Ryanair is to suspend the 'Geordie special' route between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Faro from November this year until next Spring.
Not content with cancelling hundreds of flights, causing chaos for thousands of passengers, the Irish airline also is taking the knife, albeit temporarily, to 34 low-volume routes this winter.
The airline said today that the Newcastle to Faro route will be suspended as part of a "slower growth" strategy adopted by the company and to ease the problem of having more flights than pilots.
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's CEO, who is witnessing a share slide of 20% since an August high, has announced offering alternative Ryainair flights or refunds to cover recently cancelled flights.
All passengers, "today received a travel voucher (€40 one way - €80 round trip) that they can use to book any Ryanair flight they choose in October, for travel between October and March 2018,” said the Irish businessman, failing to mention that the airline is obliged to offer alternative flights on competitors' airlines as an option.
The airline has given this shambles a name, the 'slower growth' plan, which is to fly 25 fewer aircraft in Ryanair's fleet from November 2017, and to fly 10 fewer aircraft from April 2018.
By reducing the number of aircraft being used, Ryanair's management hopes to cut back or halt any future flight cancellations caused by a lack of pilots.
Portugal was affected mainly by the first wave of cancellations. In all, 173 flights were canceled to and from Portugal, most of them at Oporto and Lisbon airports which had dozens of flights canceled - Faro airport suffering fewer cancellations.
As far as the 34 routes that will cease to exist during the winter period, only one directly affects Portugal: Newscastle - Faro.
However, other flights may have changed, as appears to be the case for some Portuguese customers with flights canceled on routes other than Newscastle - Faro. Ryanair said that in such cases, "all customers were contacted and informed of their options."
O'Leary added his "sincere apologies to all passengers affected by flight cancellations in recent weeks or by these calendar changes announced today."
These winter cancellations will affect about 18,000 flights on 34 routes and about 400,000 customers.
The UK consumer association Which? said Ryanair is a “complete and utter shambles” and that it had “effectively cancelled Christmas” for many passengers and has failed to inform customers of their rights to flights on alternative airlines and compensation for hotel and other associated costs.
The company also stated today that it has abandoned plans to buy the Italian carrier, AlItalia, as it wants to eliminate all "distractions."
