Category : Allgemein

From 28 March: Ryanair launches new routes to Pisa and Pescara

Bella Italia is coming a little closer again. From the end of March, Italy lovers will have two more opportunities to reach the country of their dreams non-stop from Memmingen Airport. Because Ryanair is now adding Pisa and Pescara to its programme.

Despite all odds, many people want to realise their long-delayed holiday dreams this year. “We have been feeling a great demand for flights to the sun for weeks now,” explains airport sales manager Marcel Schütz. Italy is also high on the list of popular holiday destinations. “We are all the more pleased,” says Schütz, “that with Pisa and Pescara we can now offer two more tourist heavyweights.” From 28 March, there will be non-stop flights from Memmingen with Ryanair every Monday and every Friday to the city, which is not only world-famous for its leaning tower. With the Galileo Galilei International Airport two kilometres south of the city centre, it also has the most important airport in central Italy and functions as an ideal starting point for trips through Tuscany, to Florence or to the nearby Ligurian Sea. On the other side of the boot, the port city of Pescara shines with its kilometre-long Adriatic beaches and the Abruzzi in the hinterland, which can be easily explored from here. The Ryanair flight will take off for the first time on 29 March from Memmingen to Pescara and will then operate every Tuesday and every Saturday.

From 27 March again to Sardinia

Sardinia is also a perennial favourite. That’s why Ryanair is reintroducing the connection from Memmingen to Alghero as of 27 March. Twice a week – on Wednesday and Sunday – there will be non-stop flights to the city on the west coast. Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily, is expecting many guests to return this summer.
As already reported, Ryanair will be connecting Memmingen Airport with another place of longing from 27 March: Santiago de Compostela, the destination of St James’ pilgrims, will be on the flight schedule for the first time. The capital of Galicia in northwest Spain will be served twice a week (Sunday and Thursday).

Wizz Air offers free flights from Romania

Memmingen Airport is preparing to become a hub for Ukrainian refugees. This is because the airline Wizz Air today held out the prospect of 100,000 free tickets for Ukrainians who want to fly out via neighbouring countries. There are currently seven routes between Romania and Memmingen that could be used in this way.

“We will do our utmost to support the offer of our airline partner to provide 100,000 tickets free of charge to Ukrainian refugees,” explains Airport Managing Director Ralf Schmid. Flights from Suceava and Iaşi in particular, with their proximity to the Ukrainian border, are suitable for this. Memmingen Airport could become a hub in southern Germany. On the one hand, refugees can use the seven Romanian routes to Memmingen. On the other hand, the airline also offers special fares for 29.99 euros to those affected who want to travel from Memmingen to another European destination with Wizz Air.

Ukrainian refugees can book these flights at https://wizzair.com/#/rescue, Wizz Air announced. The 100,000 free seats and the special fares will be available throughout March. Travellers must provide their Ukrainian passport or ID card when booking and present it later at check-in. The city of Memmingen has set up a crisis team to support Ukrainian refugees on site. It also coordinates the aid for the Ukrainian twin city of Chernihiv.

Kukës is the newest destination at Memmingen Airport. From 4th of June, Wizz Air will be connecting the Allgäu region with the city in northern Albania. This means that southern Germany’s largest low-cost airport now has two flight connections to Albania in addition to the route to the capital Tirana.

In recent years, two Albanian companies have invested in the expansion of Zayed-North Wings Kukës International Airport, which now has a modern terminal and an enlarged runway. The town of 17,000 inhabitants, which lies on the edge of a reservoir in which the original settlement sank, is considered a transport hub between Kosovo in the north and the capital Tirana in the south. From 4th of June, Wizz Air will connect Kukës with Memmingen twice a week (Tuesday and Saturday). “Since we already have routes to Tirana and Pristina, this new route complements our offer for this region in a meaningful way,” explains airport sales manager Marcel Schütz. Experts estimate the catchment area of Kukës airport at around 1.3 million people. The majority of passengers will probably come from Kosovo, which is about 20 minutes away.

Memmingen Airport is starting the new winter season with a record, which begins with the flight schedule change at the end of October 2021. Because never before in the history of southern Germany’s largest low-cost airport have there been so many destinations during the cold season. A total of 44 flight connections are available.

