Shannon Airport welcomes Ryanair’s addition of fourth based aircraft amid US $400m investment

The Shannon Airport Group has welcomed Ryanair’s announcement of the addition of a fourth based aircraft, three exciting new routes to Lapland, Madeira and Madrid, in addition to extra flights on six existing popular routes at Shannon Airport for winter 2025-26.

The announcement delivers 20% traffic growth, over 1.6 million Ryanair passengers per annum and offers customers in the Mid-West even more choice at Europe’s lowest fares whilst also supporting over 1,500 local jobs.

Welcoming the announcement, Mary Considine, CEO, The Shannon Airport Group said: 

“We’re delighted to welcome Ryanair’s further expansion at Shannon Airport with the addition of a fourth based aircraft seeing three exciting new Winter ‘25 services from Shannon Airport to Madrid, Rovaniemi (Lapland), and Madeira, and increased frequencies on six existing routes. This expansion offers even greater choice for our passengers and strengthens Shannon’s position as a key gateway to and from the West of Ireland. 

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"Ryanair’s investment is a powerful endorsement of the potential of Shannon, a vote of confidence in the market here, and a testament to the progress we’ve made growing passenger numbers. We’re very ambitious for the airport and the Group. We see a huge potential for growth and believe there is a real opportunity for Shannon Airport to lead the way in rebalancing the national landscape. A new aviation policy that recognises and supports the strategic importance of Shannon Airport to the country’s economy is now required.”

Ryanair’s CCO, Jason McGuinness added:

“We are delighted to celebrate another milestone for our Shannon base this winter as the Airport welcomes a 4^th Ryanair based aircraft. This new “Gamechanger” aircraft will deliver 100,000 (+20%) additional passengers and three new routes to Lapland, Madeira, and Madrid. In addition to these exciting new routes, Ryanair will also add extra flights on six popular Shannon routes – Alicante, Edinburgh, Kraków, Lanzarote, Manchester, and Wrocław. 

"Ryanair’s US$400m investment in the Mid-West underpins our commitment to growing Ireland’s regional airports evidenced by the 20 routes and more than 1.6m passengers we will deliver to Shannon Airport this year – driving inbound tourism to the region and supporting year-round international connectivity. Ryanair wants to continue to prioritise Shannon, Knock and Kerry for growth, however, the Irish Government needs to support these regional airports by expanding the scope of the Regional Airports Programme 2026-30 to at least 3m passenger p.a., which would allow regional airports to grow traffic without being penalised for doing so."