Strike leads to Ryanair cancellations in Edinburgh

A strike organized by Boeing employees has forced Ryanair to cancel a large handful of flights which were scheduled to take off from Edinburgh. Ryanair only recently decided to establish a new base at the Scottish airport, but issues beyond the low cost carrier’s control have put these plans on hold. The problem was caused by the fact that the Boeing labour dispute made it impossible for the US aircraft manufacturer to deliver two B-737 planes that Ryanair had ordered and was expecting to put into service ahead of the opening of the Edinburgh base. Ryanair’s new focus city would offer regular flights to Krakow, Malaga, Palma and Bournemouth, as well as a string of other European destinations.

Ryanair had bid plans to launch 11 new routes from Edinburgh, but has now been forced to provide all passengers with tickets on these flights a full refund, due to the cancellations. If everything goes according to plan, Ryanair should be able to launch its new Edinburgh service on November 5^th, 2008. Despite the refund and the fact that problems at Boeing were at the root of these cancellations, a number of passengers expressed their disappointment to BBC News and noted that rather than spreading the blame to other parties, Ryanair should offer passengers advice and assistance in booking alternate travel arrangements.

Michael Cawley, Ryanair’s deputy chief executive, reportedly expressed his “sincere regret” that the opening of the Edinburgh base was delayed. The strike at Boeing also means that the aerospace giant will temporarily halt the production of new aircraft.

Thank you to BBC News for the initial report.

www.ryanair.com