Ryanair (FR, Dublin International) has opened a base at Turin Caselle Caselle Airport with two B737-800s deployed to the northwestern Italian gateway as of June 16.

In a statement, Ryanair Holdings said it would invest USD200 million into the base, its 16th in Italy, which will be used to launch 18 new routes through year-end including:

Currently, Ryanair connects Turin with Barcelona El Prat, Bari, Brussels Charleroi, Cagliari, Catania, Ibiza, Malta International, Naples Capodichino, Palermo International, and Valencia Manises.

“After difficult months, today is a very special day for Turin airport and the whole of Piedmont. It is a great satisfaction to announce the opening of the Ryanair base from November 1, 2021, a fundamental step in our collaboration with the Irish company, which historically has always been profitable for both the airport and the territory," Turin airport’s CEO, Andrea Andorni, said in a statement.

"With these first two based aircraft, the airport will be able to immediately and significantly expand its offer of connections, thus creating the network from/to Turin with the highest number of destinations ever served."

Even prior to the base's launch, Ryanair was Turin's dominant airline controlling almost 35% of its 34,093 seats/week on offer via 63 weekly departures out of a weekly total of 196. Budget carrier Blue Air (Romania) (BLA, Bucharest Henri Coanda), which also uses the Piedmontese capital as a base, is second with 41 weekly departures proffering 7,749 seats/week (22.73%).