Liverpool cut backs blamed on "idiotic" taxes
Ryanair has announced it is to cut jobs and reduce services at Liverpool Airport, blaming air passenger duty (APD) and a weakening pound.
Ryanair said the UK government's "idiotic" £10 passenger tax, coupled with falling Sterling exchange rates, had devastated traffic and tourism at the airport.
The Irish LCC said 50 pilots, cabin crew and engineers based in Liverpool will lose their jobs as part of the cut backs.
Ten services from Liverpool to Budapest, Faro, Friedrichshafen, Gdansk, Lodz, Paris, Salzburg, Santiago, Szczecin and Valencia will be dropped from the summer 2009 schedule.
"The combination of the high cost government APD and falls in Sterling has already created a traffic collapse at Liverpool Airport," said Ryanair's coo and deputy chief executive Michael Cawley.
"The decision by the UK Government to continue to impose high APD charges and increase them over the next two years is completely unacceptable given the current economic climate."
Its fleet at Liverpool will go from seven to six operating 14% fewer weekly rotations, from 189 to 163.
Ryanair also expects traffic to fall 8% in 2009, from 2.7 million last year to 2.5 million, with further plans to cuts its winter schedule.
"These cuts can and will be reversed if the Government's greedy APD is scrapped - only then can we grow passenger traffic at Liverpool and throughout the UK," added Mr Cawley.
www.ryanair.com