Ryanair’s winter cutbacks will halt 90 Liverpool flights

Liverpool John Lennon Airport will lose 90 Ryanair flights this winter in the six weeks the airline plans to close a selection of smaller airports around Europe.

Ryanair operations at Budapest, Krakow, Palma and Valencia airports will be closed from 4 November to 19 December, causing 15 flights a week into Liverpool to be cancelled.

Robin Tudor, head of PR at Peel Airports, owner of Liverpool JLA, said: "Obviously no-one is immune to the rise in fuel prices and other economic factors that is behind this closure and it will affect us in what is already a difficult period for the airline industry."

The Irish carrier is also closing Basel, Rzeszow and Salzburg, none of which is served from Liverpool. In total, 2,000 flights will be affected with the loss of 300,000 passengers.

Tudor declined to say how many passengers would be affected in Liverpool.