Ryanair will operate a smaller winter service from Belfast International Airport despite the reallocation of around 50,000 seats due to capacity issues at Dublin Airport.
The budget carrier will fly 13 routes this winter, introducing a new air link to the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, which is due to launch on October 27.
Ryanair had 16 routes in operation at the Co Antrim airport last winter.
The airline’s chief marketing officer, Dara Brady, said while the number of routes is down year-on-year, Ryanair has increased the frequency of other flights to Stansted, Krakow and Alicante.
“We’re probably marginally down on where we were in the winter of last year, but last year was the first winter based operation, so obviously there’s learning in that, getting the balance,” he said.
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“We would have been in around 68 frequencies last year. I think we’re looking at 65 this year.”
Ryanair returned to Belfast International Airport in March 2023, following a 17-month absence, launching 15 new summer routes.
The summer operation in 2024 peaked at 20 routes.
Mr Brady said overall, Ryanair is on course to increase its year-on-year passenger total at Belfast International by 40% to 1.2 million in 2024.
The marketing chief said while there were no plans to expand its operations at City of Derry Airport, he said the current routes to Manchester and Birmingham were working well.
Ryanair announced an additional 50,000 seats for Belfast International in August due to constraints on its winter operation at Dublin Airport, directly linked to the annual cap of 32 million passengers placed on the airport.
The cap was put in place during 2007 as a condition of the planning approval for Terminal 2.
Ryanair and Dublin Airport Authority have consistently lobbied the Irish government to intervene to facilitate passenger growth.
An application from DAA to increase the number to 40 million is currently being considered by Fingal County Council.
A total of 25.8 million passengers passed through Dublin Airport in the first nine months of 2024.
