Ryanair cancels more flights, affecting 400,000 more passengers

Ryanair, the low-cost Irish airline struggling to deal with staff shortages that prompted the cancellation this month of 2,100 flights, said Wednesday that it would cut 18,000 more. The staffing issues, largely attributed to a failure to find replacements for vacationing pilots, also led the company to drop its bid to buy the troubled Italian flag carrier Alitalia, Ryanair said. The developments, interpreted as a sign that the airline is stabilizing its operations, bolstered its shares, which were up 4% in London Wednesday. By announcing the flight cancellations now, the airline will not have to pay any fines it might have had to pay had it waited, and many analysts had viewed the potential acquisition of Alitalia as a bad fit. The latest round of cancellations by the airline, known for low prices and limited service, will affect about 400,000 passengers flying on 34 routes from Nov. 17 to March 18, the airline said. Some of the destinations that will be affected most are Hamburg, Germany; Thessaloniki, Greece; and Trapani, Sicily. “We sincerely apologize to those customers who have been affected by last week’s flight cancellations, or these sensible schedule changes announced today,” O’Leary said Wednesday. “While over 99% of our 129 million customers will not have been affected by any cancellations or disruptions, we deeply regret any doubt we caused existing customers last week about Ryanair’s reliability, or the risk of further cancellations.”<br/>