RYANAIR has announced it will fly three extra routes from Bournemouth Airport from next year. 

The budget Irish airline is expanding its services to three new destinations across Europe from April 2025, with tickets on sale now. 

There will be a brand new service to Chania on the Greek island of Crete, flights to Rhodes and to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.  

Flights to Chania will operate Mondays and Saturdays from June 2, 2025; Rhodes will operate Wednesdays and Sundays from June 1 and Fuerteventura on Tuesdays and Fridays from April 1. 

It means Ryanair is currently offering a total of 23 destinations from Hurn next year, its biggest ever schedule from the airport. 

Bournemouth Airport managing director Steve Gill said: "The Greek islands and Canaries are always hugely popular and have been a mainstay of our schedules for many years. 

"The addition of these three twice-weekly destinations with Ryanair, including a brand new route to Chania, means local people will have even more choice and flexibility for their summer breaks." 

Bournemouth Airport recently revealed that passenger numbers this summer were up by more than 103,000 compared to summer last year, with more than 840,000 travelling between April and October. 

This puts the airport on track to surpass one million passengers in 2024, a milestone not achieved since 2008. 

In August, Ryanair celebrated 10 million passengers flying with it at Bournemouth Airport and, since launching in 1996, Ryanair has grown from a single route to Dublin to 20 locations.

This summer, Ryanair operated 120 weekly flights across 20 routes on its two aircraft – an investment of $200m and supporting more than 600 jobs. 

As Hurn Airport experiences a resurgence in demand, it is also undergoing a multi-million-pound enhancement.  

Plans are in place for a terminal expansion, and improved security measures have been introduced to get passengers to the plane quicker.  

From February, the airport will welcome Jet2 for the first time ever and see the arrival of two aeroplanes.  

Jet2's launch, which was brought forward two months in response to demand, will bring 20 routes across Europe, the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean in 2025.  

And such is the demand seen for Jet2’s holidays, the Leeds-Bradford based airliner will introduce a further plane for 2026.