Ryanair announced plans today to cut its winter schedule from Dublin and Shannon, with the loss of hundreds of jobs, unless the Government scraps the €10 airport tax.
In a statement Ryanair said it was reducing its Dublin fleet from 17 planes to 16 and its Shannon fleet from four to three. The company said the cuts would result in the loss of 350 jobs at Dublin airport and 300 in Shannon among among the airline's staff and in the wider tourism industry.
It is understood around 100 jobs will be directly lost at Dublin and Shannon as a result of the latest cuts.
Ryanair said it would announce further cuts to its winter schedule in the coming months unless the Government scraps the tax. The company said it would be forced to switch its operations to lower cost countries such as Belgium, Holland, Greece and Spain.
“If the drop in traffic at Dublin Airport continues for the full year it will mean the loss of 2.5 million passengers, 2,500 jobs at Dublin Airport and €750 million of tourism spend in the Irish economy in 2009,” the company said.
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary called the tax “tourism suicide” which is "devastating visitor numbers and jobs".
Mr O’Leary also claimed the tourism levy would raise €125 million a year but at the same time cost 2,500 jobs and more than €750 million in tourism spend and €150 million euro from VAT receipts.
However, he said today if the tax was scrapped, the cuts would also be reversed.
It is the third set of cuts to hit Ryanair's flagship Dublin base this year with the number of planes now down from 22 to 16. Mr O'Leary had revealed in February plans to halve the number of Shannon aircraft to two.
Ryanair said the cuts will hit 44 flights a week at Dublin and 36 at Shannon.
Additional reporting: PA
