Ryanair adds more Stansted flights as Heathrow extends passenger cap

Budget airline Ryanair said on Tuesday that it will add more than 500 flights to and from its main base at London Stansted Airport for the autumn mid-term break, after Heathrow extended its passenger cap to the end of October.

The move will provide an additional 100,000 low-fare seats to/from London to destinations in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and France.

Ryanair said it had added the extra seats "in response to the latest flight restrictions imposed by ‘hopeless Heathrow’, which continues to limit the number of seats and flights available to the travelling public as a direct result of its failure to recruit and train sufficient staff".

The airline insisted that both it and Stansted have more than enough staff to handle the additional flights.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary said: "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."