A CHORAL society, an ex-Blue Peter presenter and families planning trips home for Christmas have all vented their frustration over Ryanair grounding four months of Belfast flights.
The budget airline yesterday suspended 34 routes from November to March, including its service between Belfast International and London Gatwick.
Among those affected are St Agnes' Choral Society in Belfast whose plans for a 60th anniversary trip to London have now been placed in doubt.
They had been due to travel in November to see the West End production of 42nd Street ahead of staging their own version at Belfast's Grand Opera House in 2018.
But when one of their members accessed the Ryanair mobile phone app to check timings, they discovered the return flight had been cancelled.
St Agnes' chairman Gareth McGreevy said: "This trip has been planned since June – the flights, hotel and theatre tickets were all booked and paid for.
"There was a great buzz about the trip amongst the company but this news broke late last night with no advance warning.
"Any alternative arrangements are now costing over double the price, leaving the trip in doubt for many."
Stephen Brown, originally from Derry but living in London, had to reorganise flights home for Christmas to visit family following the abrupt cancellations.
The 41-year-old and his wife and five-year-old daughter were due to fly with Ryanair in December but had to rebook with easyJet, costing around an extra £70.
"It was to spend time with our family over Christmas. It's very rare that our extended family can get together at all. When I saw these flights were cancelled I was dismayed to say the least," he said.
"This has made me feel like I wouldn't trust Ryanair again. I would be very hesitant about booking with them going forward."
Ex-Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon, from Bangor, also tweeted: "Ryanair has cancelled my Gatwick to Belfast flight #ryanair #notlovingryanair.
"I've checked but no flights are available for my day of travel so unfortunately I've had to pay more to travel with another airline ... have booked easyJet but for £100 more!"
Another Twitter user said rebooking cancelled flights with easyJet had left them £250 worse off.
Passengers affected by the cancellations are being offered alternative flights or full refunds.
Ryanair said the decision will "eliminate all risk of further flight cancellations" and remove the risk of similar problems recurring next year.
Last week, the company said it was cancelling 40-50 flights every day for the next six weeks, after it admitted it had "messed up" the planning of pilot holidays.
It said suspending more flights meant it could "roster all of the extra pilot leave necessary" and passengers had been offered rescheduled flights or full refunds as well as travel vouchers.
