Ryanair axes flights to Belfast City

Ryanair has announced that it will be pulling out of Belfast City Airport from October 31 of this year, a move that is likely to affect Irish students in Scotland.

The airline has blamed its decision on the government halting expansion plans at the capital’s domestic airport. Ryanair was the biggest supporter of a proposed runway extension at Belfast City, but the plans have been the subject of much controversy due to concerns about the levels noise and pollution.

The proposals, originally intended to be completed in 2008, have now been referred to a public inquiry after the government received almost fifteen hundred complaints from local residents; conversely, it also received over two thousand letters in support of the plans.

Ryanair said that, without the extension, other European airports are better able to supply them with the runway infrastructure they require.

The withdrawal will cost Northern Ireland at least fifty jobs and, according to the airline, almost a million passengers annually. Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, commented that the announcement by Ryanair was, "very regrettable. Direct, convenient and competitive access services are critical to achieving a return to growth in inbound tourism.”

The airline flew eight hundred thousand passengers a year from Belfast to five destinations in the UK, including Glasgow Prestwick.

Although Flybe operates flights between Belfast and Edinburgh and Glasgow, Ryanair’s withdrawal will see a significant reduction in competition on the route. The news is likely to affect Irish students travelling to Scotland.

Speaking to The Journal, Craig Meek, a fourth year maths student at the University of Edinburgh who lives in Belfast, said: “It can be really expensive travelling home to Ireland, especially if you don’t book way in advance, because we can’t just jump on a coach.

"Ryanair’s service to England and Scotland was really useful and it was almost always the cheapest option. If Flybe can’t offer flights as cheaply as Ryanair does, I’m  going to end up shelling out a lot on travel, or having to take the ferry.”

Some commentators have suggested that Ryanair’s high passenger figures will attract other low-cost carriers like easyJet to snap up the opening at the airport, but Liz Fawcett, chair of Belfast City Airport Watch, told The Journal: “We think Ryanair really pulled out at least in part because the recession meant the routes weren't sufficiently profitable… Analysts believe that Ryanair is also on the verge of pulling out of Shannon.”

Ms. Fawcett added that all but one of Ryanair’s routes is covered by easyJet or bmi baby, meaning that for most passengers the cost of travelling between Belfast and mainland Britain should remain relatively low.