Transport

Ryanair cancels flights from Belfast and Derry in row with UK’s aviation authority

Airline also cancels routes from London, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh because of CAA’s ‘sudden change of policy’

Ryanair passenger aircraft at Stansted Airport. The Irish airline has cancelled a number of UK routes in a row with the CAA. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Ryanair passenger aircraft at Stansted Airport. The Irish airline has cancelled a number of UK routes in a row with the CAA. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Mon Dec 21 2020 - 20:05

Ryanair is cancelling flights from Belfast and Derry to Britain in a row with the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The Irish airline said on Monday that a “sudden change of policy” by the CAA on Sunday that results in further restrictions had forced it to cancel UK domestic and international routes.

Ryanair added that it was cancelling routes from Belfast, Derry, London, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh because of the policy shift.

Most of the routes are within the UK, but they include flights to Morocco and Ukraine.

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The airline said the authority had imposed new restrictions late on Sunday with just 10 days to go before the Brexit transition period ended on December 31st.

“Ryanair UK had agreed Brexit contingency arrangements with the CAA two years’ ago, and cannot comply with its new and impractical requirements at 10 days’ notice,” the airline said.

The carrier called on David Kendrick, head of the CAA's airline licensing division, to respect the agreement and the authority's own policies to facilitate the restoration of the flights.