Ryanair to ground planes at Stansted

Budget airline Ryanair has announced it will slash the number of flights to destinations this winter in a move which it says will improve profits.

The firm has said that seven planes will be grounded at Stansted under the new plans which are being blamed on the airport's high costs.

Deputy chief executive of Ryanair, Howard Millar, said that the charges enforced by airport operator BAA are too high - denying that the move had anything to do with the company having difficulty handling passenger capacity.

Ryanair has taken full advantage of the boom in cheap air travel - with the number of people choosing to fly with the airline increasing by nearly ten-fold since 1997.

Mr Millar said: "There's no change to the business model; there's still enormous demand for low fares.

"From time to time you have to make adjustments to the model in the best interests of shareholders and that is what we are doing."