Ryanair to axe Glasgow airport base

LONDON (BBC News): Ryanair is to close its base at Glasgow Airport, warning that 300 jobs could go as a result. The airline, which also operates out of Prestwick, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, will cut the number of routes out of Glasgow from 23 to just three.

Chief commercial officer David O’Brien blamed the change on the cost of air passenger duty and said Glasgow “simply could not bear the burden”. Glasgow Airport said it was “bitterly disappointed” by Ryanair’s decision.

A spokesman for the airport said there was “no doubt” that the failure to replace APD with a cheaper air departure tax (ADT) in Scotland was behind the move. The Scottish government said it remained committed to reducing APD by 50%, but that there were still issues to be resolved before this could be introduced.

Ryanair made the announcement as it unveiled its schedule for winter 2018, confirming that only its services to Dublin, Wroclaw and Krakow would continue from Glasgow.

The company said 11 new routes would be added to its Edinburgh schedule.

Mr O’Brien said: “Sadly the weaker Scottish market is even weaker still in Glasgow, which simply can’t bare the burden of APD at £13.

“This should not come as a surprise to the government, we did say that our growth in Glasgow was based on their promise to abolish APD, which morphed into a promise to half APD, which suddenly has disappeared into the ether and quite frankly we don’t have any more patience.

“There are other markets in the UK and Europe which offer a more compelling proposition.”

Mr O’Brien added: “Passengers mean jobs and around 500,000 passengers will be lost at Glasgow, pressurising around 300 jobs which will probably be lost.

“The flipside is that you’re looking at around 700 jobs being introduced to Edinburgh.”

Mr O’Brien also said that Brexit was a threat to Scottish tourism and the airline industry in general.

The Scottish government unveiled plans to replace air passenger duty with a cheaper air departure tax in 2017.

However, the plans have yet to be implemented and require EU approval under state aid rules.