Ryanair slashes Budapest flights by 40%
Ryanair is cutting winter routes from Budapest by 40% because of a rise in landing and handling fees.
It will cut 10 routes, including Birmingham flights, from January 10.
The move will mean Ryanair’s Budapest traffic will fall by over 280 weekly flights, or 800,000 passengers a year to 1.2 million and will see the loss of up to 800 "on-site" jobs.
It will further hit tourism in Budapest following the collapse of Hugarian national carrier Malev in February.
After Malev’s collapse, Ryanair stepped in to replace most of the lost services, basing five aircraft at the airport.
At a press conference today, Michael O’Leary said: "Ryanair regrets Hochtief Budapest Airport’s decision to increase charges, impose inefficient facilities and reject our proposals for a competitive growth offer which would have allowed Ryanair to grow traffic and routes at Budapest."
by Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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