Ryanair to axe hundreds of flights from UK airports after 'idiotic' Budget

Ryanair is planning to axe hundreds of flights from UK airports afters its CEO slammed an 'idiotic' Budget decision.

The move to slash flights by 10 per cent next year could affect five million passengers, the Mirror reports. It comes after CEO Michael O'Leary said he would be scaling back the airline's operations following Labour’s decision to increase the tax on airline tickets.

He described chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision to raise air travel taxes as 'idiotic' and said it was a 'short-sighted tax grab'. He added the Budget had 'damaged' UK growth prospects and 'made air travel much more expensive'.

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Air Passenger Duty (APD) for short-haul international flights will increase by £2 for economy tickets from April 1, 2026, with a much higher rate of 50 per cent for wealthy private jet owners. But millionaire Mr O'Leary said Ryanair would now 'review' its schedules, and claimed the planned reduction could lead to as many as five million fewer passengers at UK airports.

Speaking on Friday, he also said the Government had 'damaged tourism and damaged air travel to and from the UK'. He went on to say: "Chancellor Rachel Reeves's idiotic decision to further raise the UK's already high air travel taxes will deliver cuts, not growth.

"This short-sighted tax grab will make air travel much more expensive for ordinary UK families going on holidays abroad and will make the UK a less competitive destination compared to Ireland, Sweden, Hungary and Italy where these Governments are abolishing travel taxes to stimulate traffic, tourism, and jobs growth in their economies."

Ryanair set a new record for passenger numbers in August, and said it carried 20.5 million people. But its profits dropped by 46 per cent earlier in the year, as average fares fell by about 15 per cent in the three months to June.

Announcing the rise in air passenger duty in the Budget, Ms Reeves said the tax had not risen in line with inflation for several years and that the 'adjustment' would amount to only an £2 increase on short-haul economy flights. The Chancellor told the Commons on Wednesday: "Air passenger duty has not kept up with inflation in recent years so we are introducing an adjustment, meaning an increase of no more than £2 for an economy class short-haul flight."

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