Ryanair has announced that it will cease its services from Belfast International Airport and Belfast City in the autumn. This means Ryanair will operate no services from or into Northern Ireland.
The carrier will stop flying to Alicante, Barcelona (Girona), Gdansk, Krakow, London Stansted, Malaga, Malta, Manchester, Milan (Bergamo) and Warsaw from Belfast International on 30 October.
Routes from Belfast City to Spain, Portugal and Italy will cease on 12 September.
Ryanair had reintroduced services from Belfast City on 1 June but strictly on a seasonal basis.
However, a spokesperson for Belfast International Airport was quoted in today’s Belfast Telegraph as saying: “It is disappointing that Ryanair has now decided to withdraw operations from the entire Northern Ireland market at the end of October, having variously had a presence in all three local airports in recent years.
“It has been a difficult period for aviation and a time when consumers need some stability and faith in the Northern Ireland air transport network.”
The spokesperson admitted the move was expected: “As we have been anticipating such a move, we have been engaging with our existing and other new airlines to provide continuity on the routes to be vacated by Ryanair, and to help sustain employment in the aviation industry at a local level in Northern Ireland.
“To this end, we hope to be able to make announcements regarding fresh route development in the near future.”
The airline terminated its service from City of Derry Airport earlier this summer.
