The executive president of the low cost airline said in a press conference that this is “a bet and a message of hope and confidence in the return of trips for this summer”.

Ryanair's plans for the summer include operating 121 routes, including the new Lisbon-Cologne (Germany), with two weekly flights, and Faro-Belfast (Northern Ireland), with daily flights, as well as performing 595 weekly flights.

Eddie Wilson said he was "optimistic" about the coming summer season, but it all depends on the success of the SARS-COV-2 vaccination campaign.

“Governments need to distribute these vaccines. […] At European level, this went terribly wrong”, pointed out the CEO.

Regarding the European Union's proposal for the creation of “green certificates” that allow citizens of the Member States to travel between the different countries during the summer, Eddie Wilson was favourable, but thinks that they should not be a discriminatory factor among travellers.

Ryanair currently operates at 240 airports, has 77 bases in 40 countries and expects to receive more than 200 new Boeing aircraft in the coming years.

In Portugal, the airline operates at Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Ponta Delgada and Terceira (Lajes) airports.