Ryanair has announced plans to expand its share of air passengers travelling to the Canary Islands over the next few years, with the aim of transporting 4.5 million people per year through its 112 routes to the islands. With the Vice President of the company, Michael Cawley, attributing the low cost airlines strategy to action taken by the Canarian Government to stimulate tourism in the archipelago.

To this end, the reduction in airport taxes paid by airlines has helped to secure a greater number of budget airline routes to Canary Island airports over the last two years. And at Lanzarote’s Arrecife airport new opening hours have been recently agreed which will also increase the number of flights to Lanzarote operated by Ryanair and other budget operators.

Apart from providing a greater number of routes between the principal markets that Ryanair already serves, such as the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain, there will also be new flights connecting the islands with cities in Holland and Italy, helping to augment the number of tourists visiting from these two countries as well. The director of the Society for the External Promotion of Lanzarote (SPEL) Hector Fernandez, expressed his satisfaction with these plans.

The Federation of Tourist Operators (AETUR) recognises the importance of airlines such as Ryanair, as not only do they increase the number of visitors coming to Lanzarote. But they also reach a different sector of travellers who are more likely to plan their own holiday itinerary and spend money at their destination than those who opt for a package deal. And increasingly all-inclusive holidays offered by large tour operators are perceived to lose hotels money, as well as surrounding businesses, according to Victoriano Elvira, the President of AETUR.