The list, which ranges from A for Amman to Z for Zagreb, has been growning in recent weeks. “It´s the beginning of a new era after Corona”, says Managing Director Ralf Schmid and sums up the general mood among passengers and airlines. “In the last few weeks we already felt that there was a lot of catching up to do in terms of travel, which we can counter with an attractive offer this winter.”

Ryanair is starting the winter with six premieres, including Billund in Denmark, Lappeenranta in Finland and the Latvian capital Riga to the flight schedule. With Paphos on Cyprus, Lamezia Terme in Calabria and Gran Canaria, the airline is making new, sunny offers for those who want to escape grim weather and blowing snow. With Tenerife, which is also on Ryanair’s flight schedule, and Fuerteventura, which will be newly served by the airline Corendon, all three Canary Islands can now be reached non-stop from Memmingen. The Egyptian city of Hurghada, which Corendon serves from Memmingen, also promises plenty of sun.

New to Plovdiv

Memmingen Airport has added another destination to its traditionally excellent Eastern European offer: On November 9th, Wizz Air will launch a new flight connection from Memmingen to Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria and the location of numerous branches of German companies. After a break due to Corona, the airline Pobeda has also resumed its flights from Memmingen to Moscow.

More comfort

“With this record number of travel destinations, we are once again a very attractive hub for passengers from all over Europe this winter,” explains Managing Director Ralf Schmid. Here, seaside vacationers from southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland meet ski tourists from Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Ukraine and Russia, who travel via Memmingen to the winter sports resorts of the Allgäu, Upper Bavaria and the neighboring Alpine regions. Added to this is the large number of relatives, friends and commuters who will make intensive use of Memmingen Airport, especially over the Christmas holidays. There, they can expect a bit more comfort. This is because the new baggage hall with arrival area makes flying to Memmingen even more attractive.

Those who want to plan for the long term can do this too. Numerous destinations in the summer flight schedule, which comes into effect on March 27, 2022, can already be booked.

An overview of all flight destinations can be found at www.memmingen-airport.de/flugplan.

Fit for winter: The new baggage hall with arrival area (on the right in the picture) makes flying to and from Memmingen even more attractive.

picture: Memmingen Airport/Maximilian Mair

Further towards the future

With the opening of the new baggage hall with arrival area, Memmingen Airport took an important step towards the future. At the opening event, Bavaria’s Transport Minister Kerstin Schreyer praised the commitment of southern Germany’s largest low-cost airport.

“It is quite impressive how successfully Allgäu Airport Memmingen has developed since the start of passenger flight operations in 2007. The airport established itself from the start,” explained Kerstin Schreyer, who was the guest of honor at the opening event.

“With the inauguration of the new hall with baggage handling and arrival area, the airport is making an important contribution to greater comfort, safety and security for its passengers. In my view, this is the right approach to make mobility attractive and sustainable. The Free State was happy to support this investment.”

Although the Corona pandemic last year also left its mark on Memmingen Airport, the signs here point to continued growth in the long term. “The summer holidays in particular have shown us,” explained Airport Managing Director Ralf Schmid, “that the desire to travel and meet people remains unbroken.”

It was therefore necessary to adapt the infrastructure to the increasing number of passengers. The increased capacities at baggage control and reclaim as well as at the immigration checkpoints will reduce waiting times in the future. In addition, passengers will find it easier to keep the necessary distance in a larger area. A new hall with a floor space of around 2,300 square meters, which can handle up to 2,000 passengers per hour, was built in a 19-month construction period.

It is part of an extensive modernization project, the starting signal for which was given exactly three years ago when Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder broke ground on October 5, 2018. The airport has invested around three million euros in the new building, as well as in new baggage handling systems and the necessary control technology. The Free State of Bavaria has funded these investments with around 70 percent. In future, passengers from non-Schengen countries can be checked at five entry checkpoints on ten lines. The new baggage hall with arrivals area is already equipped for further growth. This is because additional traffic areas for passengers can be created on a second floor that has already been prepared.

Founding shareholder Gerhard Pfeifer also praised the new building as an important step into the future. Pfeifer recently took over as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Flughafen Memmingen GmbH. The Günzburg District Administrator Dr. Hans Reichhart was elected as his deputy.

Ready to go: Bavaria`s Transport Minister Kerstin Schreyer opened the new terminal at Memmingen Airport.

picture: Memmingen Airport