Ryanair calls time on NI to Glasgow route

Irish low-cost airline, Ryanair, has announced that come October it will no longer operate a service between Londonderry and Glasgow.
Ryanair is calling time on its route between Londonderry and Glasgow.Ryanair is calling time on its route between Londonderry and Glasgow.
Ryanair is calling time on its route between Londonderry and Glasgow.

The announcement comes as a direct result of the decision taken by Ryanair to axe its base at Glasgow Airport.

It's not all doom and gloom for Londonderry as Ryanair confirmed it would start a new route between City of Derry Airport and Edinburgh in winter 2018.

Chief Commercial Officer for Ryanair, David O'Brien, explained the decision to close its base at Glasgow Airport was because of air passenger duty cost.

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

"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."

The only services Ryanair will continue to operate out of and into Glasgow are Dublin, Wroclaw and Krakow.

The changes will come into effect in November 2018.