Budget airline Ryanair announced today it is to set up a new base at Glasgow International Airport.

The airline will make an investment of around £360m in Scotland as it looks to expand its operations in Glasgow.

The move means Glasgow will have two new business routes to and from Dublin and London three times a day; seven winter routes to and from Bydgoszcz, Derry, Riga, Warsaw Modlin and Wroclaw; and 55 weekly return flights.

The existing one daily flight from Glasgow Prestwick to Dublin will now switch to Glasgow International as the airline expands the service to three times daily.

Ryanair, however, insist that they remain committed to their long standing base at Prestwick where the airline has a major maintenance facility and is currently in discussions with Glasgow Prestwick and the Scottish Government, its new owners, to explore growth opportunities to/from Prestwick.

Glasgow Prestwick will still run seven winter routes (to/from Alicante, Barcelona Girona, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Malaga & Tenerife), and 13 weekly return flights.

Ryanair celebrated its Scottish growth and three new business routes by releasing 100,000 seats for sale across its European network, at prices from £19.99 for travel in August, September and October.

These low fare seats are available for booking until midnight Monday, July 7.

Ryanair's new Scottish routes go on sale on the Ryanair.com website tomorrow at fares from just £19.99.

A new business route will also run at Edinburgh to/from London Stansted three times a day.

David O'Brien, Ryanair's chief commercial officer, said: "Ryanair is pleased to launch three new Scottish routes, between Edinburgh and London, Glasgow and London, and Glasgow and Dublin, starting this October, with three daily return flights on each route at fares starting from just £19.99, which are half of BA's fares and 40% cheaper than Easyjet's, in response to strong demand for Ryanair's low fares from Scottish consumers and business customers, and increased competition between Scottish airports.

"Ryanair will also open a new base at Glasgow International this winter, with seven new routes and will deliver more than 500,000 new customers through Scottish airports this year.

"Scottish consumers already choose Ryanair for our low fares, industry leading customer service and great route choice."

He added: "However, Scotland cannot fulfil its true tourism potential until Air Passenger Duty is removed and we would urge Scotland to follow the example of Ireland, where Ryanair has launched 21 new routes and will deliver over 1.2m new customers this year, in response to the Irish Government's welcome decision to scrap APD. Regardless of the outcome of the referendum, Scotland cannot unlock its full potential until APD is repealed."