Ryanair to cut UK winter capacity by 16%

RYANAIR SAID yesterday it would cut UK winter capacity by 16 per cent from November, blaming the British government’s air passenger duty, adding that the move would lower its costs and boost profits.

The airline said it would switch London-based aircraft to lower cost European bases, where governments have scrapped “tourist taxes” and reduced passenger charges, resulting in the loss of over 2 million passengers at UK airports.

Speaking in London, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said flights to three Irish airports from the UK would be cut significantly this winter unless the Government does away with passenger taxes and reduces Dublin Airport charges.

Services to Cork, Knock and Dublin from Stansted would suffer proportionally in line with the UK cuts, Mr O’Leary warned, unless the Government abolished the passenger tax and cuts Dublin Airport Authority’s landing fees.

Ryanair will base 22 aircraft in Stansted this winter compared with 24 in the same period last year, with 135 fewer weekly flights and a loss of up to 1.5 million passengers, and job losses at the airport.

Ryanair, which is opening new bases in Barcelona and Valencia shortly, said it would take two aircraft from Stansted to elsewhere in Europe where governments have scrapped tourist taxes and reduced passenger charges.

The move will save Ryanair £10 million (€12 million) this year, he said, but he added that it was not cutting services at Edinburgh or Leeds-Bradford where airport authorities “are working with us” to increase numbers.

The UK capacity cuts should lower costs and boost profits, he said, declining to give further guidance.

He also said Ryanair would sue for compensation for the £50 million worth of losses it suffered from the decision to close European air space because of the Icelandic volcano in April.

However, so far it was not clear who should be sued, he said. Government agencies now accept that airspace should not have been closed. “It should have been left to the airlines. We are the ones who are responsible for safety.”

He said cutbacks throughout the European Union were good for Ryanair’s business. “More and more businesses are flying economy only, and more and more government departments are flying Ryanair as they introduce their own austerity measures.”

The airline was also benefiting from the long-running British Airways’ industrial dispute, Mr O’Leary said.

He launched an attack on the newly-appointed Conservative transport secretary Philip Hammond for his declaration that domestic flights in the UK would be replaced by rail travel.

He also criticised the decision to abandon the plan to build a new runway at Heathrow. “We don’t believe that you should build new airports. [But] we do believe that you should build more runways at existing airports.”