Ryanair’s ultimatum to Stansted
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Posted on: June 22nd, 2007 by Jennifer Jones
Low-cost carrier Ryanair is threatening to partially withdraw its flights from Stansted Airport if the airport operator does not reduce its landing fees for the location.
Stansted is Ryanair’s hub in the United Kingdom but unless the cost of landing there goes down, airline spokespeople say they will start moving their aircrafts to other locations.
The number of passengers flying in general has dropped lately and Ryanair is pointing the finger at the government and airport operators like BAA, accusing both of increasing taxes and airport costs to unreasonable levels.
One airport carrier from Stansted agreed, saying that air passenger duty and the cost of landing has at least doubled recently. Since airlines have had to increase ticket prices in order to help absorb the costs, demand has dropped.
Michael O’Leary, the Chief Executive Officer at Ryanair said, “We will take some flights and aircraft out of Stansted this winter if there is no movement on these high costs. Passengers are suffering a double-whammy.” He suggested as many as ten percent of the fleet would vacate Stansted.
Analysts suspect that if Ryanair pulls out, other airlines will be quick to take is place. Given this fact and the importance of Stansted as a base of Ryanair’s operations, many feel that the threat is empty and despite the cost, that Ryainair will remain in Stansted.
www.ryanair.com
Gazza
City airport is much more accessible to most people in London.
They could move their operations there
Matt
I read that Stanstead will undergo major expansion soon. Well, it sure needs just that. After all a very expensive rail extension there was finally opened in 1991.
Ryanair are putting profits before service. If they want to move, let them use East Midlands Airport and watch their passenger numbers drop.
Currently, Ryanair at Stanstead flies to:
Aarhus, Alghero, Alicante, Almeria, Altenburg, Ancona, Balaton, Bergerac, Berlin-Schönefeld, Biarritz, Bremen, Brescia, Brindisi, Brno, Brussels-Charleroi, Bydgoszcz, Carcassonne, Cork, Derry, Deauville, Dinard, Dublin, Eindhoven, Esbjerg, Forli, Friedrichshafen, Gdańsk, Genoa, Girona, Glasgow-Prestwick, Gothenburg-City, Granada, Graz, Grenoble, Frankfurt-Hahn, Haugesund, Jerez, Karlsruhe, Kaunas, Kerry, Klagenfurt, Knock, Kraków, La Rochelle, Limoges, Linz, Łódź, Lübeck, Malmö, Maribor, Marseille, Milan-Bergamo, Montpellier, Murcia, Nantes, Niederrhein, Newquay, Nimes, Oporto, Oslo-Torp, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Parma, Pau, Perpignan, Perugia, Pescara, Pisa, Poitiers, Poznan, Pula, Reus, Riga, Rodez, Rome-Ciampino, Rzeszów, Salzburg, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Shannon, St Etienne, Stockholm-Skavsta, Szczecin, Tampere, Toulon, Tours, Trieste, Turin, Valencia, Valladolid, Venice, Vitoria, Wrocław, Zadar, Zaragoza.
Talk about downsizing.