Ryanair runs sales several times a year. The biggest arrive in January, when the airline discounts millions of summer seats in one go. Between those peaks, Ryanair holds 48-hour flash sales four to six times a year, typically announced on a Tuesday, with fares from around £14.99 one-way. There is no fixed schedule, but the patterns are consistent. If you want cheap Ryanair flights, the most reliable approach is to book during one of these sale windows rather than between them.
This guide covers when Ryanair runs its sales, how long each type lasts, and how to get notified before the cheapest seats sell out.
| Sale type | When it runs | Fares from | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| January sale | December to February | ~£12.99 one-way | 2 to 6 weeks |
| Flash sales | Year-round | ~£14.99 one-way | 48 hours |
| Travel Tuesday | Late November | 20% off | 2 to 3 days |
| New routes | Oct/Nov and Apr/May | ~£14.99 one-way | Variable |
When does Ryanair release new flights?
Ryanair operates on the IATA aviation calendar, which divides the year into two main seasons: summer (late March to October) and winter (November to late March). Bookings for each season typically open around 12 months before travel, and the cheapest promotional fares are available at the start of that window.
For summer 2026, Ryanair opened bookings in autumn 2025 and launched a major seat sale on 26 December 2025, discounting over 10 million seats with a booking deadline of 8 February 2026. For winter routes, Ryanair announces new destinations in spring and typically holds a promotional launch window in April and May.
The practical implication: the cheapest fares are available at the start of the booking window, not in the weeks before travel. If you are planning a summer trip, the January sale is your best opportunity. For winter or spring travel, watch for announcements in April and May.
Ryanair is also opportunistic with flash sales, which can appear any time the airline wants to fill capacity on a specific route or respond to a news event. These are harder to predict but often deliver the lowest fares outside the main seasonal windows.
Ryanair’s annual sale calendar
January: the biggest sale of the year
January is when Ryanair moves the most discounted seats. In January 2026, the airline ran what it called its “Pig seat sale,” discounting over 10 million seats for summer travel between March and October, with a booking deadline of 8 February. Starting prices were around £12.99 one-way from UK airports on shorter routes to Spain, Portugal, and Central Europe.
This is the sale to prioritise for summer holidays. The cheapest seats on popular routes sell quickly. If you are booking Spain or the Canary Islands, expect the lowest fares to go within the first few days. Less popular routes to Eastern Europe and the Balkans tend to hold discounted fares for longer.
Boxing Day and late December
Ryanair often uses the Christmas period to launch or pre-announce its summer seat sale. In December 2025, the airline launched its summer 2026 sale on Boxing Day with over 10 million promotional seats. If you are planning ahead, checking ryanair.com in late December gives you early access to the summer booking window before the January sale is officially announced.
Travel Tuesday: Ryanair’s Black Friday equivalent
Ryanair has run a Black Friday equivalent in late November called Travel Tuesday, offering around 20% off flights. The booking window typically runs for two to three days, and peak Christmas dates are excluded. In 2025, the Travel Tuesday campaign ran through to 2 December, covering travel through January 2026.
Unlike flash sales, which discount a fixed number of seats, Travel Tuesday typically applies the 20% discount at checkout across most routes. This makes it worth using even if you are booking a specific route where the starting prices are not in promotional territory.
Autumn: winter schedule launch
When Ryanair announces its winter schedule in April and May, promotional fares are often available on new routes. These are not headline sales but are worth monitoring if you are booking travel for November through to March. New routes in particular tend to launch with lower fares to stimulate demand.
Ryanair operates a single-type fleet of Boeing 737s to more than 230 European destinations from UK airports
How Ryanair flash sales work
Ryanair’s flash sales run for 48 hours, usually starting on a Tuesday and ending at midnight on Wednesday. They are announced with little or no advance warning, typically through the Ryanair app and Ryanair’s social media accounts, before email notifications go out.
The fares are genuine. In January 2026, Ryanair offered 100,000 seats at €16.99 one-way in a 48-hour sale. In April 2026, another flash sale offered fares from €16.99 across more than 230 destinations, covering travel in May and June. These are not teaser rates for a handful of obscure routes: the April sale covered the full Ryanair network.
Flash sales typically cover travel one to three months ahead. They rarely apply to peak summer dates, school holidays, or Christmas. If you are flexible on dates, flash sales are the most consistent source of genuinely low fares outside the January sale.
Ryanair runs four to six flash sales per year, but there is no published schedule. The only reliable way to catch them is to set up notifications in advance. The 48-hour window is not forgiving on popular routes: Malaga, Alicante, and Faro seats at the promotional price typically sell within the first 12 hours.
How to get notified of Ryanair sales
The Ryanair app push notification is the fastest channel. Sales are announced there first, before emails and before most social media posts go live. Enable notifications on the app as a minimum if you want to book during a 48-hour window without missing the cheapest seats.
