How the years fly by...

I just remembered that I hadn't done my obligatory annual post on Ryanair reducing the number of its flights as a protest against Air Passenger Duty.

Of course, this only applies to the winter season, when business is quiet anyway. There's never the equal and opposite fanfare in spring when all the flights commence again.

So I checked, and to my horror, I realised that the last time I did this round up was three years ago, see here for 2008 - 2010.

So just to catch up...

2013

No-frills airline Ryanair says it will cut fares as well as some flights this winter to help keep its profits up.

The Dublin-based carrier says increased competition and Europe's continued economic problems were having an impact on fares and the amount of money it makes per passenger.

That write-up doesn't blame everything on Air Passenger Duty, maybe even the newspapers have got bored with rehashing the same old Ryanair press release every year?

2012

"Ryanair objects to the Spanish government's decision to double airport taxes at both Madrid and Barcelona airports," said Michael O'Leary, Ryanair chief executive, "Sadly, this will lead to severe traffic, tourism and job cuts at both airports this winter."

He added that the cuts would cause a "combined loss of 2.3 million passengers and over 2,000 jobs at Madrid and Barcelona El Prat airports". The reductions to services – which will amount to 492 fewer flights each week – will be made from November.

2011

Michael O'Leary's airline, Ryanair, is to make sweeping cuts to its winter services at a number of UK airports, including Prestwick and Edinburgh in Scotland, and Stansted Airport in Essex. The move, announced earlier this month, means that 9 of 32 destinations from Edinburgh, and 3 of 15 from Prestwick, will not be available during winter 2011.

Given that Michael O'Leary is a vocal critic of the Air Passenger Duty, it should come as no surprise that Ryanair has cited the tax as the impetus for the winter flight cull.