In a shock move, low-cost airline Ryanair has announced that it is pulling out of both Belfast City Airport and Belfast International Airport, meaning it will no longer operate ANY flights from the Province after already ending flights from City of Derry Airport earlier this year.
A spokeswoman for Belfast International Airport confirmed that the airline is pulling all its routes which include flights to Alicante, Barcelona (Girona), Gdansk, Krakow, London Stansted, Malaga, Malta, Manchester, Milan (Bergamo) and Warsaw on October 30.
The spokeswoman said: “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.
“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 carrier will reportedly end all flights from the City Airport on September 12, although a spokesperson for the airport confirmed that these routes were seasonal and were always to stop at the end of the summer season.
Ryanair currently flies to Alicante, Barcelona, Faro, Malaga, and Palma de Mallorca Ibiza, Valencia, and Milan from the City Airport.
