Ryanair has stated that it will close its Belfast City base at the end of October 2010. The airline cites the airport's confirmation that a public inquiry into a planned runway extension will be further delayed as the reason. The runway extension was originally scheduled to be delivered in 2008. Runway 04/22 is just 1,829 m. long. "It makes no sense for Ryanair to continue to invest in Belfast City, operating restricted routes with less than full payloads between Belfast and other UK airports (which suffer a double APD penalty) unless there is clear and immediate prospect of Ryanair being enabled to safely operate longer European routes from Belfast City Airport, and for this we need the runway extension," says CEO Michael O'Leary.
Ryanair to close Belfast City base
