Ryanair To Cancel 50 Flights Per Day for Six Weeks

Airline rolls back to canceling only two percent of scheduled flights after announcing major cuts.

Ryanair will cancel fewer than 50 flights per day over a six-week period, after receiving a wave of customer pushback over the planned service reduction. In a press release, the low-cost carrier announced that they would reduce the number of overall cuts in order to minimize flyer impact.

The airline originally announced the cancellation of up to 50 flights per day between September 21 and October 31, 2017 as a result of a new vacation calendar and other aviation situations, including air traffic controller strikes. With all the situations coming together at once, Ryanair executives claim that on-time performance suffered. The carrier believes that they can improve performance and they look toward future aviation demands.

After the original announcement, flyers took to social media to express their outrage over the “alternative schedule.” The Sun reports travelers accused the carrier of “stranding” them due to cancellations, while others called the last-minute shifts “farcical.”

In turn, the carrier revised the plan to reduce only certain lines of services from their major airports, representing two percent of their total operations. London Stansted Airport (STN) would have two lines of service cancelled through the end of Octoher, while seven other airports would see one line cut, including Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN), Dublin Airport (DUB) and Rome Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO).

“I apologize sincerely to all our customers for any worry or concern this has caused them over the past weekend,” Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said in a statement. “We have only taken this decision to cancel this small proportion of our 2,500 daily flights so that we can provide extra standby cover and protect the punctuality of the 98 percent of flights that will be unaffected by these cancellations.”

Flyers affected by the cancellations will receive an e-mail from the airline, along with alternative booking options. Those aboard cut service may also qualify for compensation under European Union law.

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