Ryanair to Cut Stansted Capacity by 40%

Ryanair is reducing its Stansted Winter Schedule capacity by 40% starting in October 2009.

The low cost airline operated 40 aircraft from Stansted this summer but will reduce this to 24 aircraft (a 40% reduction) this winter with a 30% reduction in the number of weekly flights and a loss of 2.5m passengers at Stansted between October and March 2010.

Ryanair will now switch 16 of its aircraft to other European bases where it says governments are scrapping tourist taxes and / or reducing passenger fees to zero.

Announcing this 40% winter cutback at Stansted, Michael O’Leary said, “Sadly UK traffic and tourism continues to collapse while Ryanair continues 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.

“In recent months the Belgian, Dutch, Greek and Spanish governments have all scrapped tourist taxes and/or reduced airport charges to zero in order to stimulate tourism. These cutbacks underline the urgent need to; (a) break-up the high cost BAA Airport Monopoly (as recommended by the Competition Commission) and (b)scrap Gordon Brown’s insane and damaging £10 tourist tax which has caused UK traffic to collapse.”

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