Ryanair is cancelling another 18,000 flights

Ryanair has announced it is cancelling a further 18,000 flights until mid-March affecting up to 400,000 passengers.

 

In addition to the 40 to 50 cancelled daily flights over the next six weeks, Ryanair have announced that another 18,000 flights between November and March will be grounded.

 

In a statement on Ryanair’s website, the company announced plans to ‘slow its growth this winter’ to deal with the pilot crisis.

 

It announced the temporary suspension of 34 routes, including London Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Gatwick to Belfast, Newcastle to Faro, and Glasgow to Las Palmas.

 

The airline will be offering affected passengers the choice between a refund or an alternative flight.

 

They will also receive a travel voucher for £40 one-way or £80 roundtrip that can be used to book a Ryanair flight for travel between October 2017 and March 2018.

 

Ryanair Chief Executive, Michael O’Leary, apologised to customers.

 

“We sincerely apologise to those customers who have been affected by last week’s flight cancellations, or these sensible schedule changes announced today,” he said.

 

“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 Dec 2017. We will start a new 12-month leave period on 1 January 2018 in full compliance with EU regulations and the IAA’s requirements.”