Ryanair says it will drop eight routes from its winter schedule, citing BAA’s refusal to offer “a competitive cost base for more Ryanair growth” and accusing the operator of having “no interest in securing the future of Scottish tourism, traffic and jobs”.
The no-frills carrier will cut routes to Bratislava, Bremen, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Gothenburg, Kaunas, Lodz and Poznan from October, on top of five route cuts already announced over the summer schedule.
Ryanair said that more route cuts may follow if “BAA Edinburgh fails to agree an extension to its five-year base agreement (which expires in Oct 2012) on more competitive terms”.
The carrier added that the operator’s “failure to secure a long-term growth deal”, was further proof that “BAA has no interest in securing the future of Scottish tourism, traffic and jobs as it artificially increases charges in the hope of making a killing on the sale of the airport for its Spanish shareholders”.
The latest cuts will see Ryanair operate 17 routes from Edinburgh this winter (down from 25), and 108 weekly flights (down from 168).
The carrier said that the route cuts “can be reversed if a competitive and realistic cost offer becomes available from BAA Edinburgh”.
BAA released its latest traffic figures yesterday, showing a 2.8 per cent drop in year-on-year traffic at Edinburgh airport.
The company is in the process of selling Edinburgh following a decision by the Competition Commission that BAA must offload either Edinburgh or Glasgow airports.