Ryanair is to restore flights from Shannon in the spring after a winter shutdown of services from the west of Ireland airport.
The budget carrier plans 14 routes with 32 flights a week and will base one aircraft at the airport from April.
Destinations to be served include Faro, Lanzarote, Malaga, Majorca, Manchester, Stansted, Kaunas, Warsaw and Wroclaw.
The re-opening of the base will support traffic recovery, enabling tourists and businesses to plan for summer 2021, according to the carrier.
“Shannon airport has worked closely with Ryanair in delivering incentives to rebuild traffic ahead of the summer season, in anticipation of a recovery in demand following the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine across Europe,” the airline added.
Chief executive Eddie Wilson said: “This is great news for supporting employment particularly within the region’s tourism sector, which will benefit from pent-up demand now that vaccines will be widely available next year.”
He called on the Irish government to “urgently introduce incentives on airport charges to support passenger recovery at Dublin and Cork for summer 2021”.
Wilson warned: “There will be significantly reduced capacity in Europe next summer and unless the Irish government secures that connectivity now, unfortunately it will go elsewhere in Europe where governments, regions and airports are actively engaged in securing this vital infrastructure, along with the much need employment that it will generate.
“Without recovery incentives, passenger capacity at Dublin will fall and Cork as a Ryanair base may not reopen for summer ‘21.”
Mary Considine, chief executive of Shannon Group which operates Shannon airport said:“The confirmation of one Ryanair based aircraft and 14 routes recommencing at Shannon airport in April 2021 is an early Christmas present and is a very positive end to what has been an extremely tough year for the airport and aviation.
“As we rebuild from the devastation of the pandemic this is great news for the region’s tourism and business communities who rely on these services for their livelihoods, and the general public who have experienced a very difficult year.
“With the planned roll-out of the vaccines expected in early 2021, people can now begin to plan for a longed-for overseas holiday.”