On March 29th, Newcastle became Ryanair's 12th airport in the UK to have stationed aircraft and crew, while Venice Marco Polo – the city's main airport – became the ULCC's 17th base in Italy.Ryanair has served Treviso for Venice and the wider Veneto region since 1998. The airport, about 25 miles (41km) from central Venice, was one of its largest non-bases but finally became a base in March 2021. The two airports coexist in Ryanair's network, although Marco Polo is larger for the first time.

Ryanair at Newcastle

The Irish giant has based two Boeing 737-800s at Newcastle, in the northeast of England. This has resulted in its seats for sale at the airport surpassing one million for the first time.

Its offering has grown by over a quarter (26%) versus its previous best year (2017), according to OAG data. Newcastle is now Ryanair's 11th-busiest UK airport this year, behind Leeds Bradford but ahead of Glasgow International.

Ryanair is Newcastle's second-largest airline. It has two in every ten seats, behind only Jet2 with about three. The gap between has more than doubled since the pandemic struck, with 2022 also a record year for Jet2 at the airport.

The pair's growth offset easyJet closing its Newcastle base in 2020. It barely grew at the airport in a decade, and it increasingly competed with Jet2. However, it still serves Newcastle from Belfast, Bristol, and Palma, just using non-based machines.

Ryanair development at Newcastle, Treviso, and Marco Polo (1)
Ryanair served Marco Polo on various occasions while Treviso was closed for works. In 2019, it started to serve it on a proper basis. Source of data: Cirium.

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Ryanair has 19 routes from Newcastle

The ULCC has 19 routes from Newcastle this year, with nine introduced in 2022. Some 12 of its 19 involve outbound leisure markets to Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Cyprus. Sun-and-spade destinations remain crucial.

Ryanair competes head-to-head with Jet2, easyJet, or TUI on 11 of the 12 sun routes. Only Chania, in Crete, doesn't have direct competition, but Jet2 serves nearby Heraklion.

In mid-July, Ryanair's top-five Newcastle routes will be as follows, all served before the airport became a base. For example, the Polish city of Gdańsk launched in October 2016 and has 3x weekly flights in mid-July.

  1. Dublin
  2. Alicante
  3. Palma
  4. Faro
  5. Gdańsk
Ryanair route network at Newcastle and Venice Marco Polo in 2022
Ryanair's network from Newcastle and Venice Marco Polo this year. Image: OAG.

Ryanair is Venice's largest airline

Ryanair briefly served Marco Polo while Treviso underwent runway repair work, but it wasn't until 2019 that the ULCC really got going at serving it on a regular, proper basis.

Its Marco Polo base has three aircraft stationed there. It comes less than a month after fellow ULCC Wizz Air opened its base at the airport, but the pair have little head-to-head competition. While Ryanair has 25 routes, it competes directly with Wizz Air on just five, all domestic.

With over three million seats, Ryanair is now the largest airline serving Marco Polo, usurping easyJet. It has a quarter share of the airport's capacity, more than easyJet (now second; 13%) and Wizz Air (now third; 9%).

Perhaps surprisingly, Ryanair's growth at Marco Polo hasn't really come at the expense of Treviso. Indeed, if that airport is included, the ULCC has nearly four in every ten seats to/from the Venice area, a considerable amount.

What are your thoughts on the growth at the two airports? Let us know in the comments.