Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1515592
4 NEWS 8.2.2024 RYANAIR will be flying to three new routes from the end of March, the car- rier announced on Wednesday. The lowcost airline will now fly to Rome, Norwich and Belfast, with Ry- anair now flying to a total of 67 desti- nations. Flights to and from Belfast will be on Tuesdays and Saturdays, while Rya- nair will fly to Norwich on Mondays and Fridays. Starting March 31, there will be two daily flights departing for Rome's Fiu- micino, with the exception of Fridays, when three flights will take off from Malta to the Italian capital. Presently, Ryanair operates one or two daily flights to another Rome air- port, Ciampino. The final flight on that route is scheduled for March 30. CEO Michael O'Leary said the air- line was being "squeezed out" of Ci- ampino due to what he said were "ar- tificial noise restrictions". "They put a limit about five years ago to 120 flights a day; now that's been further reduced to 90 flights a day," he said. He said foot traffic for Ryanair will reach 4.5 million passengers between April 2024 and March 2025, with al- most a quarter more passengers when compared to this year. Besides the new destinations, 20 other routes will see increased flights. Daily flights to Athens, Zagreb and Vi- enna, are expected to start on March 31. Ryanair has also launched a three- day seat sale, starting Wednesday, to "celebrate" the airline's three new routes with fares beginning at €24.99. Ryanair announces new routes to Rome, Norwich and Belfast for summer 2024 With the new routes, Ryanair will now be flying to a total of 67 destinations IN December 2023, industrial producer prices fell by 0.8% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU, compared with November 2023, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In Novem- ber 2023, prices decreased by 0.3% in both the euro area and the EU. In December 2023, com- pared with December 2022, industrial producer prices de- creased by 10.6% in the euro area and by 10.0% in the EU. The annual average industri- al producer prices for the year 2023, compared with 2022, decreased by 3.2% in the euro area and by 2.1% in the EU. Monthly comparison Industrial producer prices in the euro area in December 2023, compared with Novem- ber 2023, decreased by 2.3% for energy and by 0.3% for in- termediate goods, while pric- es remained stable for both capital goods and durable consumer goods, and prices increased by 0.1% for non-du- rable consumer goods. Prices in total industry excluding energy decreased by 0.1%. In the EU, industrial produc- er prices decreased by 2.4% for energy, by 0.4% for inter- mediate goods and by 0.1% for durable consumer goods, while prices remained stable for capital goods, and prices increased by 0.1% for non du- rable consumer goods. Prices in total industry excluding energy decreased by 0.2%. The largest monthly de- creases in industrial produc- er prices were recorded in Ireland (-12.0%), the Neth- erlands ( 1.8%) and Estonia ( 1.4%), while increases were observed in Greece (+1.0%), Belgium (+0.5%), Cyprus and Luxembourg (both +0.3%) as well as in France (+0.1%). Annual comparison Industrial producer prices in the euro area in December 2023, compared with Decem- ber 2022, decreased by 27.5% for energy and by 4.9% for in- termediate goods, while pric- es increased by 2.8% for capi- tal goods, by 3.0% for durable consumer goods and by 3.2% for non-durable consumer goods. Prices in total industry excluding energy decreased by 0.4%. In the EU, industrial pro- ducer prices decreased by 25.6% for energy and by 5.0% for intermediate goods, while prices increased by 2.4% for durable consumer goods, by 2.8% for capital goods and by 3.0% for non-durable con- sumer goods. Prices in total industry excluding energy de- creased by 0.6%. The highest annual decreas- es in industrial producer pric- es were recorded in Ireland (-43.5%), Italy (-20.5%) and Bulgaria (-19.8%). The high- est increases were observed in Luxembourg (+20.2%), Slo- vakia (+13.3%) and Slovenia (+2.0%). Industrial producer prices down by 0.8% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU In December 2023, IPP was down by 10.6% in the euro area and by 10.0% in the EU compared with December 2022