Budget airline Ryanair defied the credit crunch yesterday as it launched 12 new European routes from Bristol International Airport – creating 100 jobs.

The Irish airline now has 33 routes from Bristol – only seven fewer than arch-rival easyJet, which flies to 40 destinations from Lulsgate.

Ryanair has spent £180 million on two new Boeing 737s to service the routes, bringing its total of Bristol-based aircraft to four.

The 12 new scheduled Ryanair routes include Limoges, Toulon, Montpellier and Perpignan in France; Trieste, Rimini and Cagliari in Italy; Malta; and Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

The routes also include Spanish flights to Alicante, Barcelona Reus and Seville, where Filton plane giant Airbus has a plant.

All new flights will begin in July, except Eindhoven for which the flights begin on March 31.

The new routes mean Bristol Airport now serves 132 destinations across Europe and worldwide.

Lesley Kane, Ryanair's head of sales and marketing, said: "We hope the new routes will help create 100 new Ryanair jobs at Bristol Airport, in addition to our current staff of 100, as well as sustain 1,600 local jobs in associated airport services such as engineering and ground crews.

"We estimate the new routes will help generate 180 million euro (about £180m) of inbound tourist revenues to Bristol and its surrounding regions next year.

"We were in contact with Airbus and knew it wanted a permanent Seville flight to take staff to its base there – the alternative was going to Gatwick.

"The new flights are part of a long-term plan we have in the South West – we see this as a huge growth area for us and you may see some more new Ryanair flights announced from Bristol this year."

Shaun Browne, aviation director at Bristol Airport, said: "The launch of 12 new routes shows the strength of the market in the South West.

"Routes such as Cagliari and Rimini provide exciting new possibilities for leisure passengers, while the new service to Seville will be well used by the local aerospace industry."

In September, Ryanair faced criticism after it suspended five of its flights over the winter, including Porto in Portugal and Budapest in Hungary.

It blamed rising fuel costs and excessive airport taxes for the move, although yesterday Ms Kane insisted the new routes were not seasonal and would operate all year round.