Ryanair to add 800 jobs in expansions at Birmingham, Malta

Ryanair has indicated that it will create upwards of 700 jobs at Birmingham airport in the UK  midlands by almost doubling it's passenger numbers in the next year. The airline's sales and marketing manager Laszlo Tamas said the positions would be created if the airline meets it's target of 1.65m passengers through Birmingham next year, a figure that represents an 81% increase on this year's target. 

Ryanair opened it's Birmingham base last year at an investment of £356m and currently serves 32 routes from the airport.

The airline is also in discussions with the government of Malta with a view to setting up a base there later this year if an agreement can be reached. The plan would see two aircraft based on the island year round, adding twelve new routes and employing a staff of 100. At present, Ryanair handle 600,000 passengers per annum at Malta, where the airport charges are three times higher than the European average according to the airline's director of route development Ken O'Toole. In order for the base to happen a pricing deal needs to be worked out which will resolve the issue of passenger charges.