O’Leary blames €10 tax for 200 layoffs

RYANAIR added to the bad news at Dublin airport yesterday by announcing it will be forced to cut 200 jobs by the end of March if the Government does not scrap its proposed e10 per person travel tax in the coming weeks.

The airline recently announced that the tax — which was introduced in the last budget and comes into operation in April — would force it to cut its capacity at Shannon airport by 30%.

Ryanair also suggested it will cut its fleet of aircraft at Dublin by 20% — from 22 planes to 18 — resulting in the slashing of frequency on a number of routes out of the capital and the removal of 200 jobs.