Ryanair reduces Stansted flights
Breaking News
Budget airline Ryanair has announced a significant reduction in its services at Stansted Airport.
Ryanair will reduce the number of aircraft it runs at the airport by 40% in its winter schedule, and will cut the number of flights by 30%, it said.
The company said that Stansted was one of its two most expensive bases, the other being Dublin.
Ryanair added that an increase in air passenger duty tax was also a big factor in its decision.
The airline operated 40 aircraft from Stansted in the summer but said this would fall to 24 this winter.
It said it would switch the 16 aircraft it was withdrawing from Stansted to other European bases.
It expects to carry 2.5 million fewer passengers between October and March.
Ryanair also reduced its capacity at Stansted last winter, cutting its fleet from 36 planes to 28.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8160923.stm
Tourist tax
In November, air passenger duty will increase from £10 to £11.
Ryanair said it had written to the prime minister, asking him to scrap "this damaging tourist tax", adding that several other European governments had done so in recent months.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said that UK traffic and tourism was collapsing, although Ryanair continued to "grow traffic rapidly in those countries which welcome tourists instead of taxing them".
"Ryanair's 40% capacity cutback at London Stansted shows just how much Gordon Brown's £10 tourist tax and the BAA monopoly's high airport charges are damaging London and UK tourism and the British economy generally," he added.
Breaking News
Budget airline Ryanair has announced a significant reduction in its services at Stansted Airport.
Ryanair will reduce the number of aircraft it runs at the airport by 40% in its winter schedule, and will cut the number of flights by 30%, it said.
The company said that Stansted was one of its two most expensive bases, the other being Dublin.
Ryanair added that an increase in air passenger duty tax was also a big factor in its decision.
The airline operated 40 aircraft from Stansted in the summer but said this would fall to 24 this winter.
It said it would switch the 16 aircraft it was withdrawing from Stansted to other European bases.
It expects to carry 2.5 million fewer passengers between October and March.
Ryanair also reduced its capacity at Stansted last winter, cutting its fleet from 36 planes to 28.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8160923.stm
Tourist tax
In November, air passenger duty will increase from £10 to £11.
Ryanair said it had written to the prime minister, asking him to scrap "this damaging tourist tax", adding that several other European governments had done so in recent months.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said that UK traffic and tourism was collapsing, although Ryanair continued to "grow traffic rapidly in those countries which welcome tourists instead of taxing them".
"Ryanair's 40% capacity cutback at London Stansted shows just how much Gordon Brown's £10 tourist tax and the BAA monopoly's high airport charges are damaging London and UK tourism and the British economy generally," he added.
