Less than 24 hours after easyJet unveils a new route out of Liverpool Airport rival Ryanair announces three new destinations from summer 2023. Tony McDonough reports

Ryanair has announced three new routes out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport starting next summer – making it four new routes announced for Liverpool in 24 hours.

On Wednesday, easyJet said it would add an extra aircraft at Liverpool in summer 2023 and add a new route to Corfu. Now Ryanair says it will base a fourth aircraft at Liverpool and will add Ibiza, Madrid, and Shannon to its list of destinations.

It will also continue to operate flights to Copenhagen, Malta and Szczecin in Poland, all of which were new additions this winter. In total, Ryanair will offer flights to 32 destinations from Liverpool next summer, with more than 125 weekly departures.

Paul Winfield, director of aviation development for LJLA, said: “We are delighted to welcome these new services from Ryanair for summer 2023. They give passengers from across the North West and North Wales a wider range of destinations.

“The addition of a fourth aircraft in Liverpool for summer 2023 is a sign of Ryanair’s confidence in the market from Liverpool. We look forward to expanding our range of destinations with the carrier in the future.”

Flights to Ibiza will begin on March 28 and operate weekly, while the Madrid service will take off the following day with three weekly departures. The addition of these two routes means Ryanair will offer flights from Liverpool to nine Spanish destinations next summer.

Shannon flights will start on March 26 and operate twice-weekly, becoming Ryanair’s fourth destination in Ireland served from Liverpool. This is in addition to Cork, Dublin and Knock, with up to 46 Irish departures per week being offered next summer.