Airlines

Ryanair invests USD 3.3 billion in Lombardy airports

The low-cost airline expects to grow 9% in 2026 with 20 bases and 111 aircraft based there. With the cut in the surcharge in Italy, 40 new planes could arrive

by Mara Monti

20 January 2026

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

9% growth in Italy
Capital's uncompetitive airports
Airport tax waived
Carrier appealed Antitrust fine

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Ryanair, the Irish low cost airline, plans to grow 9% in Italy in 2026 with 69 million passengers. It will start from Milan Malpensa and Milan Bergamo: "This summer Ryanair will base 3 new B737-800 aircraft in Milan, bringing our Milan-based fleet to a total of 33 aircraft - for an investment of $3.3 billion - and will operate a record number of 156 routes (7 new), guaranteeing traffic growth of +9% to 20.3 million passengers per year."

9% growth in Italy

The company, which wants to confirm its number one position in Italy, is present in 32 airports with 20 bases including Trapani since January this year, with 111 aircraft based for a total investment of USD 11 billion, providing 800 routes (40 new ones from this year) . Its strategy is to focus on those airports where airport taxes have been reduced or eliminated such as Abruzzo, Calabria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and the smaller airports in Sicily. The latest was Emilia Romagna, whose administration reduced taxes for the airports of Parma, Rimini and Forlì, and on which the ceo does not rule out news soon.

'Overall in Europe,' he explains, 'we have 96 bases, and are present in 224 airports in 36 countries. In the fiscal year 2026 we expect passengers to stand at 207 million and we aim to reach 300 million in 2034'.

Airports in the capital are uncompetitive

From Lombardy to Lazio with the capital Rome and its airports Fiumicino and Ciampino considered 'not competitive'. In particular, Leonardo da Vinci has 'airport fees close to 50 euro, too high for our discounted rates. The government must do something about this, because what will happen is that Rome will fall behind the other main European hubs, such as Madrid, London, Amsterdam and similar places, and will have to become more competitive'.

Wilson did not fail to take a swipe at Ita Airways: 'Ita is not expanding because its owners are not particularly interested in connecting flights and this will lead to a gradual shift of flights to Frankfurt and Munich. Rome needs some form of government intervention on fares to make it more competitive,' he added, pointing out that 'all airports in Milan are growing at the moment. The airport system here, at least, works. But it does not work in Rome; in Rome it is dysfunctional'.

Remove airport tax

The ceo's solution is always the same: eliminate the municipal surcharge on boarding on all airports without which Ryanair could guarantee '40 aircraft for $4 billion of investment, 20 million additional passengers per year, 250 new routes and 15 thousand new jobs'.

The carrier appealed the Antitrust fine

Finally, the Italian antitrust authority's 256 million fine against Ryanair for obstructing competition, imposed last December, which the ceo considered to be a 'manifestly wrong decision. Everyone in Italy knows that Ryanair works for the good of consumers. Even looking at the statistics, the airport with the highest growth rate is Reggio Calabria, and no one else is growing so much'. And he recalled that even the Court of Appeal in Milan recognised that 'Ryanair's model favours consumers, ensuring them the lowest fares', which is why Wilson is convinced that 'on appeal the Antitrust decision will be overturned