AB Airlines has warned of job cuts at Shannon Airport after dropping its daily services to Stansted, London and Birmingham from Shannon.
The company chairman, Mr Brian Beal, yesterday described the cuts as inevitable following the establishment of a Shannon-Stansted service by Virgin Airlines.
Last November the company, which employs 65 at Shannon, told the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, that any new service would result in over-capacity on the route.
The company tried to get Ms O'Rourke to prevent Virgin establishing a Shannon-Stansted service.
An AB Airlines spokesman said the airline would be rethinking its Shannon strategy, adding that proposed routes to Glasgow and Liverpool have also been dropped.
The Stansted service is to be transferred to the existing thrice-daily Gatwick service from February 14th.