Ryanair axe Cork route
28.08.08
Ryanair will axe its daily flights to Cork from East Midlands and Prestwick Airport at the end of October. Michael O'Leary, the airline's chief executive, blamed increased charges at Cork Airport for the decision to axe the routes. However, Cork Airport management has rejected the claim that it has raised its fees.
Mr O'Leary said: ‘We regret that we have to close these two daily routes to and from Cork. However, a 20% increase in airport charges on these routes reduces our ability to offer low fares at a time of higher oil prices and these higher costs will make these routes loss-making this winter.'
The dispute seems to be about a discount on airport fees for new routes. Airlines are eligible to apply for route support through the Route Support Scheme when introducing new destinations from Cork. The scheme operates over a 5 year period and is based on a sliding scale with a 100% discount in year one. In the second year the discount moves to 80% and so on over the 5 year period of the scheme. It looks like Ryanair wants to vary the terms of the deal.
The budget airline will cease operating from Cork to East Midlands Airport on 26 October and Glasgow Prestwick on 28 October. The closure of the two routes will mean a loss of 200,000 passengers going through Cork airport.
Ryanair operates 4 other routes out of Cork - to Stansted, Gatwick, Liverpool and Dublin. Mr O'Leary said these will not be affected as they have been up and running for some time and are profitable.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book prestwick airport car parking or prestwick airport hotel at the lowest price, click on the links to two great prestwick airport car parking and prestwick airport hotel price comparison websites.
