New flights take off from Bristol Airport

Budget airline Ryanair officially launched 11 new flights out of Bristol Airport yesterday but warned that there are likely to be no new routes in the near future.

The airline now has 29 routes operating out of Lulsgate and four planes permanently based in Bristol, compared with big rival easyJet who operate 39 routes from the airport.

The recession has hit the airport with passenger numbers falling by over 20 per cent since the start of the year but the Irish-owned budget airline is confident the new routes will prove to be a success.

All the new flights are to so-called sunshine destinations aimed at holidaymakers and there are no guarantees that the new destinations will not be shelved at the end of the summer.

The first new flight took off for Seville yesterday and the other destinations include Cagliari, in Sardinia, Barcelona, Montpellier in the South of France and Toulon in France along with Alicante in southern Spain, Perpignan in France and Rimini in Italy. The airline is also flying to Trieste in Italy, and Malta.

Despite the downturn, Ryanair is confident that the new routes will be popular with customers. Spokeswoman Maria Macken said yesterday: "The first flight has already taken off and we are more than satisfied with passenger numbers. We are sure that the demand is there and we are looking forward to a successful summer.

"We have now invested $280 million in Bristol Airport and it is becoming a very important centre for us, today is all about the new routes and we will be publishing our winter schedule in September."

When pressed about plans for Bristol in the future the airline was reluctant to make any commitment to adding further routes.

Yesterday the airline opened its latest base at Porto in Portugal but Michael O'Leary the outspoken boss of Ryanair is known to be furious at the UK government's plans for a £10 tourist tax.

Ryanair said it would "freeze growth at its nine UK bases with immediate effect".

"While the UK keeps taxing tourists Ryanair will switch its growth to other EU countries where low cost airports are growing and where governments are welcoming tourists not taxing them," Michael O'Leary said.