Ryanair has announced that it will be axing ten routes from Liverpool John Lennon Airport.Citing an increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) and the decline of the sterling, the budget carrier will no longer serve ten destinations from the regional airport, including Paris, Budapest, Valencia, Faro and Lodz.In further bad news, Ryanair also suggested that more cuts to its winter schedule at the airport, which handled more than five million passengers in 2008, could be made in the future. Michael Cawley, deputy chief executive of Ryanair, criticised the government for imposing increased APD tax on the struggling industry.

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Ryanair has given Durham Tees Valley Airport a welcome boost by announcing a series of new summer flights that will depart from the airport.The low-cost airline will operate an additional ten flights a week from the north-east regional airport, including six services to Alicante and Girona and four to Dublin.This announcement should provide an immediate respite for Durham, after the Scottish carrier Flyglobespan revealed earlier this month that it would not be renewing its lease at the airport.

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Ryanair has criticised the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for its “hopeless” regulation of BAA’s operations at London Stansted Airport.The budget airline, which was giving evidence at a CAA hearing on price proposals for the airport, claimed that the regulatory body’s “light touch” had ensured that passenger numbers had fallen and prices doubled at the regional aviation hub.

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A trade body for European airports has suggested that Ryanair’s latest baggage restrictions will harm their members’ revenue.The Airports Council International (ACI) said the low-cost airline’s rule, which limits passengers to one piece of hand luggage, is “short sighted”.Travellers who exceed Ryanair’s ten kilogram one-bag restriction will be charged £30, which the ACI claimed will “discourage” duty free purchases at airports.However, Stephen McNamara, Ryanair spokesman, countered this argument by suggesting that passengers are “not interested” in airport shopping.

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The Irish government has rejected Ryanair’s latest bid for its domestic rival Aer Lingus.Citing concerns that the £701 million deal would reduce competition in the Irish aviation market, Ireland’s transport minister, Noel Dempsey, also claimed that the offer “greatly undervalued” the airline.The Irish government is a shareholder in Aer Lingus and currently owns 25 per cent of the international carrier.Responding to the decision, Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’ Leary explained in a statement that he was “disappointed” with the ruling, but suggested that the budget airline would continue to focus on “growing and developing”.

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Ryanair has announced that it will add new aircraft to its network to meet expansion at Bristol, Edinburgh and Alicante airports.The additional Boeing 737-800 aircraft will bring four new routes to Alicante Airport, 12 to Bristol Airport and seven to Edinburgh Airport by the beginning of July.These new routes include services to Derry, Knock, Wroclaw, Barcelona, Cagliari, Eindhoven, Malta, Montpellier, Seville, Toulon, Trieste, Rome, Zadar, Limoges, Dusseldorf, Leipzig, Rimini and Perpignan.

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Ryanair will offer consumers one million winter flights to a number of destinations for just £15.That is according to The Telegraph, which has disclosed that the low-cost airline is slashing its prices to attract passengers as the industry faces a winter of discontent.The low cost airline presently operates 729 routes across Europe and north Africa from a number of locations in the UK, including Bristol Airport, London Stansted Airport, Luton Airport, East Midlands Airport and Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

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Ryanair has confirmed that it will axe all of its services to Fuerteventura, following a dispute over the promotion of the destination.The budget airline will close its routes to and from the Canary Island from January 31, 2009, after the tourism board AIE refused to honour a commercial agreement with the carrier that required the advertisement of the island as a holiday location.Passenger numbers on Ryanair’s schedules to Fuerteventura have increased from just 2,000 annually in 2006 to more than 250,000.

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