Ryanair has unveiled a new travel route from Bournemouth Airport to the western tip of Sicily in an “exciting” expansion of the airline’s presence in Italy. News of the firm’s base in Trapani-Marsala, which will begin operation in January 2026, comes after Sicilian authorities decided to scrap the Municipal Tax at its smaller regional airports. Axing the levy, which is collected by Italian municipalities to fund local services and amenities, will ultimately “enhance connectivity and the availability of low fares for Sicilian residents”, Ryanair said.
A spokesperson also suggested that the new base will create over 800 local jobs, facilitate 23 new routes and 260,000 extra seats “at Europe’s lowest fares”. Alongside its route to and from Bournemouth, in southwest England, the site will see the launch of services to London, Baden-Baden, Bari, Bratislava, Brussels, Katowice, Pescara, Saarbrücken, Stockholm and Verona.
Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson said: “As Europe and Italy’s number one airline, Ryanair is delighted to announce this major investment at Trapani-Marsala with the opening of a new base from January 2026. We’ve worked closely with both the regional government and Airgest teams to deliver this exciting investment.
“Since first flying to Sicily in 2003, Ryanair has carried more than 100 million passengers to and from Sicily [and] our new Trapani-Marsala base will deliver two new aircraft, 23 routes, more than one million passengers annually and support over 800 local jobs.”
“Ryanair welcomes [Sicilian] President Schifani and the Sicilian Government’s decision to scrap the Municipal Tax at the smaller Sicilian airports, and now is the right time to take the next step,” Mr Wilson added. “Extending this measure to all Sicilian airports would unlock further connectivity, deliver low fares and strengthen year-round connectivity for Sicilian citizens and visitors.
“This will allow Ryanair to deliver transformative traffic, tourism and jobs growth for Sicily, delivering three million additional passengers per year, five new aircraft, expanded routes to mainland Italy and international destinations, and thousands of new local jobs.
“We also urge the Italian Government to scrap the Municipal Tax at all Italian airports to stimulate capacity, reduce fares and drive economic growth. Should the government act, Ryanair is prepared to invest $4 billion (£3 billion) in Italy, adding 40 new aircraft, 20 million additional passengers and over 250 new routes.”
Mr Wilson has previously challenged Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over a 0.5 euro per passenger rise in the municipal surtax for non-EU flights for airports exceeding 10 million passengers a year. He described it as a “short-sighted and regressive” policy that would be “damaging” for Italian tourism.
