Ryanair grounds flights at Stansted Airport

Budget carrier Ryanair will ground 12 of it planes due to fly out of Stansted Airport this winter, it has been reported.

According to the Times, the airline is to make the move because of rising fuel costs and airport fees.

The grounded aircraft will amount to around a third of its fleet currently used at Stansted Airport.

"We're heading into recession and people are becoming much more price sensitive. Our experience of recession is that fares generally fall," said Howard Miller, Ryanair's chief financial officer.

Figures indicate that the number of passengers flying out of Stansted Airport on Ryanair flights will fall by 900,000, with the number of weekly flights seeing a 14 per cent decline.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said: "High airport charges and the massive increases which we face in fuel prices, makes it more profitable for Ryanair to ground aircraft rather than fly them at these airports during this period."

Last year the airline grounded seven of its planes, owing to similar factors.

Posted by Graham Greenaway on the 25/09/2008 15:06:41
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