Ryanair has announced plans to launch six routes this summer from Dublin to Europe.
The airline said it expected to carry 500,000 passengers a year on the routes and create 500 jobs at Dublin Airport.
The routes are to Biarritz, Carcassonne, Rome, Eindhoven, Doncaster Sheffield and Frankfurt and will commence service in April and May of this year.
Ryanair today used the announcement to put pressure on the Government to agree to a second terminal at Dublin airport. The airline said it would announce many more new routes if the Cabinet agreed to a second terminal.
Pilots welcome Labour Court ruling
Meanwhile, Ryanair pilots represented by IMPACT have welcomed a ruling by the Labour Court that it has jurisdiction to hear the pilots' complaints against the airline.
Ryanair has always argued that it does not need to recognise unions because it has adequate internal negotiating procedures with staff.
However, new legislation provides that where a company does not recognise unions, a union can seek a legally enforceable determination from the Labour Court, with or without the employer's co-operation.
While the Labour Court cannot order the employer to recognise a union, it can issue an enforceable determination on issues of pay and conditions.
Ryanair has already threatened to mount a constitutional challenge to the legislation, saying it introduces compulsory union recognition by the back door.
In a preliminary hearing before Christmas, Ryanair challenged the Labour Court's right to hear the pilots case, saying the legislation was not intended to apply to high pay multinational employers like itself.
However, it is understood that in a 14-page ruling Labour Court Chairman Kevin Duffy found that it did have jurisdiction to proceed with hearing the IMPACT complaint.
The court was satisfied that while Ryanair did communicate and consult with employees, it did not engage in collective bargaining as that term would generally be understood.
IMPACT Assistant General Secretary Michael Landers said the way was now clear for trade unions to take effective action against what he called Ryanair's unfair and anti-worker employment policies.
