Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has announced that it will open two entirely new bases in Greece, at Kerkyra and Rhodes airports, as well as reopen its Chania base, closed in 2018, as it bets on a rapid resurgence in summer leisure traffic.

The opening of the bases will bring about a total of 46 new routes. All three bases are scheduled to open in July 2021 and will initially be seasonal, operating through October 2021.

"Greece is proving to be a resilient destination and is determined to lead the way in tourism recovery as we walk away from the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the announcement of the first travel corridors with Israel and Cyprus in April and the official re-opening to all international travel from May 14, we are proud to support the resurgence of the country’s tourism industry and to offer both Greek visitors and customers greater choice and even lower fares," Ryanair's Commercial Director Jason McGuinness said.

The Irish low-cost carrier plans to base two aircraft out of Kerkyra. It will launch eighteen new routes out of the airport, to: Aarhus, Copenhagen Kastrup, Düsseldorf, Münster/Osnabrück, Wroclaw, Kraków John Paul II International, Nuremberg, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Milan Malpensa, Verona, Marseilles, Barcelona El Prat, Odesa, Sibiu, Thira Santorini, Heraklion, Paphos, and Tel Aviv Ben Gurion.

Ryanair plans to base one B737 each out of Rhodes and Chania. Out of the former, it will add 13 new routes to: Dublin International, Birmingham, GB, Warsaw Modlin, Memmingen, Venice Treviso, Suceava, Marseilles, Barcelona, Brindisi, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Paphos, and Tel Aviv. Out of the latter, it will launch 15 new services, to: Newcastle, GB, Leeds/Bradford, Billund, Bremen Hans Koschnick, Berlin Brandenburg International, Cologne/Bonn, Kyiv Boryspil, Budapest, Venice Treviso, Bologna, Rome Ciampino, Bari, Mykonos, Malta International, and Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, Ryanair Holdings Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said during a press conference that the carrier hopes to start taking its first B737-8-200s in April 2021. The type has yet to be certified and although Ryanair initially hoped that it would happen by the end of March, this timeline is no longer feasible. O'Leary said that he expected FAA and EASA certifications within the first days of April, which would then pave the way for the delivery of the first eight units in April and another eight in May 2021.

"That would leave us with an additional 16 aircraft for the summer of 2021. But given that, at this point in time, we’re only factoring to operate about 80% of our pre-COVID peak capacity, you know, we don’t need these aircraft. But we are anxious to get the aircraft delivered so we can start training pilots, the cabin crew can get familiar with them, and customers can enjoy flying them," O'Leary said.