Ryanair will reduce its UK capacity by 16% this winter, blaming the government's decision not to scrap air passenger duty (APD) for the loss of passengers.
The budget carrier said the UK government's "tourist tax" is damaging traffic to the UK, predicting a loss of more than 2 million passengers to British airports this winter, compared to winter 2009. The airline did not publish which routes would be affected.
Capacity at Stansted alone will be cut by 17%, reducing weekly flights by 135. Ryanair will base 22 aircraft at the airport this winter, compared to 24 last winter.
Michael O'Leary , Ryanair's CEO, said: "Sadly UK traffic and tourism continues to collapse while Ryanair continues to grow rapidly in those countries which welcome tourists instead of taxing them.
"Ryanair's 16% UK capacity cutback, 17% cut at Stansted, shows just how much the UK's tourist tax and the BAA's high airport charges are damaging UK tourism and the British economy generally.
Ryanair said it would mean the loss of up to 1.5 million passengers between November 2010 and March 2011.
Air passenger duty will rise from £11 to £12 for short haul flights from this November, after the government delayed its decision on whether to scrap the controversial tax.
O'Leary said that Ryanair's cutbacks underline the need to scrap the tax.
"Independent capacity analysis shows that growth has returned to the Belgian, Dutch and Spanish markets after their governments scrapped tourist taxes and/or reduced airport charges, in some cases to zero, in order to stimulate tourism and jobs," he said.
The Lib-Con coalition had previously said they would drop air passenger duty in favour of a per plane tax, but in the emergency budget last week, the issue was put on hold.