Ryanair set to cut 500 Dublin based jobs

Ryanair will cut the number of aircraft based at the Dublin Airport from 22 to 18 and reduce the number of weekly flights at that facility from 1350 to fewer than 1200.

These numbers represent a reduction of 18 per cent in the Dublin-based aircraft, and approximately a 12 per cent reduction in the number of weekly flights.

Ryanair is estimating that its Dublin airport passenger traffic will drop by a half million passengers this coming winter season over last year. The carrier is also predicting that the Dublin Aviation Authority (DAA) will see its first decline in passenger traffic since 1991.

“The key thing is Dublin is going to lose 500,000 passengers this winter,” said Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair.

“Of that, the DAA will lose €5 million in passenger fees and commercial income. Because every 1,000 passengers creates a job, there will be about 500 jobs lost at Dublin airport this winter.”

The DAA rejected proposals put forth by Ryanair for discounts on flights during the upcoming winter season, according to O’Leary, who added that the airline was cutting capacity at Dublin airport because it ranks as the second most costly of the carrier’s operational bases.

Further cutbacks are to be announced in the coming days for Stanstead, Ryanair’s most expensive base.

“The combination of Dublin’s high costs, unjustified cost increases - up 40 per cent in the last four years - and a hopeless aviation regulator, who has most recently rubberstamped doubling charging for check-in desks and check-in kiosks, makes it more profitable for Ryanair to ground these aircraft rather than fly them at Dublin airport this winter.”

www.ryanair.com