Ryanair announced a significant $100 million investment in its Bratislava base, marking the addition of a third Boeing 737 aircraft. This move is part of the airline’s record-breaking Summer 2025 schedule, which will see the low-cost carrier boost capacity by 25% and introduce five exciting new routes.
The new routes will connect Bratislava to popular destinations: Bari, Gdansk, Milan Malpensa, Skiathos, and Zadar. With a total of 24 routes now available, Ryanair aims to carry over 1.1 million passengers from Bratislava, driving a 25% increase in passenger numbers for the summer season.
Bratislava Airport CEO Dušan Novota, said “After intensive negotiations with the largest European carrier, Ryanair, we managed to agree on expanding the network of routes from Bratislava. Passengers will now have the option to fly to the main airport in Milan, the beautiful city of Gdansk in Poland, Bari in the Italian region of Apulia, Skiathos in Greece, and we are happy that Slovak holidaymakers will now have a direct air connection to Croatia.
Ryanair is our long-term and stable partner, and we are doing our best to bring new connections from Bratislava to Slovak customers. After 10 years since Ryanair opened its base in Bratislava in 2015, we have managed to expand the Ryanair base in Slovakia by a third aircraft, bringing even more connections for locals.”
Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer Jason McGuinness said “Ryanair, Europe, and Slovakia’s No.1 airline, in cooperation with Minister Keketi, Minister Ráž, and Bratislava Airport, is delighted to unveil this substantial investment in Bratislava. The Slovak Government and Bratislava Airport recognise the importance of delivering cost efficiencies to stimulate investment, capacity growth and access to low fares in what is a very competitive marketplace post-Covid. It is thanks to their efforts that Ryanair is able to announce this incremental US$100m investment for Bratislava.
Slovakia joins the growing list of countries and regions which are reducing taxes and fees, such as Hungary and Sweden, in addition to the Calabria, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Abruzzo regions in Italy. Lower access costs are the only way to unlock immediate capacity growth. We are confident that the Slovak Government and Airport will continue its pro-growth agenda which will deliver even more jobs, additional inbound tourism, and wider access to low fares for Slovakia’s citizens.”
Image Credit: Ralf Roletschek via Creative Commons
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 9 February 2025 All Rights Reserved
