Europe's largest low-cost airline Ryanair issued a statement on March 11, saying that it was adding three new routes from the United Kingdom to Greece. Along with the new routes, Ryanair plans to increase flights to the popular summer holiday destination. In another statement also issued on March 11, the Dublin-based Irish carrier also planned to introduce its biggest ever Spanish domestic schedule starting July 1, 2021.

Starting with the summer 2021 flights from the United Kingdom to Greece, Ryanair says that the UK's success in getting so many of its citizens vaccinated for COVID-19 has given consumers confidence that they will be able to go on vacation. Coupled with this was an announcement four days ago by Greek tourism minister Harry Theoharis who said Greece would open its borders to anyone who has been vaccinated, has antibodies, or tests negative for the coronavirus.

Ryanair will offer new routes from Stansted

Ryanairs' UK customers can now book a sunshine getaway to Santorini, Zakynthos, and Preveza from London Stansted Airport (STN). On top of these three new routes, Ryanair has added additional flights from Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester, Southend, and Stansted to Corfu and Rhodes.

To celebrate the new routes and Ryanair's promise of not charging to change dates should your plans change, the airline is offering seats on the new flights for travel until October 31 starting at £24.99 ($34.79) that must be booked on Ryanair.com by midnight Saturday,  March 13.

New routes from Stansted:

  • Preveza – Stansted 2 x per week
  • Stansted – Zakynthos 2 x per week
  • Stansted – Santorini 2 x per week

Additional Ryanair flights to Greece:

  • Birmingham – Corfu 3 x per week
  • Corfu – East Midlands 3 x per week
  • Corfu – Manchester 3  x per week
  • Corfu – Southend 3  x per week
  • Stansted – Rhodes 3 x per week

When speaking about the airlines' Greek flights Ryanair’s Director of Commercial, Jason McGuinness, said in the airline's statement:

“We are delighted to offer even greater choice, more routes and extra flights to Greece for our UK customers this summer. The UK Government’s highly successful vaccination program gives customers the confidence that travel will be possible this summer. UK consumers can now choose from over 20 routes (including three announced today) and 5 extra weekly flights at low fares to some of the most popular summer holiday destinations in Greece.

Mindful that Covid restrictions change regularly, Ryanair is now allowing up to two free flight date changes on all bookings should plans change. Customers can now book flights for a well-deserved break, knowing that if they need to postpone or change their travel dates, they can do so with a ‘Zero Change Fee’ until the end of October 2021.

Ryanair domestic Spanish flights

Many foreigners who go on vacation in Spain do not realize that Spaniards also enjoy the country's beautiful Mediterranean beaches and love taking a summer vacation just like everyone else. With the COVID-19 vaccination in full swing, Ryanair expects domestic travel within Spain to soar during the summer.

Ryanair
Ryanair will offer 800 domestic Spanish flights per week during the summer. Photo: Ryanair

Starting July 1, 2021, Ryanair will offer Spanish consumers more choices than ever before when it comes to business trips or vacationing in Spain. Summer 2021 will see Ryanair offering 800 weekly flights to 21 destinations that include nine new routes.

New routes for summer 2021:

  • Alicante – Ibiza 3 x per week
  • Alicante – Menorca 3 x per week
  • Mallorca – Zaragoza 3 x per week
  • Menorca – Seville 3 x per week
  • Mallorca – Tenerife Norte 2 x per week
  • Malaga – Menorca 2 x per week
  • Alicante – Lanzarote 2 x per week
  • Mallorca – Santander 2 x per week
  • Fuerteventura – Valencia 1 x per week

Additional summer 2021 flights:

  • Menorca – Valencia 7 x per week
  • Malaga – Valencia 3 x per week
  • Mallorca – Valencia 14 x per week
  • Gran Canaria – Valencia 3 x per week
  • Seville – Valencia 5 x per week
  • Malaga –  Santiago 6 x per week
  • Ibiza – Seville 5 x per week
  • Lanzarote – Seville 3 x per week
Ryanair
Ryanair is expecting many Spaniards to book domestic flights. Photo: Ryanair

Ryanair expects a flight surge in Spain

When speaking about Ryanair’s increase in domestic Spanish flights, McGuinness said:

“As Spain’s leading airline, we are delighted to offer even greater choice for our Spanish customers this summer, with nine more domestic routes launched today. We are thrilled to continue delivering growth to the regions and promoting connectivity between Spain’s mainland and the Canary and Balearic Islands, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests!

McGuinness added that vaccination programs are due to accelerate in the coming months. So, with pent-up domestic and international demand likely to grow this summer, his airline is confident new routes to Spain’s most popular leisure locations will attract strong interest from its Spanish passengers.

What do you think about Ryanair increasing the number of its summer 2021 flights to Greece and within Spain? Please tell us your thoughts in the comments.