FIVE Scottish routes are among those to be hit by Ryanair’s latest decision to axe an extra 18,000 flights in a move that will hit 400,000 customers.
The Irish carrier said it will fly 25 fewer aircraft between November and March as part of efforts to end a wave of cancellations that has already seen 2000 flights grounded, after the firm miscalculated pilot leave.
Taking more flights out of service means Ryanair will be able to “roster all of the extra pilot leave necessary” in October, November and December, the budget airline said.
As a result, 34 routes are suspended for the winter season from November to March 2018.
Among them are several popular routes used by travellers from Scotland, including London Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Edinburgh to Szczecin, Glasgow to Las Palmas as well as Hamburg to Edinburgh.
The move will add to mounting anger over Ryanair, which has come under heavy fire after recently shelving up to 50 flights every day for six weeks.
Boss Michael O’Leary has put the blame on mismanagement of pilots’ annual leave, leading to the over-allocation of blocks of holidays.
The flight cancellations have so far cost the airline around 25 million euros.
Ryanair said the latest step will “eliminate all risk of further flight cancellations” and remove the risk of similar problems recurring next year.
The firm also plans to roll out a series of low fare seat sales for winter 2017 as it is “confident that there will be no further roster related cancellations”.
It argued less than 1 per cent of the 50 million customers Ryanair will carry this winter are impacted and all affected passengers have received an email alerting them and offering alternative flights or full refunds.
They have also received a 40 euro travel voucher.
O’Leary said yesterday: “We sincerely apologise to those customers who have been affected by last week’s flight cancellations, or these sensible schedule changes announced today.
“From today, there will be no more rostering related flight cancellations this winter or in summer 2018.
“Slower growth this winter will create lots of spare aircraft and crews which will allow us to manage the exceptional volumes of annual leave we committed to delivering in the nine months to December 2017.
“We will start a new 12 month leave period on the 1st of January 2018 in full compliance with EU regulations and the IAA’s requirements.”
Ryanair also plans to roll out a series of low fare seat sales for winter 2017, with the firm “confident that there will be no further roster related cancellations”.
The airline also said in its statement that it has scrapped plans to bid for bankrupt Italian airline Alitalia in order to “focus on repairing this rostering problem this winter”.
“Ryanair will eliminate all management distractions starting with its interest in Alitalia,” the group said.
The statement also expressed appreciation for the “widespread support” from its 4200 pilots, claiming that hundreds had offered to work days off or a week of their allocated month of leave.
It added the pilots had offered to “go public to correct the false claims made abou tthem, and Ryanair, by competitor airline pilots in certain media outlets”.
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