Ryanair to Shut Its Glasgow Base: Apd Tax Blamed
All Ryanair aircraft based in Glasgow Airport are to operate from Edinburgh Airport instead, in a move the airline says has been prompted by the Air Passenger Duty Tax (APD).
Ryanair's chief commercial officer, David O'Brien explained the move: “Ryanair regrets these cuts in the weaker Glasgow market where efforts to stimulate low fare demand are severely hampered by the continuing burden of APD.”
APD stands at £13 and is payable for every passenger aged 16 and over. It accounts for about a third of the average Ryanair ticket price.
While the Scottish Government said in 2016 that it would scrap APD, such a move has not yet materialised.
Services to Berlin, Derry, Lisbon, Sofia and Riga will now operate from Edinburgh, with the loss of around 300 jobs.
Nevertheless, Glasgow will still be served by Ryanair, with connections to Dublin, Krakow and Wroclaw remaining in place. However, these will be serviced by planes and crews based overseas.
Prestwick, south west of Glasgow, was Ryanair's first Scottish base. It will now operate more Ryanair services than Glasgow Airport.
Europe's biggest budget airline will be increasing the number of services from Edinburgh, with new routes opening for Gothenburg, Hamburg, Memmingen in Bavaria, Stockholm Skavsta, Seville and Tallinn.
APD has proved unpopular in many quarters of the airline industry, but nowhere more so than among budget carriers. Willie Walsh, boss of British Airways owner IAG, last week criticised the APD, saying it was hampering the growth of the group's new low-cost carrier, Level.
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