Ryanair has added more than 500 flights to and from London Stansted for the autumn half-term holiday as Heathrow-based airlines are being forced to cut capacity until the end of October.
The budget airline has laid on extra flights to Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and France for the school holiday period.
In total, it will offer an additional 100,000 seats to and from Stansted.
Ryanair confirmed both it and the airport have ‘more than sufficient’ staff to handle the additional flights.
CEO Michael O’Leary added: “While Hopeless Heathrow continues to cut flights and raise fares for families, Ryanair and London Stansted continue to add flights, and offer thousands of low-fare seats for the autumn mid-term break.
“With over 500 additional flights, more than 100,000 additional seats, and prices starting from just €29.99, Ryanair looks forward to welcoming thousands of additional families during the autumn mid-term break on its low-fare flights to/from London Stansted Airport.
“While hopeless Heathrow continues to mismanage air travel, Ryanair and London Stansted will continue to grow and deliver for London families, the way we have through all of summer 2022.”
Meanwhile, consumer group Which? has urged Heathrow-based airlines to announce which flights will be cancelled due to the airport’s extension of its capacity cap as soon as possible.
Which? Travel Acting Editor Guy Hobbs said: “Though the extension of the passenger cap may help Heathrow prevent a repeat of the unacceptable last-minute cancellations we saw earlier in the summer, thousands of people will now be anxious about whether their travel plans could be scuppered.
“Heathrow and impacted airlines must act without delay to provide travellers with clarity on which flights are being cut, and airlines must ensure affected passengers are aware of their rights to rebooking or refunds.
“The aviation industry and the government need to ensure that this mess is sorted out as soon as possible – passenger caps cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.”
