Ryanair to open British base, Dublin capacity cut

RYANAIR is set to open one new base in Britain — housing up to three aircraft — by the end of October.

Chief executive Michael O’Leary said yesterday that the company is considering three airports for the new base and could be in a position to make a further announcement within the next fortnight, with the new hub possibly being operational by the end of October. Mr O’Leary said that Ryanair currently flies to two of the three airports being considered. It would bring to 34 the number of European hubs, Ryanair operates. Seven of the 17 British airports the airline currently flies to are not full bases — including Gatwick and Manchester.

That was about the only bit of positive news from a predictably downbeat media briefing yesterday, where the airline confirmed — as hinted earlier in the year — a 20% capacity cut in its winter schedule (for the second consecutive year) at Dublin Airport, resulting in a loss of 150 further ground-based jobs, 250,000 fewer passengers and 200 fewer flights over the winter months. In all, between five and seven routes will be temporarily shelved. Between this announcement and Ryanair’s capacity cuts at Dublin earlier in the summer, around 300 ground-based jobs — directly related to the airline — will go this year.

The airline recently announced a 40% cut in capacity at its London Stansted base between October and March.

Ryanair also entered a fresh war of words with the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) yesterday. While the Government’s €10 per passenger travel tax was given as the reason for the latest capacity decrease, Mr O’Leary expressed confidence that his wish for the break-up of the DAA’s monopoly ownership of Ireland’s three main airports will come to pass, and said that Dublin Airport itself could be bankrupt by the middle of next year.

In response, the DAA said that recent Airports Council International studies found that its airport charges were lower than most similarly sized European airports and that Ryanair’s Dublin-based business has been key to the airline’s long-term growth.

Ryanair countered that its lowering of prices is the only reason why its own traffic is increasing and the ACI research was “neither independent nor accurate."