Ryanair has announced that it will open a new base at London Southend Airport in April of 2019. The Irish airline had previously warned of “serious disruption” if UK leaves the European Union.

The airline is projecting that it will serve over a million passengers a year from London Southend especially those travelling to Spain and Italy.

Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, David O’Brien, said: “Don’t confuse this great news as some kind of vote of confidence in the future of UK aviation.”

He said that rather, it was “a vote of confidence in Southend Airport”, and not a “reversal of opinion on the merits of Brexit”.

The airline will invest £300million into the project that will involve the basing of three planes at London Southend, and the closing down of Glasgow airport base due to low demand.

The deal is expected to double passenger numbers at Southend airport, which was only reopened six years ago. The airport expects at least one million passengers to use the airport in the first year and over five million passengers in the first five years.

Warwick Brady, CEO of Stobart Group —which owns the London airport, said: “We have a clear and focused strategy to grow our airport to welcome over five million passengers a year by 2022. This news will help us achieve that aim.”

Ryanair had threatened to reduce investment in the UK following the Brexit vote and had even applied for a UK license to cushion itself against a “hard Brexit”.

O’Brien in a previous statement said the airline will “do the prudent thing” and continue “a modest growth path in the UK”.

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