RYANAIR is set to scrap plans to run a new winter service from Belfast International Airport to Warsaw Modlin.
The Irish carrier announced it will pull 10 winter routes from the Polish airport and reduce frequencies on 13 additional services after failing to resolve a long-running row with the airport’s operator.
Ryanair’s chief executive Eddie Wilson confirmed on Friday morning that Belfast International would be on the list of the routes it will pull from pulling from Warsaw-Modlin.
The frequency of flights to Dublin from the Polish airport will also be scaled back.
In a statement, Ryanair said the move will put 200 jobs at risk in Poland.
“This massive loss in traffic and connectivity to/from Modlin and the wider Mazovia region could have been avoided if Modlin Airport’s management team (who spent two years avoiding an agreement) concluded a long-term growth deal with their biggest customer, Ryanair.
“Despite Ryanair delivering several growth proposals which would have doubled passenger traffic at Modlin and delivered transformational growth for Modlin and the wider Mazovia region, Modlin management have inexplicably rejected each opportunity to conclude a deal to the detriment of local connectivity, jobs and the economy – which has been evidenced by today’s reduction to/from Modlin for Winter 23/24.”
Read more:
- Belfast International Airport: Passenger numbers up by 112,000 in June following Ryanair's return
- Ryanair planning new winter flights to Porto, Turin and Warsaw from Belfast International
- Ryanair return to Belfast International Airport this weekend with 15 new routes
- Ryanair blames air passenger duty for withdrawal from Northern Ireland
Mazowiecki Port Lotniczy Warszawa-Modlin, which manages the airport near Warsaw, declined to comment when contacted by Polish news outlet TVN24.
The new Warsaw-Modlin service from Belfast International was due to launch on October 29.
Ryanair returned to Belfast International in March 2023 after it pulled all flights in Northern Ireland during 2021, blaming air passenger duty (APD)
It returned to Aldergrove this year with 16 summer routes following a new deal with the airport and the UK Government’s move to cut APD.
Ryanair also pulled up the wheels at Belfast City Airport in 2010, when its boss Michael O’Leary lost patience over a public inquiry on a planning application to extend the city airport’s runway.
