Ryanair Cancels Hundreds of Flights

LOW-FARE airline Ryanair has cancelled 600 return flights this winter due to late delivery of new planes.

The cancellations cover January, February and March.

The axing of the flights will reduce the operator’s passenger numbers by 100,000 a month in the first three months of next year.

However, services to and from Liverpool John Lennon Airport will not be affected, according to an airport spokesman.

Ryanair stressed that the cancellations amounted to only 1% of its total flying programme and that passengers affected would get their money back or be offered alternative flights.

Ryanair said that as a result of the strike at US planemaker Boeing during September and October , all of Ryanair’s aircraft deliveries this winter would arrive approximately one month after their scheduled date.

The airline added that it had been able to meet this four- aircraft shortfall during October, November and December by extending the flying programme on a number of older Boeing 737-200 series aircraft due for retirement.

However, it had not been possible to extend the use of these aircraft beyond the end of December as they had been sold and the pilots retrained on Boeing 737-800s.

Services would return to normal in April following the arrival of the last four aircraft from Boeing