Ryanair, Europe's favourite low fares airline, today (20 Nov) announced it will carry over 3.5m customers between 20th December and 6th January, an increase of 500,000 customers over 2013, as record numbers of people fly home for the holiday season on the lowest fares.

Extra Christmas flights to Poland and Scotland are booking up fast, while more families than ever are booking Christmas sun holidays on Ryanair flights to the Algarve and Canaries, and winter breaks to Cologne and Prague also proving very popular. Ryanair will operate flights up to 16.40hrs (GMT) on Christmas Eve, resuming flights at 07.40hrs (GMT) on St Stephen's Day, to ensure everyone gets home for Christmas.

Ryanair's Robin Kiely said:                                                                 

"Ryanair will carry over 3.5m customers home across Europe over the Christmas period - an increase of 500,000 customers on 2013 - after record bookings for the Christmas and New Year holidays. Our last flight on Christmas Eve will touch down at 16.40hrs (GMT), with flights resuming at 07.40hrs (GMT) on St Stephen's Day. With over 1,600 routes to choose from, it's still not too late to book a Christmas city break, a New Year ski trip or a winter sun holiday, while our Summer 2015 schedule is also now on sale, earlier than ever, on the ryanair.com website."

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