Ryanair, named UK’s ‘most complained about airline’, makes major change to winter flights - affected airports and full list of new routes

Ryanair has announced major changes to its winter flight schedule - as it is named the UK’s “most complained about airline” according to new research.

The airline will be reducing a number of its winter flights due to delivery days of Boeing aircraft.

It had expected to receive 27 aircraft between September and December but the airline said that “due to production delays at the Spirit Fuselage facility in Wichita, combined with Boeing’s repair and delivery delays in Seattle” it now expects to receive only 14 aircraft between October and December.

Ryanair added that it is working with Boeing to try to “accelerate deliveries” between January and May next year so that it can “enter the Summer 2024 peak travel season with all 57 new Boeing aircraft deliveries as expected.”

The airports affected include Dublin, Bergamo, Naples, Pisa, East Midlands, Porto, Cologne and Charleroi.

Ryanair said it will be reducing the number of aircraft at Charleroi by three, Dublin based aircraft by two, and will reduce five aircraft across four Italian bases, including Bergamo, Naples and Pisa with aircraft at East Midlands, Porto and Cologne also being affected.

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said flight cancellations will take effect from the end of October.

Despite cutting its winter flight schedule, the airline has also announced seven new routes this winter from Stansted Airport and increased frequencies on 30 more routes.

Ryanair will now be flying to Belfast, Basel, Ouarzazate, Tatry, Tirana, Treviso, and Vigo this winter.

O’Leary said two new aircraft will be based at Stansted to “support this growing winter schedule” which will create “over 60 new high-pay jobs.”

To celebrate its new aircraft and routes from London, the airline has launched a two day seat sale with fares from £29.99 available.

According to IDA, Ryanair received a “high search volume” of 219,000 per month on average since last year, adding that the term “Ryanair complaints” is “testament to the scale of disgruntlement with the service of Ryanair.”

Issues raised by passengers included customer service, cancellations, and baggage mishandling.

Many passengers also reported inadequate responses from the company to their complaints.

Dominic Wyatt, IDA’s expert on travel and aviation, said for airline “complaints are inevitable.” but it is about “how they are managed and resolved” which “makes the difference."

He added that several factors can influence how many complaints an airline has including if an airline has more flights or the weather.

If an airline has a larger scale of operations it is likely it will get more complaints, and weather and air traffic can also affect the efficiency of an airline.

Last month Ryanair was also ranked  European’s airline with the biggest ‘hidden fees’, with the price of a basic ticket increasing by 344% with add-ons.

Data compiled by UK-based voucher and deals website NetVoucherCodes showed that the price of an £18.39 fare for a short haul flight with the Irish airline jumps by £63.28 to £81.67.

The add-ons include options such as a 20kg checked bag, carry-on luggage upgrades, seat selections, fast track at the gate and insurance.