Ryanair has announced it will be cutting its base at Edinburgh Airport from 7 to 6 aircraft. This will result in the termination of 5 routes with effect from April 2012.
The terminated routes are from Edinburgh to Berlin, Malmo, Murcia, Ibiza and Tallin. The total number of Ryanair flights from Edinburgh Airport will drop by 21% from 140 to 110.
In a statement, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said:
“Ryanair regrets BAA Edinburgh Airport’s rejection of our proposals for a competitive cost base which would allow Ryanair to further grow our traffic and routes for summer 2012. Sadly BAA Edinburgh seems to prefer higher costs, even if it means fewer passengers and jobs at Edinburgh.
“While Ryanair remains committed to Edinburgh Airport (and with 1.5m passengers and 35 routes, we continue to be one of the largest airlines operating to/from Edinburgh), BAA Edinburgh cannot continue to ignore the competitive marketplace, where airports all over the UK and Europe have been reducing costs and lowering charges in return for traffic growth. We hope even at this late stage that BAA Edinburgh will realise that the way to grow traffic and jobs is by working with Ryanair to lower passengers fares, not raise them.”
