Ryanair is to grow by a quarter from Manchester airport next summer with six new routes.
The low-cost carrier is adding routes to Bratislava, Bremen, Brindisi, Carcassonne, Limoges and Malta.
Capacity is being raised on 10 other routes, which the airline estimates will deliver 500,000 new passengers to give an annual total of 3.8 million.
An eighth aircraft will be based at Manchester for summer 2016 as the airline’s network grows to 41 routes operated by 250 flights a week – representing an increase of 25% over this year.
Addition frequencies will be added on existing routes to Alicante, Barcelona, Dublin, Faro, Ibiza, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Valencia and Warsaw.
Chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said: “Manchester is one of the fastest growing airports in the Ryanair network, and we look forward to working closely with Manchester Airport Group as we continue to grow jobs, traffic and routes in the north- west.”
Airport managing director, Ken O’Toole, added: “It’s great news to see such strong growth for Ryanair at Manchester, the UK’s global gateway for the North.
“With new routes for the airport and further capacity increases on existing services, today’s announcement will provide passengers with more choice and value, and will contribute to further sustained growth by Manchester airport beyond our current all-time passenger record of 22.9 million passengers.
“With over 22 milion people living within our two hour catchment, two full length runways and a £1 billion transformation programme announced, Manchester airport has, and will continue to have, the available capacity and demand to meet the needs of our catchment that extends as far north as Scotland and south to the Midlands.”