BUDGET airline Ryanair is to expand its winter routes from Glasgow.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary was at Edinburgh Airport yesterday to announce three new routes from Scottish airports as part of the winter schedule.

The airline will fly from Glasgow International to Berlin four times a week and from Edinburgh to Frankfurt Hahn and Santander twice a week.

At Glasgow, there will be more flights to Stansted, while Prestwick is set to see an increase in the frequency of planes flying to Alicante.

The company is also increasing the frequency of flights between Edinburgh and Krakow, Stansted, Malaga, Alicante and Tenerife.

Mr O'Leary said: "Ryanair is pleased to launch our Scotland winter 2015 schedule, with two new Edinburgh routes to Frankfurt and Santander, and a new Glasgow International route to Berlin, which will help deliver over 2.5 million customers a year and support 3500 on-site jobs at Scottish airports.

"Ryanair will continue to connect Scotland with Europe's key centres of business, with more flights and improved schedules to and from major cities including Brussels, Dublin and London, making Ryanair the ideal choice for business customers, and reaffirming Edinburgh as a gateway to Europe."

Earlier this year, Mr O'Leary announced plans to become the UK's top airline by expanding Scottish operations.

Speaking in Glasgow, the low-cost airline chief vowed to pass falling oil prices on to passengers with cheaper rates from the start of next year.

He also spoke about Ryanair's Always Getting Better Programme, which includes allocated seating, a second carry-on bag, a dedicated mobile app and personalised web service.

The airline is also concentrating on securing more business travellers and has introduced new perks including fast-tracked security at both Glasgow and Edinburgh airport, priority boarding, seating at the front of the plane and flexible tickets.