Low-cost airline Ryanair is to pull out of Cardiff airport in a row over fees. It is to stop its Cardiff airport to Dublin flights, moving to the flights to local rival Bristol airport.
In a statement Ryanair said it will transfer the service to Bristol airport from 1 May. Ryanair's deputy chief executive, Michael Cawley, said: 'Cardiff Airport is pricing itself out of the low fares market. Cost increases of the order of 350% belong to an era when the lowest air fare from Ireland to the UK was 250 Euros.' The airline says it will provide coach services to Bristol up to 10 May or offer refunds to customers who do not want to transfer to Bristol.
A spokesman for Cardiff airport said the proposed charges were less than the average that Ryanair publicly admits it pays across Europe. He also defended the proposed charges saying it was the latest in a string of airports to come under attack from Ryanair.
The spokesman said: 'Statements by the airline about their contract with Cardiff Airport are incorrect but they are renowned for taking up such positions and have done this with a number of airports in the UK and their native Ireland.'
