Ryanair cancels UK routes in dispute with regulator

Ryanair has abruptly cancelled 12 of its UK domestic and international routes, following a disagreement with the UK’s regulator that the company said left operation of the flights “impossible” ahead of Brexit.  The low-cost Irish carrier secured an operating licence for its UK subsidiary nearly two years ago to allow it to keep UK traffic rights and protect its operations from January 1 when the Brexit transition period ends. The aim was to ensure it could continue to fly domestic routes inside the UK, as well as to countries outside the EU such as Morocco. But Ryanair said the Civil Aviation Authority introduced new regulatory barriers on Sunday evening, just 10 days before the transition ends.  The airline did not elaborate on the restrictions, but the CAA said Ryanair was planning to use leased, foreign-owned aircraft on its UK operations. “It has been our longstanding position that a UK airline with a significant presence in the UK, such as Ryanair UK does, should not rely heavily on using wet-leased, foreign-registered aircraft to undertake their operations. Doing so undermines the competitiveness of the UK aviation industry,” the regulator said. Ryanair has only one aircraft listed on the UK’s register, out of the more than 450 in its fleet. The carrier said the changes affect routes from London, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast and Derry. “Ryanair UK had agreed Brexit contingency arrangements with the CAA two years ago and cannot comply with its new and impractical requirements at 10 days’ notice,” the airline said. The regulator denied that. “It is incorrect for the airline to state that the UK Civil Aviation Authority has changed its wet-leasing policy at short notice,” it said.<br/>