Third-party deal sites are useful if you want someone to filter the sale down to the best routes. Jack’s Flight Club and HolidayPirates both cover Ryanair sales within hours of launch and add context about whether a fare is genuinely good value for a specific route.
| Method | What you get | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Ryanair app | Push notification at launch Fastest | Immediate |
| Email alerts | Sale announcement email | 1 to 3 hours after launch |
| X / Twitter | @Ryanair sale posts | Within 1 to 2 hours |
| Deal sites | Curated picks from sales | Within 12 to 24 hours |
Tips for getting the cheapest Ryanair fares
Booking during a sale is the single biggest factor. Beyond that, the following approaches consistently make a difference.
- Book early in the morning. Ryanair adds seats to sales in batches. Checking at 9am when a 48-hour flash sale launches gives you the widest choice before popular routes sell out.
- Travel on a Tuesday or Wednesday. These are consistently the cheapest departure days on Ryanair. Weekend and Friday departures are more expensive even during sale periods.
- Be flexible on route. The lowest fares in any sale are on routes where Ryanair faces less competition. Less popular routes and smaller airports tend to have more seats at the promotional price.
- Avoid school holidays. Ryanair does not deeply discount peak summer or school holiday dates. The promotional fares in January sales typically exclude August and the main school half-term periods.
- Add baggage in advance. Ryanair’s cabin bag fees are lower when added online in advance than at the airport gate. See our guide to Ryanair hand luggage rules and fees before confirming the booking.
- Set price alerts between sales. Google Flights and Skyscanner both allow price alerts on specific routes. These catch fare drops outside formal sale windows, which happen when Ryanair adjusts seat allocation on lower-demand routes.
For a full breakdown of flight booking strategy, including which days of the week and months of the year deliver the lowest fares across all UK airlines, see our guide to how to get cheap flights from the UK.
Price alert tools on Google Flights and Skyscanner track fare changes between Ryanair sales, so you know when a route drops
What to do if you miss a Ryanair sale
Sales on popular routes sell out within hours. If you miss a flash sale or the January seat sale, your options are straightforward.
- Wait for the next flash sale. Ryanair runs four to six per year, so the wait is rarely more than six to eight weeks. Set up app notifications so you are ready when the next one drops.
- Check the Ryanair fare calendar. Go to ryanair.com, select your route, and view prices across the month. Even outside formal sales, midweek departures in shoulder season can be significantly cheaper than Friday or Sunday flights.
- Look at nearby departure airports. Ryanair serves multiple airports near most major UK cities. A different departure airport can be cheaper even when fares are not on sale, and the saving sometimes outweighs the extra travel time.
- Consider other budget airlines. easyJet, Jet2, and Wizz Air run sales independently of Ryanair, and their sale windows rarely overlap. Our guide to the cheapest day to book flights covers all the major UK carriers and when their fares tend to drop.
If you are trying to work out when to book for a specific type of trip, our guide to when flights are cheapest by season and destination has a month-by-month breakdown for UK travellers, covering everything from Mediterranean summer to Caribbean winter.
Frequently asked questions
When does Ryanair have its biggest sale?
Ryanair’s biggest sale of the year runs in January, when the airline discounts millions of summer seats in one go. The January 2026 sale launched with over 10 million seats for travel between March and October, with a booking deadline in early February. This is the sale to prioritise for summer holidays. Seats on popular routes to Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands sell out fastest.
How long do Ryanair flash sales last?
Ryanair flash sales run for 48 hours, typically from a Tuesday through to Wednesday midnight. They apply to a limited number of routes and seats, so popular destinations sell out faster. The fares are genuine: recent flash sales have launched at €16.99 one-way on routes across Ryanair’s full European network.
Does Ryanair have a Black Friday sale?
Ryanair has run a Black Friday equivalent called Travel Tuesday in late November, offering around 20% off flights. The booking window typically runs for two to three days, with peak Christmas dates excluded. In 2025, Travel Tuesday ran through to 2 December, covering travel through January 2026. Unlike flash sales, the 20% discount applies at checkout across most routes rather than being limited to a set number of promotional seats.
What is the cheapest price on Ryanair?
Ryanair’s promotional fares in flash sales start from around £14.99 one-way. The January seat sale and summer schedule launch typically start from around £12.99 on shorter routes from UK airports. These prices are available on specific routes and dates and sell out quickly. Outside sale windows, budget Ryanair fares on popular routes to Spain typically start from £29 to £49 one-way.
How do I get notified of Ryanair sales?
Enable push notifications on the Ryanair app. This is the fastest notification channel and alerts you before emails arrive. You can also follow @Ryanair on X (formerly Twitter), sign up to the Ryanair email newsletter at ryanair.com, or use deal curation services such as Jack’s Flight Club. For a broader view of how last-minute flight prices compare to sale fares, see our full guide.
