudulent South African passport holders, is facing criticism for conducting the general knowledge test in a language that is the third most used in the country and had a controversial role in the oppression of black citizens during apartheid.

It is unclear why the Ryanair test has been conducted in Afrikaans rather than others such as Zulu and Xhosa, which are the first and second most used across South African households.

Additional reporting from the Guardian