Bournemouth Airport is marking the start of its busy summer schedule of flights with the arrival of a second Ryanair aircraft to be based there.

New twice-weekly flights to Carcassonne in France with Ryanair have been officially launched, while travel brand TUI is beginning flights from Bournemouth to six destinations (Corfu, Zante, Kefalonia, Menorca, Rhodes, and Crete).

As well as having a second aircraft at Bournemouth, Ryanair has introduced three new routes – Carcassonne, Edinburgh and Venice.

It now offers 120 weekly flights to 19 destinations from Bournemouth, a 30 per cent increase on 2022.

In March, Ryanair kicked off its new schedule to Edinburgh and restarted its seasonal flights to Budapest, Palma and Girona, to be followed by Murcia and Gran Canaria this month and Zadar in June.

In December, the airline launched its new service to Venice, flying three times a week.

During this month, TUI officially starts its main summer schedule with a total of nine services getting underway.

This comes soon after the operator’s recent announcement that it would be increasing capacity by 33 per cent at Bournemouth next year, with a second aircraft based at the airport and new flights providing 60,000 extra seats.

Steve Gill, Bournemouth Airport’s Managing Director, said: “Our busy summer schedule is officially underway.

“We’re delighted to welcome Ryanair’s second aircraft to the airport and to see TUI’s full schedule getting underway.

“With new routes and more flights to popular destinations across Europe, we’re confident that our passengers will enjoy a fantastic travel experience and an excellent choice this summer from Bournemouth Airport.

“We’re very much looking forward to a busy 2023.”