Ryanair continues its campaign to re-open air travel in a big way next summer as it announces a new base at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, in Sweden.
Just a week after the announcement of a new base in Riga, Latvia, the Irish low-cost carrier has decided to move into the biggest airport of Sweden basing two Boeing 737-800 aircraft that will operate 21 initial routes, although almost 50% of the flights will be operated by aircraft based at other airports in Europe.
This is because the two new Boeing 737-800 based at Arlanda will be needed mainly to launch two brand new domestic services: Ryanair will in fact offer 14 weekly flights to Gothenburg and 10 weekly connections to Malmo, just across the Oresund bridge from Danish capital Copenhagen.
“It is with great joy that we welcome Ryanair to Arlanda and Ryanair’s continued expansion in the Swedish market. Their large number of destinations is an important addition and complement to the existing range of destinations available at our airports. At the same time, access is improved both within Sweden and outside the country, and this is especially true for the important visiting relatives and friends travel segment. Access will be important in the restart after the pandemic, and more direct routes are important for regional growth and for the tourism industry all across Sweden. We have had a good partnership for many years with Ryanair that we now look forward to developing in the years to come,” said Charlotte Ljunggren, Director of Market & Commercial Development at Swedavia, the state-owned company controlling all main airports in Sweden.
Ryanair already operates flights from its London Stansted base to another airport in the area, Stockholm Skavsta, but its terminal is over 100 km and a one-hour bus ride away while Arlanda is only 37 km from the city centre and is served by the Arlanda Express, a train covering the distance in less than 20 minutes.
Other destinations Ryanair will serve from Arlanda include Gdansk, Krakow and Warsaw in Poland, London Stansted and Liverpool in the United Kingdom, Milan and Bologna in Italy, and Alicante and Malaga in Spain, as well as other European capitals such as Riga (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia), Brussels Charleroi (Belgium) and Vienna (Austria).
