Ryanair target Laudamotion dumps Zurich flights due to plane shortage

Laudamotion, the successor airline to the bankrupt Niki carrier in which Ryanair aims to take a majority stake, dropped six routes from Zurich from its summer schedule after failing to secure enough planes, a spokeswoman said on Sunday. The Austrian carrier’s flights would have connected Zurich’s business capital with holiday destinations including Majorca, Ibiza, and the Canary Islands as well as in Greece, she said from Vienna. “All customers ... will (be) ...informed about the cancellations and refunds,” Laudamotion said in a statement. “We regret the cancellations from Zurich and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.” The Laudamotion spokeswoman said a third-party leasing company had failed to guarantee the Airbus jets needed to service the routes, as had been previously agreed. Other Laudamotion departures including from Basel, Switzerland, and from Germany and Austria are not impacted.<br/>