While it may not actually have anything to do with the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, Ryanair appears to be closing down all its bases in Northern Ireland. Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary is blaming it on the UK’s refusal to end the Air Passenger Duty tax, which he says puts the airline at a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, O’Leary is also threatening to move ten to twenty percent of Ryanair’s operations in its home country, the Republic of Ireland, to other European countries, charging that Ireland isn’t doing enough to help the industry recover, making it more profitable to base planes on the Continent.
The Northern Ireland operations at Derry City airport closed last year during the height of the pandemic and have not resumed, but now service at Belfast City and Belfast International is being dropped as well. The Belfast International routes will end October 30; they have been year-round service, and their withdrawal is the more serious news. Cities served include Alicante, Girona and Malaga in Spain, Gdansk, Warsaw and Krakow in Poland, London Stansted, Malta, Manchester and Milan.
The routes from Belfast City were seasonal routes, due to end with the summer; the date has now been set at September 12. These flights were basically aimed at sun-seekers, flying to Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Malaga, Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca.
Spokespeople for the Belfast airports hold out hope of finding alternatives, saying “As we have been anticipating such a move, we have been engaging with our existing and other new airlines to provide continuity on the routes to be vacated by Ryanair, and to help sustain employment in the aviation industry at a local level in Northern Ireland.“
Image: In happier times, announcing a new route…
