The low-cost carrier will base one aircraft at Bournemouth for winter 2016-17 and will also add a new twice-weekly route to Krakow alongside three new winter services to Faro, Gran Canaria and Malta.

Ryanair, which has been operating from the airport for 20 years, will offer a total of seven routes from Bournemouth this winter, which also includes Alicante, Malaga and Tenerife.

Bournemouth’s managing director Paul Knight called the announcement “great news” for the airport.

“We have built up a good working relationship with Ryanair over the past 20 years and we are delighted to see that they are marking this anniversary by extending their winter programme and adding a new route to Krakow,” he said.

“This means there will soon be even more destinations people can travel to from our airport and more people from across Europe will be visiting our great area."

Ryanair has also expanded its winter schedule from Bristol with the introduction of a new route to Bucharest in addition to three new winter services to Krakow, Milan Bergamo and Venice Treviso.

The airline is also adding more flights to five other destinations: Alicante, Faro, Lanzarote, Malaga and Warsaw.