And there will be new links from Emilia too, with Parma—from which flights will take off for Palermo, Reggio Calabria, and London Stansted.
Ryanair is strengthening its presence at some of Emilia-Romagna’s main airports, aiming to carry over 700,000 passengers a year. Three airports are involved: Forlì-Ravenna, Rimini, and Parma. The chief beneficiaries will be the 500 people employed in the sector locally, but also connectivity in general and budget tourism, thanks to fares announced at just under €30.
Rossella Amato, Ryanair’s head of communications, also explained how “the scrapping of the municipal surcharge decided by the Emilia-Romagna Region is fostering long-term traffic growth and economic development across the whole of Emilia-Romagna.”
For the uninitiated, the municipal surcharge on boarding fees is, in essence, the sum applied to passengers departing by air from Italian airports that the Region will pay to the State on the passengers’ behalf—around two million euros (1,912,300)—and marks the effort of the regional government led by Michele de Pascale to promote the area as a tourist destination.
Returning to Ryanair’s expansion plan, this was announced on 28 September in the context of the presentation of the Forlì-Ravenna airport Masterplan. Staff from the Irish carrier set out the ramping-up of operations with winter now just around the corner. Overall capacity across the three regional airports has been quadrupled compared with the previous year, and more than 160,000 passenger seats will be made available over the winter season.
As for Forlì-Ravenna airport, the company expects to exceed 120,000 passengers a year, providing over 55,000 seats for the winter. Of note is the new link to Cagliari, which will be introduced as part of the plan.
At Rimini’s Fellini airport, the goal is to surpass 380,000 passengers a year. The carrier led by Michael O’Leary will reactivate its winter connections, with over 40,000 seats available, and will launch two new routes to Catania and Tirana.
Parma will round out the regional offering with more than 60,000 seats over the winter season, thanks to new links to Palermo, Reggio Calabria, and London Stansted.
Andrea G. Cammarata