CALLS ON STARMER GOVT TO SCRAP APD TO DELIVER GROWTH

Ryanair, the UK No. 1 passenger airline, today (Wed, 27 Aug) released its Winter 2025 for London and the wider UK market. This Winter Ryanair will add 5 new routes from London, with services from Luton to Wroclaw, and 4 new routes from Stansted to Lübeck, Münster, Murcia and Trapani. Ryanair now connects Stansted with more European destinations than are served from Heathrow, and at a fraction of the high fares being charged by Heathrow airlines.

Ryanair continues to grow its traffic in London, and across the UK generally. With expected 60m passengers in 2025, Ryanair is now the UK’s biggest passenger airline, carrying almost double BA’s traffic to/from the UK. Ryanair has submitted exciting plans to the Starmer Govt to grow traffic by 33% to 80m over the next 5 years, if the Govt abolishes its damaging APD taxes and delivers effective reform of ATC, including the UK’s chronically mismanaged ATC (NATS) service.

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary said:

“Ryanair continues to invest heavily in growth in the UK. We have now overtaken EasyJet and BA, to become the UK’s No. 1 passenger airline, with 60m pax in 2025. We wish to continue to deliver traffic and tourism growth across our 22 UK airports, particularly on our 340 new Boeing aircraft, which will deliver over the next 8 years. To do this however, the UK market must become competitive. Rachel Reeves should stop talking about growth, and start delivering it by abolishing APD. In countries all over Europe (most notably Sweden, Hungary, Albania, Regional Italy) Govts are abolishing enviro taxes and are being rewarded with rapid traffic, tourism, and jobs growth. This is the model that Rachel Reeves should copy. She has failed to deliver any growth in the first 12 months of the new Labour Govt, but she can reverse this failure, by scrapping APD to make UK air travel and tourism competitive once more, particularly in the UK regions.

This Winter Ryanair will take delivery of 29 new B737 aircraft from Boeing. We would like to deploy some of these aircraft in the UK, but while Rachel Reeves maintains her high enviro taxes, these aircraft will be allocated to countries like Sweden, Hungary, Albania and Regional Italy, where Govts are abolishing enviro taxes and lowering access costs. Rachel Reeves can deliver growth; she just needs to abolish APD.

We are also calling on the Govt to reform the UK’s broken (NATS) ATC service. It continues to stagger on from failure to failure, under the mismanagement of Martin Rolfe. He should be sacked and somebody competent put in charge of UK NATS to deliver an efficient UK ATC service. Heidi Alexander claims that “she can’t dismiss him” are false. The Govt owns 49% of NATS, and if they want to change the CEO, they have the power to do so. Nothing will change or improve in NATS, while it is run by failed, overpaid bureaucrats like Martin Rolfe. Sack him and allow somebody competent to run ATC, and this will deliver a better, more on-time experience for all passengers travelling to/from the UK this Winter.”