Ryanair has announced it will be cutting its base at Edinburgh Airport from 7 to 6 aircraft. This will result in the termination of 5 routes with effect from April 2012.

The terminated routes are from Edinburgh to Berlin, Malmo, Murcia, Ibiza and Tallin. The total number of Ryanair flights from Edinburgh Airport will drop by 21% from 140 to 110.

In a statement, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair regrets BAA Edinburgh Airport’s rejection of our proposals for a competitive cost base which would allow Ryanair to further grow our traffic and routes for summer 2012. Sadly BAA Edinburgh seems to prefer higher costs, even if it means fewer passengers and jobs at Edinburgh.

“While Ryanair remains committed to Edinburgh Airport (and with 1.5m passengers and 35 routes, we continue to be one of the largest airlines operating to/from Edinburgh), BAA Edinburgh cannot continue to ignore the competitive marketplace, where airports all over the UK and Europe have been reducing costs and lowering charges in return for traffic growth. We hope even at this late stage that BAA Edinburgh will realise that the way to grow traffic and jobs is by working with Ryanair to lower passengers fares, not raise them.”

Ryanair has announced it will fly new routes from 8 European cities to Modlin Airport in Warsaw, Poland. Modlin Airport is a new passenger airport and scheduled to open on July 16, 2012.

Ryanair will offer direct flights between Warsaw-Modlin and Dublin, London, Milan, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm, Brussels, and Budapest. The new routes will come into effect from mid-July.

Starting in mid-January 2012, Ryanair will introduce a levy of 25 Euro cents on every seat to cover costs for carbon permits it needs under a new European Union emissions trading scheme.

Europe’s largest budget airline followed US Delta Air Lines and Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest carrier, in passing costs onto customers.

“We do not agree with it and we do not believe there will be any environmental benefit,” a Ryanair spokesman told Reuters.

Under plans to tackle climate change, airlines touching down or taking off in the 27-nation European Union and three neighbouring nations must account for their CO2 emissions as part of an expansion of the world’s largest carbon market.

Airlines and their associations have balked at the scheme and even challenged it in court, saying it further burdened an industry saddled with soaring fuel prices, fierce competition and national taxes.

Global airlines group IATA has estimated the annual industry-wide cost of the ETS will rise to 2.8 billion Euros by 2020, up from the 900 million Euros cost expected in 2012.

Europe’s highest court last month backed the scheme, meaning all airlines will have to pay for emissions permits, drawing anger from the United States and China.

A consumer watchdog has named budget airline Ryanair the second worst short-haul carrier.

Based on findings by Which?, a British consumer watchdog, Ryanair scored a customer satisfaction rating of just 38%. The results were compiled from an online panel of 8,227 members who answered questions about their most recent flight in the past year. Panel members gave Ryanair just one star out of five for its boarding process and two stars out of five for value for money.

This put the Ryanair just slightly ahead of Thomas Cook airlines which received a ranking of just 27% and the title of the worst short-haul carrier.

In spite of its low customer satisfaction levels, Ryanair continues to be the leading budget airline in Europe and flies to more than 160 destinations in 27 countries.

Starting January 10, 2012, reserved seating will be available on all flights operated by RyanAir, Europe’s leading budget airline. This optional service allows passengers to reserve preferred seats and board first for an additional GBP10 (USD15) each way.

“Ryanair is pleased to extend our popular reserved seat service on all our routes from 10th January 2012 when, for just €10, passengers on all routes will be able to pre-reserve their favourite seats in the front two rows, to ensure a prompt exit on arrival, or in over wing exits, for extra legroom.” said Stephen McNamara, RyanAir’s head of communications.

Priority boarding, which allowed passengers to board the aircraft first, is also available for just GBP5 (USD7.50).  Passengers traveling with children under 16 years of age can only reserve seats in row 2 only due to safety restrictions.

Passengers traveling with RyanAir can expect a significant increase in fees for checked luggage, especially for travel during peak holiday seasons like Christmas and summer.

Effective for bookings made from December 15, 2011, the high season fee for checking a 15-kg bag is €25 if booked online or €100 if booked through the call center or at the airport. For a second 15-kg bag per passenger, the fee increases to €45 for online bookings or €135 for call center/airport bookings. These high season rates are in effect for Christmas travel from December 21, 2011 to January 4, 2012, and for all flights from June through September 2012.

For low season travel, the checked luggage fees only increase for bookings made through the call center or at the airport.
The revised fees are £60 for the first 15-kg bag and £105 for a second bag.

“Over 70 per cent of Ryanair passengers will be unaffected by these changes as they already travel with no checked-in bags”, said Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara.

RyanAir allows one free carry-on item weighing up to to 10-kg per passenger. However, if the carry-on bag exceeds this limit it will have to be checked and full fees will apply.

Ryanair, the Ireland-based budget airline, has announced the addition of 10 new international routes starting in 2012.

From the Glawgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland, Ryanair is adding 4 new routes to Barcelona (Spain), Bydgoszcz (Poland), Corfu (Greece) and Chania (Crete, Greece). These new routes will begin in April 2012.

From the East Midlands Airport in England, Ryanair is adding 6 new routes to Barcelona (Spain), Almeria (Spain), Chania (Crete), Zadar (Croatia), Corfu (Greece) and Rhodes (Greece). These new routes will begin in June 2012 in time for the summer holiday season.

Ryanair is the leading budget airline in Europe, operating more than 1,400 flights per day to 160 destinations in 27 countries. It is estimated that Ryanair carried over 70 million passengers in 2011.

Ticketing for the new routes is available on the Ryanair from December 2, 2012.