Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Ryanair is to cut its operations at it Spanish base in Alicante by up to 80 per cent from October in response to increased charges at the airport.

The no-frills airline said it was reducing the number of base aircraft at Alicante from 11 to two, cutting the number of routes in half to 31, and reducing passengers from 4 million to 1.5 million.