Post by Humberside on Mar 13, 2009 21:38:21 GMT
www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/8995/Midlands-bound_flights_under_threat.html
FLIGHTS between Inverness and Nottingham are under threat due to a decline in passenger numbers.
Low-cost airline Ryanair is blaming the slump, which is affecting its flights across the country, on government taxes.
Although the £10 airport departure tax is not charged on flights from Inverness, it applies in England and could be causing fewer passengers to travel on the route from East Midlands Airport.
Lesley Kane, the airline's European head of sales and marketing, who was at Inverness Airport yesterday, warned the company could no longer continue to subsidise the current tax, which is set to increase to £12 by 2010.
"We are currently subsidising the route, so passengers haven't felt the impact of that but there is only so long we can subsidise something because we have to look at the bigger picture and for us as an airline there are plenty of other opportunities in Europe where governments and airports are offering low cost deals," said Ms Kane, who wants tourism operators to promote the route more.
The flight to the East Midlands is the only service Ryanair currently operates from the Highland Capital. It runs three times a week and started in February 2007.
"Ryanair carried 40,000 passengers to and from Inverness last year which represented a decline of almost 50 per cent on the previous year," she said. "Ryanair has repeatedly confirmed that the scrapping of the tourist tax and a lower cost deal at Inverness Airport would see the reversal of the recent Ryanair decline in passenger numbers at Inverness."
But she stressed the company did not want to ditch the service and was offering cut-price seats.
"I'm not here to announce any cancellations or anything negative about Inverness, but we constantly review our presence at airports and our route network," she said. "We would always want to be present here but it has to make sense for Ryanair financially."
In November 2007, Ryanair stopped flights to Liverpool, a little over a year after the service was launched.
It was originally a seven-day service before its frequency was reduced to three times a week after bookings became too low to make a daily service profitable.
Inverness Airport manager Graeme Bell does not want to see Ryanair withdraw another service. "We are very focused on retaining the business we have," he said. "Hopefully, once we get through the decline, we can increase the services we have with Ryanair."
Low-cost airline Ryanair is blaming the slump, which is affecting its flights across the country, on government taxes.
Although the £10 airport departure tax is not charged on flights from Inverness, it applies in England and could be causing fewer passengers to travel on the route from East Midlands Airport.
Lesley Kane, the airline's European head of sales and marketing, who was at Inverness Airport yesterday, warned the company could no longer continue to subsidise the current tax, which is set to increase to £12 by 2010.
"We are currently subsidising the route, so passengers haven't felt the impact of that but there is only so long we can subsidise something because we have to look at the bigger picture and for us as an airline there are plenty of other opportunities in Europe where governments and airports are offering low cost deals," said Ms Kane, who wants tourism operators to promote the route more.
The flight to the East Midlands is the only service Ryanair currently operates from the Highland Capital. It runs three times a week and started in February 2007.
"Ryanair carried 40,000 passengers to and from Inverness last year which represented a decline of almost 50 per cent on the previous year," she said. "Ryanair has repeatedly confirmed that the scrapping of the tourist tax and a lower cost deal at Inverness Airport would see the reversal of the recent Ryanair decline in passenger numbers at Inverness."
But she stressed the company did not want to ditch the service and was offering cut-price seats.
"I'm not here to announce any cancellations or anything negative about Inverness, but we constantly review our presence at airports and our route network," she said. "We would always want to be present here but it has to make sense for Ryanair financially."
In November 2007, Ryanair stopped flights to Liverpool, a little over a year after the service was launched.
It was originally a seven-day service before its frequency was reduced to three times a week after bookings became too low to make a daily service profitable.
Inverness Airport manager Graeme Bell does not want to see Ryanair withdraw another service. "We are very focused on retaining the business we have," he said. "Hopefully, once we get through the decline, we can increase the services we have with Ryanair."