Ryanair will base a 33rd aircraft at Dublin Airport (DUB) for the 2022 summer season and operate more than 900 weekly flights to 120 destinations—the Irish ULCC’s largest ever DUB schedule.

The carrier said it is investing an additional $100 million in its DUB base. A big portion of the summer routes from the Irish capital are to vacation destinations in Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Ryanair said it is operating 11 new routes from DUB this summer versus 2021 and 22 more routes than its pre-pandemic 2019 DUB summer.

The 11 destinations added this summer—that were not flown to from DUB in summer 2021—are: Agadir (AGA), Morocco; Alghero (AHO), Italy; Cardiff (CWL), Wales; Kosice (KSC), Slovakia; Madeira (FNC), Portugal; Nimes (FNI), France; Nuremberg (NUE), Germany; Plovdiv (PDV), Bulgaria; Sibiu (SBZ) and Suceava (SCV) in Romania; and Zagreb (ZAG), Croatia.

Major European airports to be served by Ryanair from DUB in the 2022 summer schedule include Amsterdam (AMS); Barcelona (BCN); Berlin (BER); Brussels (BRU); Brussels Charleroi (CRL); Madrid (MAD); Milan Bergamo (BGY); Milan Malpensa (MXP); Paris Beauvais (BVA); Prague (PRG); Vienna (VIE); and Warsaw (WAW).

Ryanair said the robust summer schedule from DUB is the “direct result” of the implementation by the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) of its Traffic Recovery Support Scheme (TRSS).

“With many airlines cutting capacity and routes this summer, Ireland must lower access costs as it competes with regions and airports in other EU countries for a diminished pool of airline carriers in Europe, which will shrink total short haul seats in Europe by up to 15% this summer,” the airline said in a statement. “Ryanair is the only airline in Europe adding capacity in significant volume.”

Ryanair added: “The TRSS scheme must at a minimum be extended by the [Irish] government into the winter 22/23 season to ensure that Irish inbound tourism, particularly post summer, secures the capacity, connectivity and tourists which are vital to the growth of the Irish economy.“

Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said: “We are pleased to announce our largest ever flight schedule at Dublin Airport this summer … After two years of stop\start ineffective travel restrictions, the DAA have finally been given the tools to incentivise travel with its Traffic Recovery Support Scheme … This scheme gives Ryanair the confidence to invest in our largest ever summer schedule and largest number of based aircraft at Dublin Airport. The DAA TRSS scheme will ensure airport charges are competitively priced vs. other EU countries this summer, and Ryanair have responded by launching its largest ever investment in aircraft, connections and jobs at Dublin Airport.”

Ryanair has lobbied airports to offer COVID recovery incentives cited the lack of such support as a reason for its exit from both of Belfast's airports last year.

“Government funding announced in [the Irish government’s] 2022 budget has allowed DAA to offer additional attractive incentives to our airline partners to rebuild international connectivity from Dublin Airport and this investment by Ryanair for the busy summer season ahead is testament to that,” DAA CEO Dalton Philips added.