BA flights withdrawal is 'unwelcome Christmas present'

The Consumers Council for Northern Ireland has described British Airways' decision to cut capacity on Northern Ireland routes as "an unwelcome Christmas present for passengers".

The council's Consumer Affairs Officer Alan Walker made the comment following BA's announcement today that its CitiExpress service plans to withdraw from 21 regional routes and will no longer fly from Cardiff and Leeds-Bradford airports.

The withdrawal of services will be complete by the end of March 2003, and among the routes to close are: Cardiff to Belfast; Leeds-Bradford to Dublin; Newcastle to Dublin; Belfast to Aberdeen and the Isle of Man; and Southampton to Dublin.

BA say that the impact of the decision will be minimal as, for example, the Isle of Man route was one off-peak 29-seat aircraft. Cardiff and Aberdeen are also, say BA, similar in capacity and frequency. The rationalisation of services, say BA, has occurred at a time when there "probably has never been a better time for consumers to travel".

The move, part of the regional Future Size and Shape review completed in April, was described as "further steps towards simplifying and strengthening UK regional operation". The result of which is the carrier's intention to bolster capacity on its current hub routes such as Manchester.

BA spokesperson Mike Bathgate said: "What we need to do in a day of highly competitive air services is to get the most efficient network, concentrating on core hubs and key routes where we can build services."

Alan Walker of the Consumers Council rejected this, however, saying that holidaymakers would be effected as will business travellers, who "will be left reeling from this announcement today".

"This comes on the back of withdrawals from Heathrow, from Sheffield and from Liverpool in recent years," he said.

"It highlights a very important issue of Northern Ireland's access to the other regions and indeed to London's core airports.

"The government must secure slots for regional air services and Northern Ireland in particular, we need our access for Heathrow guaranteed. BA took a number of services off last year, we would like to have seen those slots reserved for Northern Ireland routes instead of being used for more lucrative slots for bigger planes.”

Mr Walker added: "We need to look at the role of remote regional air services in a profit driven industry, because they are being squeezed."

BA also announced the introduction of the CitiExpress operation from London City in April 2003, and the launch of three new routes to Frankfurt, Glasgow and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

BA anticipates that CitiExpress will operate 91 routes, rising to 97, from 26 regional airports in the UK and Ireland from April 2003. In the past 12 months, CitiExpress carried a total of 5.5 million passengers to and from the UK regions and Europe.

(GMcG)