RYANAIR, a carrier that thrives on publicity of any sort, is in the news yet again, in both a negative and positive way. The carrier is axing its Stansted ” Ostend, Maastricht, Reims and Clermont Ferrand routes and giving passengers one month”s warning. Out goes Liverpool to Brussels and Stockholm to Torp (Oslo), Tampere, Aarhus as well as Frankfurt to Malmo. The services go on 14 January and passengers booked past that date will get their money back (and a chance to find an alternative carrier). The next day four new routes start from Stansted to Erfurt (Germany), Linz, Bari and Jerez, leaving the total number of destinations served by Ryanair from the airport at 71. The airline has announced other new services from Rome (Ciampino) and Girona, which it calls Barcelona. Meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against Ryanair for attaching ”Lyon” to its adverts for flights to St Etienne. The complaint came from the mother of a girl who had tried to check in at Lyon for a flight to Stansted, only to discover that it operated from St Etienne, 46 miles away. She was stranded overnight after having insufficient time to get to the right airport. And in a continuing case, Ryanair is involved in a landmark court battle involving BAA regarding who should pay for wheelchairs.
http://www.ryanair.com