Ryanair to close Belfast City base

Ryanair said it will close its Belfast City base at the end of the current summer schedule Oct. 31, citing the airport's confirmation that a public inquiry into a planned runway extension will be further delayed. The runway extension was originally scheduled to be delivered in 2008. Runway 04/22 is just 1,829 m. long.

"It makes no sense for Ryanair to continue to invest in Belfast City, operating restricted routes with less than full payloads between Belfast and other UK airports (which suffer a double APD penalty) unless there is clear and immediate prospect of Ryanair being enabled to safely operate longer European routes from Belfast City Airport, and for this we need the runway extension," CEO Michael O'Leary said.

The LCC launched a base at BHD in October 2007 with one 737-800. It operates five routes to the UK: London Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands, Bristol and Glasgow. It said the closure of its base will result in the loss of 1 million passengers annually at the airport.