Ryanair to cut Stansted flights

By Josie Ensor

Ryanair had planned to increase the number of flights to and from the Essex airport by 5 per cent from April, but will now cut 170 flights across 43 routes a week because of increased fees at Stansted.

The reduction means that 1.1 million Ryanair passengers will travel through the airport, which Ryanair claims could cause the loss of up to 1,000 jobs there.

More than 50 per cent of Stansted's flights are generated by the budget Irish airline.

The announcement came after Stansted was sold by Ferrovial/BAA to Manchester Airports Group (MAG) for £1.5 billion.

Ryanair blamed its decision on a 6 per cent increase in charges at the airport, which it says should be investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said: "It's bad enough that Ferrovial/BAA has doubled prices over the past six years and presided over record traffic falls at

Stansted, but it appears that the CAA now rewards this commercial failure by allowing Ferrovial/BAA to again raise fees in 2013 to compensate for its traffic declines in 2012."

He continued: "Ryanair and other Stansted airlines now must ask was this surprise price increase part of a sweetener package to persuade MAG to pay £1.5bn for Stansted."

Stansted is one of several UK airports, including Gatwick and Heathrow, that negotiates price increases every five years.