Ryanair launches new routes from Catania, Wilson: “Sicily should abolish tourism tax and we will invest”

Over 650 weekly flights on 40 routes, including five new destinations to Heraklion, Paris, Prague, Rhodes, and Tirana. This is the new operational plan, the largest ever, announced for next summer by Ryanair in Catania which involves a new base aircraft at Fontanarossa-Vincenzo Bellini airport, bringing the fleet to five in the city, supporting over 2,800 jobs, including pilots, cabin crew, and engineers. The plans of the airline were presented in Catania by Ryanair’s CEO, Eddie Wilson, with the CEO of Sac, Nico Torrisi.

“There is an opportunity for Sicily to ensure an increase in capacity and tourism growth in the next 5 years – said Ryanair’s CEO – provided that the Sicilian government abolishes the excessive municipal tax on tourism that is hindering the growth of the island’s connectivity and tourism sector.”

Wilson mentioned the recent decision of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region to abolish it from January 1st, “which led Ryanair to launch a new base in Trieste with a 50% growth in the summer of 24 and a doubling of passengers for the next one. «It is now up to the Sicilian Government – observed Wilson – to abolish the tax that does not exist in similar tourist destinations such as the Canaries, the Balearic Islands, Cyprus, or Malta. If it were abolished, Ryanair would be ready to respond as we did in Trieste, adding over 3 million more passengers, creating 1,200 new jobs, enhancing national and international connectivity, and finally offering lower fares for Sicily”.