Ryanair is to start flying between Cork and East Midlands airport as part of its largest summer schedule from the Irish airport.
East Midlands is one of five new routes from Cork with three flights a week scheduled from April 2023.
The Irish no-frills carrier plans to operate 29 routes from Cork with up to 270 flights a week including increased frequencies to destinations including Liverpool.
The expanded schedule represents a 20% rise in capacity over this summer with three aircraft based at the airport and more than 1.4 million seats available.
Other new routes from Cork include La Rochelle, Rome, Seville and Venice Treviso.
The expansion has been driven by Cork airport’s “long-term commitment to maintain competitive airport charges, providing the cost certainty for airlines to invest and grow in the region,” Ryanair said.
The carrier added in a statement: “Regional development must be underpinned by competitive costs, which has ensured that Cork has secured airline capacity that could have easily gone elsewhere in Europe.”
Chief executive Eddie Wilson said: “Ryanair’s commitment to growing traffic and increasing connectivity to Cork means it will become the first Irish state airport to fully restore pre-pandemic traffic levels.
“The further 20% growth Ryanair will deliver to Cork next summer is fantastic news for Ryanair customers in the south-west and is a direct result of Cork’s long-term commitment to maintain competitive airport charges, which provide the cost certainty required for Ryanair to invest and grow in the region and continue to drive economic growth, jobs, and much-needed inbound tourism.”