10/09/2008

Ryanair Postpones Opening Of Edinburgh Base

Low-fares airline Ryanair has been forced to postpone the opening of its new Edinburgh base for six weeks, due to strike action at airplane manufacturer Boeing.

Ryanair said that the strike had resulted in Boeing being unable to deliver two 737 planes which the airline had purchased to operate on its new Edinburgh routes.

Ryanair now hopes to begin flying to the eleven new routes from November 5.

All passengers who had booked to travel on the new routes during this initial six-week period will be refunded over the next seven days, Ryanair confirmed.

The routes affected are flights to: Lodz, Malaga, Bournemouth, Palma, Krakow, Poznan, Bratislava, Schonefeld, Billund, Skavsta and Wroclaw.

Ryanair's Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley said: "We sincerely regret the postponement of the opening of our Edinburgh base, but unfortunately the two new aircraft, which we had reserved for this purpose, are now indefinitely delayed due to a strike by Boeing employees.

"However, due to increased aircraft availability in our fleet from early November, we will be able to operate these exciting new Edinburgh routes from November 5.

"We sincerely apologise to all our passengers for the inconvenience caused by this forced change to our schedule."

The Boeing strike, involving 27,000 machinists based mainly in Washington, Oregon and Kansas in the US, began on Saturday.

A statement issued by Boeing on Friday said: "During the work stoppage, Boeing will support its customers and their airplanes in service. The company will continue delivering airplanes that were completed prior to the strike and will continue providing customers with spare parts. Boeing does not intend to assemble airplanes during the strike."

(KMcA/JM)

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