Court ruling postpones Ryanair Hamburg-base plans

Ryanair has postponed plans to launch a base at Hamburg Lubeck Airport after the Higher Administrative Court of German province Schleswig-Holstein ruled against planning approval to extend the runway, expand the main taxiway and upgrade the instrument landing system.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said: "Although Hamburg Lubeck will not benefit at this time from increased passenger numbers that would have supported up to 2,000 new jobs in the region, Ryanair will maintain its existing operation at the airport.

“Ryanair will also continue to support its partners - the City of Lubeck and Infratil - in their efforts to resolve this planning problem so that they can continue to develop the airport, grow their passenger numbers, and we can proceed with the launch of a Ryanair base in Hamburg Lubeck as soon as it is practical in the future."

"We will announce another base in Europe later this week, where we will invest over $100m (€81.5m) in new aircraft, new routes and new jobs".