Ryanair halts UK growth

Ryanair announced today that it was freezing any further growth at it's nine UK bases as a result of the £10 APD passenger tax and the BAA's high airport charges. Citing a drop in passenger numbers of 4.5m in the first five months of the year and urging the sale of Stansted and Gatwick airport's the airline predicts that passenger numbers will have fallen by 10m by year end. The airline's chief executive Michael O'Leary said that Ryanair will grow by 15% this year to carry more than 67m passengers but none of this growth will come from the UK, adding that "The Government's £10 tax is making the UK an uncompetitive destination and they must scrap this tax now to prevent a further collapse of UK passenger, tourism and job numbers".

As part of the freeze on growth the airline is preparing to ground 20 aircraft at Stansted Airport this winter and lay off 100 staff in anticipation of a slowdown in demand.