RYANAIR has announced it is to reintroduce flights from Glasgow Airport to four European destinations.

Starting in April, passengers will be able to jet off to the Spanish resorts of Alicante and Malaga, Polish capital Warsaw and Charleroi, near the Belgian capital Brussels.

The return of these services will take the total number of routes operated by Ryanair from the Paisley-based hub to seven.

Mark Johnston, managing director at Glasgow Airport, said: “Ryanair’s decision to bring back what were four popular routes is very welcome news indeed.

“The introduction of these services is hopefully a first step to Ryanair re-establishing a strong presence here and we are really pleased the airline recognises our position as the west of Scotland’s principal airport and gateway to the region’s huge market.

“Ryanair cited that the continued lack of movement on proposals to cut Air Passenger Duty was a key factor in the airline’s decision to significantly reduce its operation at Glasgow Airport earlier this year.

The Gazette:

Mark Johnston 

“While we rightly celebrate the return of these services in addition to the three we retained at the time, it is worth remembering that, at its peak, Ryanair operated a further 16 routes which supported a significant number of jobs at its Glasgow Airport base.

“This regressive tax continues to put the country’s air services at risk and action must be taken to address this. That is why we are again calling on both the Scottish and Westminster governments to work together to break the current deadlock around Air Departure Tax.”

Flights to Warsaw will commence on Monday, April 1, with the routes to Alicante, Malaga and Brussels starting on Tuesday, April 2.

The route to Alicante will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with flights to Malaga on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Passengers will be able to fly to Brussels Charleroi on Tuesdays and Saturdays, while the Warsaw route will operate on Mondays and Fridays.