Newcastle Airport flights hit in new round of Ryanair cancellations

Flights from Newcastle are among 18,000 extra to be cancelled by Ryanair in a move that will hit 400,000 customers as the fallout from the airline's mismanagement of pilot leave intensifies.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Sep 2017, 14:10 BST
Updated 4th Oct 2017, 09:37 BST
Ryan Air is cancelling more flights in its attempt to roster staff holidays.Ryan Air is cancelling more flights in its attempt to roster staff holidays.
Ryan Air is cancelling more flights in its attempt to roster staff holidays.

The Irish carrier said that as part of efforts to end a wave of cancellations that has already seen 2,000 flights grounded, it will fly 25 less aircraft between November and March.

The firm has been forced into the cancellations after miscalculating pilot leave.

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Taking more flights out of service means that 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.

They include several popular routes used by British travellers, including London Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Gatwick to Belfast, Newcastle to Faro and Glasgow to Las Palmas.

A second Newcastle route, to Gdansk, in Poland, is also suspended.

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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 blamed the move on mismanagement of pilots' annual leave, leading to the over-allocation of blocks of holidays.

The flight cancellations has so far cost the airline around 25 million euro.

Ryanair said the latest step will "eliminate all risk of further flight cancellations" and remove the risk of similar problems recurring next year.

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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.

Mr O'Leary said in a statement: "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."

Related topics:RyanairNewcastleNewcastle AirportGlasgowEdinburghBelfastFaro