Little-known UK airport gets new Ryanair base – with flights to Spain, Portugal and Malta
RYANAIR is launching flights from Norwich Airport next spring.
The budget airline will begin flying to Alicante, Faro, and Malta from April 1.
It’s big news for the people of East Anglia, as the airport only serves a handful of foreign destinations currently.
They include three of the Greek islands, Amsterdam, Lapland, the Norwegian Fjords, Tenerife, and Dalaman in Turkey.
Norwich Airport is the 28th smallest airport in the UK, with only 319,000 passengers last year.
In comparison, Heathrow had 61million passengers in 2022 and Southampton Airport had 631,000.
The flights will run on both Mondays and Fridays, according to the aviation website Simple Flying.
It’s a big week for Norwich, as the city has also been named as one of Time Out’s top places to visit in the UK next year.
The travel magazine praised the Boards National Park, its two cathedrals, as well Norwich Castle – set to unveil a £15m makeover in 2024.
This year, the county of Norfolk was also awarded the title of the UK’s best beach
A study by the AA listed Holkham Beach as one of the best beaches in the UK, praising it for being dog-friendly, as well as having lifeguard services and a beach car park.
The beach also backs onto the Holkham Pines, a huge strip of pine trees that is part of the National Nature Reserve and popular with walkers.
Norwich Airport isn’t the only little-known airport in the UK set to get brand-new passenger flights.
Lydd Airport, also known as London Ashford Airport, ceased scheduled passenger operators back in 2018.
However, FAL Aviation airport operator David Hainsworth confirmed that flights would be going ahead again.
Destinations will include Le Touquet in France, and other holiday hotspots yet to be revealed.
Earlier this year, Ryanair launched budget flights to seven new holiday destinations.
The flights were added to three London airports and included destinations like Belfast, Basel, Ouarzazate in Morocco, Poprad in Slovakia, Tirana, Treviso, and Vigo
Meanwhile, Ryanair is also set to scrap several flights to a much-loved European destination next summer.
The budget airline confirmed that flights to Portugal are to be affected next year, citing the “increased airport charges”.